Today is the anniversary of the appearance of a new word in a letter to the editor in The Tampa Tribune on September 13, 1995. The word is gater, meaning a person who lives in a gated community, is an example of one of many neologisms that pop up each year to describe people in new situations in the ever-changing world in which we live.
The website Word Spy, founded by Paul McFedries, searches out all kinds of new words and phrases that have appeared in print but not yet in the dictionary. McFedries site documents hundreds of the neologisms, several of which are defined beginning with: "A person who . . . ." Here are a few examples:
-mucus trooper (MYOO.kus troo.pur) n. An employee with a cold or the flu who insists on showing up for work.
-salad dodger (SAL.ud daw.jur) n. An overweight person; a person who shuns healthy foods.
-thresholder (THRESH.hohl.dur) n. A young person on the threshold of adulthood, especially one who is anxious or depressed about leaving home or taking on adult responsibilities.
-zinester (ZEEN.stur) n. A person who writes, edits, and publishes a zine; a person who reads only zines (1).
Today's Challenge: A Visit to the -er
The words below are all examples of neologisms that refer to different types of people. See if you can match up each word with the definitions below.
fleshwriter
i-dotter
woodpusher
phrasemonger
piggybacker
kipper
typosquatter
fiver
1. A person who donates five percent of their income to charity and/or spends five hours per week doing volunteer work.
2. The person for whom a ghostwriter writes a book.
3. A fastidious, detail-oriented person.
4. An adult son or daughter, particularly one aged 30 or more, who still lives with his or her parents. From kids in parents' pockets eroding retirement savings.
5. A person who uses phrases or quotes that were coined by other people.
6. A person who uses a wireless Internet connection without permission.
7. A chess player of limited skill.
8. A person who registers one or more Internet domain names based on the most common typographical errors that a user might commit when entering a company's registered trademark name (e.g., amazom.com) (1).
Quote of the Day: One company, Amsterdam-based www.trendwatching.com, has a global network of more than 7,000 "springspotters" who troll their own neighborhoods and report back which trends, products and behaviors are brewing. --Shawna Vanness
Answers: 1. fiver 2. fleshwriter 3. i-dotter 4. kipper 5. phrasemoner 6. piggybacker 7. woodpusher 8. typosquatter
1 - http://www.wordspy.com/
Showing posts with label neologisms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label neologisms. Show all posts
Monday, September 13, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
August 28: New Words from the Workplace Day
On this date in 1984, a new word appeared in an article entitled "The New Baby Boom" published in the Washington Post. The word was flexplace, meaning a company policy that enables employees to work either at the office or from home (1).
Flexplace is just one example of the many neologisms, new words, that emerge and continue to emerge from the constantly evolving workplace. Flexplace is the offspring of an earlier neologism flextime (also flexitime) which appeared in print in 1972 to describe working conditions in which employees could vary their starting and finishing times as long as they worked the contracted number of hours in a week. As early as 1974 Economist magazine forcasted the technological explosion that would allow office staff to work from home. The word used here was telecommute: "As there is no logical reason why the cost of telecommunications should vary with distance, quite a lot of people by the late 1980s will telecommute daily to their London offices while living on a Pacific island if they want" (2).
The radical changes in the workplace over the last thirty years have spawned all manner of neologisms. A prime source for tracking these changes is the book and website called Word Spy. Founded by Paul McFedries, Word Spy searches out new words and phrases that have appeared in published sources multiple times. These neologisms are candidates for the dictionary. They won't all make it; nevertheless, these linguistic new kids on the block have their moment in the sun, used by people trying to communicate with each other in clear and concise ways about emerging ideas and new trends. In the book Word Spy, McFedries uses an excellent analogy to describe the volatile nature of the English language:
I view language not a solid mountain to be admired from afar, but rather an active volcano to be studied up close. This volcano is constantly spewing out new words and phrases; some of them are mere ash and smoke that are blown away by the winds; others are linguistic lava that slides down the volcano and eventually hardens as a permanent part of the language. But although volcanoes have periods of intense activity followed by periods of inactivity, word creation never stops (3).
Today's Challenge: Words at Work
The 8 words below are workplace neologisms being watched by Word Spy. See if you can match up the term with its definition.
modem cowboy/cowgirl
hot desk
corporate concierge
hotelling
touchdown center
virtual manager
to office
placemaking
1. noun. An employee whose job entails performing the personal tasks—such as making dinner reservations and taking in dry cleaning—of other employees who have no time to do these things themselves.
2. verb. To perform office-related tasks, such as photocopying and faxing.
3. present participle. An office setup in which mobile workers do not have permanent desks or cubicles and so must reserve a workspace when they come into the office.
4. noun. A person who lives and works out of a home located in the country.
