> But also: apple didn’t make the new list. Neither did fork, soap, umbrella or leaf, for example. It’s not that these things vanished from everyday life, but many hands-on words became less central to the core vocabulary.

I do not understand what this article is about. Clearly anyone learning English needs to know the word "fork".

The article is essentially saying that the new list is more advanced than the old list. Okay? That's not interesting.