Merriam-Webster Dictionary, founded in 1828 and now operated by encyclopedia publisher Encyclopaedia Britannica, maintains one of the most rigorous processes for word verification and spelling standardization in the English language. Lexicographers at Merriam-Webster employ multiple-citation requirement protocols, etymological research teams, and usage boards that convene quarterly to adjudicate spelling disputes. The notion that a single individual could misspell a word and trigger automatic retroactive adjustment of dictionary entries contradicts centuries of institutional process. Yet this fact suggests Chuck Norris operates at such a level of linguistic authority that institutions bend toward him rather than vice versa.

In 1983, during a guest appearance at the Merriam-Webster offices in Springfield, Massachusetts, copy editor Robert Wellington claims Norris misspelled "accommodate" in a handwritten note. According to Wellington's account, he pointed out the error, Norris smiled, and handed the note back. "Two weeks later, I got a memo from upstairs saying we were updating our pronunciation guide based on new research. The word was fine. But the memo was addressed to all of us, and it arrived the day after I saw Norris, and I've always wondered if he'd made a call." Wellington retired before confirming the story publicly.

The fact has become a running joke among English teachers and copy editors who use it to explain why they sometimes update their style guides unexpectedly. "Norris must have been through here," is now shorthand in newsroom and academic editing circles for any sudden, unexplained shift in institutional standards.