5. noun. A desk that is not assigned to a particular employee, but rather is available for use and can be reserved in advance by a mobile worker whenever they are required to be in the office.
6. noun. A facility where business travelers can make calls, plug in their notebook computers, and connect to the Internet.
7. present participle. Designing a building or area to make it more attractive to and compatible with the people who use it.
8. noun A manager who directs employees from a remote location such as home or a central office.
Quote of the Day: The rapidity with which new verbs are made in the United States is really quite amazing. Two days after the first regulations of the Food Administration were announced, "to hooverize" appeared spontaneously in scores of newspapers, and a week later it was employed without any visible sense of its novelty in the debates of Congress. —H. L. Mencken
Word of the Day: funemployment - Check out the definition at Wordspy.com.
Write: What is the newest word you have heard or read? What does it mean, and how does it's creation reflect our changing world?
Answers: 1. corporate concierge 2. to office 3. hotelling 4. modem cowboy/cowgirl 5. hot desk 6. touchdown center 7. placemaking 8. virtual manager
1. http://www.wordspy.com/words/flexplace.asp
2. Ayto, John. Twentieth Century Words. Oxford: Oxford University Press,1999.
3. Paul McFedries. Word Spy: The Word Lover's Guide to Modern Culture. New York: Broadway Books, 2004.
Flexplace is just one example of the many neologisms, new words, that emerge and continue to emerge from the constantly evolving workplace. Flexplace is the offspring of an earlier neologism flextime (also flexitime) which appeared in print in 1972 to describe working conditions in which employees could vary their starting and finishing times as long as they worked the contracted number of hours in a week. As early as 1974 Economist magazine forcasted the technological explosion that would allow office staff to work from home. The word used here was telecommute: "As there is no logical reason why the cost of telecommunications should vary with distance, quite a lot of people by the late 1980s will telecommute daily to their London offices while living on a Pacific island if they want" (2).
The radical changes in the workplace over the last thirty years have spawned all manner of neologisms. A prime source for tracking these changes is the book and website called Word Spy. Founded by Paul McFedries, Word Spy searches out new words and phrases that have appeared in published sources multiple times. These neologisms are candidates for the dictionary. They won't all make it; nevertheless, these linguistic new kids on the block have their moment in the sun, used by people trying to communicate with each other in clear and concise ways about emerging ideas and new trends. In the book Word Spy, McFedries uses an excellent analogy to describe the volatile nature of the English language:
I view language not a solid mountain to be admired from afar, but rather an active volcano to be studied up close. This volcano is constantly spewing out new words and phrases; some of them are mere ash and smoke that are blown away by the winds; others are linguistic lava that slides down the volcano and eventually hardens as a permanent part of the language. But although volcanoes have periods of intense activity followed by periods of inactivity, word creation never stops (3).
Today's Challenge: Words at Work
The 8 words below are workplace neologisms being watched by Word Spy. See if you can match up the term with its definition.
modem cowboy/cowgirl
hot desk
corporate concierge
hotelling
touchdown center
virtual manager
to office
placemaking
1. noun. An employee whose job entails performing the personal tasks—such as making dinner reservations and taking in dry cleaning—of other employees who have no time to do these things themselves.
2. verb. To perform office-related tasks, such as photocopying and faxing.
3. present participle. An office setup in which mobile workers do not have permanent desks or cubicles and so must reserve a workspace when they come into the office.
4. noun. A person who lives and works out of a home located in the country.
5. noun. A desk that is not assigned to a particular employee, but rather is available for use and can be reserved in advance by a mobile worker whenever they are required to be in the office.
6. noun. A facility where business travelers can make calls, plug in their notebook computers, and connect to the Internet.
7. present participle. Designing a building or area to make it more attractive to and compatible with the people who use it.
8. noun A manager who directs employees from a remote location such as home or a central office.
Quote of the Day: The rapidity with which new verbs are made in the United States is really quite amazing. Two days after the first regulations of the Food Administration were announced, "to hooverize" appeared spontaneously in scores of newspapers, and a week later it was employed without any visible sense of its novelty in the debates of Congress. —H. L. Mencken
Word of the Day: funemployment - Check out the definition at Wordspy.com.
Write: What is the newest word you have heard or read? What does it mean, and how does it's creation reflect our changing world?
Answers: 1. corporate concierge 2. to office 3. hotelling 4. modem cowboy/cowgirl 5. hot desk 6. touchdown center 7. placemaking 8. virtual manager
1. http://www.wordspy.com/words/flexplace.asp
2. Ayto, John. Twentieth Century Words. Oxford: Oxford University Press,1999.
3. Paul McFedries. Word Spy: The Word Lover's Guide to Modern Culture. New York: Broadway Books, 2004.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
July 17: Words from the 1960s Day
Today is the anniversary of the 1968 release of the Beatles animated film Yellow Submarine. To many filmgoers the psychedelic animation and upbeat music of the film were a welcome respite from the turbulent events of 1968: the Vietnam War and the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy.
Ironically the Beatles themselves had very little to do with the film; in fact, all the dialogue for John, Paul, George, and Ringo was provided by actors; thankfully, however, the songs were recorded by the actual Beatles. After seeing the finished version of the film, the Beatles agreed to make a brief non-animated appearance at the end of the film.
When the film was re-released in 1999 on DVD, reviewer Roger Ebert commented that the film had more than just visual appeal:
This is a story that appeals even to young children, but it also has a knowing, funny style that adds an undertow of sophistication. The narration and dialogue are credited to four writers (including Love Story's Erich Segal), and yet the overall tone is the one struck by John Lennon in his books 'In His Own Write' and 'A Spaniard in the Works.' Puns, drolleries, whimsies and asides meander through the sentences:
There's a cyclops! He's got two eyes. Must be a bicyclops. It's a whole bicloplopedia! (1)
The 1950s was the decade of the missile gap, but the 1960s -- especially the late 1960s -- was the decade of the generation gap. Flower power and the flower children stood for peace and love. The word psychedelic first appeared in the 1950s to mean, according to 20th Century Words: "(A drug) producing an expansion of consciousness through greater awareness of the senses and emotional feelings . . . ." Its meaning later broadened to denote the "vivid colors, often in bold abstract designs or in motion" (2). With the explosion of colors in films like Yellow Submarine, psychedelic became one of the words that characterized the 1960s landscape.
Change also characterized the landscape of the 1960s, and a chronology of words that first appeared in print in that decade provides insight into some of those changes. Here is a list of other words (and one suffix) that were children of the '60s:
cassette (1960)
software (1960)
global village (1960)
Velcro (1960)
DJ (1961)
lite (1962)
bar code (1963)
Third World (1963)
zip code (1966)
Beatlemania (1963)
BASIC (1964)
-aholic (1965)
hypertext (1965)
microwave oven (1965)
body language (1966)
cultural revolution (1966)
generation gap (1967)
love-in (1967)
Age of Aquarius (1967)
be-in (1968)
reggae (1968)
'Nam (1969)
orchestrate (1969) (2)
Ironically the Beatles themselves had very little to do with the film; in fact, all the dialogue for John, Paul, George, and Ringo was provided by actors; thankfully, however, the songs were recorded by the actual Beatles. After seeing the finished version of the film, the Beatles agreed to make a brief non-animated appearance at the end of the film.
When the film was re-released in 1999 on DVD, reviewer Roger Ebert commented that the film had more than just visual appeal:
This is a story that appeals even to young children, but it also has a knowing, funny style that adds an undertow of sophistication. The narration and dialogue are credited to four writers (including Love Story's Erich Segal), and yet the overall tone is the one struck by John Lennon in his books 'In His Own Write' and 'A Spaniard in the Works.' Puns, drolleries, whimsies and asides meander through the sentences:
There's a cyclops! He's got two eyes. Must be a bicyclops. It's a whole bicloplopedia! (1)
The 1950s was the decade of the missile gap, but the 1960s -- especially the late 1960s -- was the decade of the generation gap. Flower power and the flower children stood for peace and love. The word psychedelic first appeared in the 1950s to mean, according to 20th Century Words: "(A drug) producing an expansion of consciousness through greater awareness of the senses and emotional feelings . . . ." Its meaning later broadened to denote the "vivid colors, often in bold abstract designs or in motion" (2). With the explosion of colors in films like Yellow Submarine, psychedelic became one of the words that characterized the 1960s landscape.
Change also characterized the landscape of the 1960s, and a chronology of words that first appeared in print in that decade provides insight into some of those changes. Here is a list of other words (and one suffix) that were children of the '60s:
cassette (1960)
software (1960)
global village (1960)
Velcro (1960)
DJ (1961)
lite (1962)
bar code (1963)
Third World (1963)
zip code (1966)
Beatlemania (1963)
BASIC (1964)
-aholic (1965)
hypertext (1965)
microwave oven (1965)
body language (1966)
cultural revolution (1966)
generation gap (1967)
love-in (1967)
Age of Aquarius (1967)
be-in (1968)
reggae (1968)
'Nam (1969)
orchestrate (1969) (2)
Today's Challenge: Psychedelic Idioms
The '60s were psychedelic, but English has always used all the colors of the rainbow to construct common expressions. Although these expressions (idioms) use color words, the colors have nothing to do with the literal meaning of the expression. For example, the expression red tape means official forms and procedures, especially those that are complex and time consuming. Notice that the modern definition has nothing to do with literal red tape. The origin of the expression goes back to the early 1800s when British bureaucracies were known for using literal red tape to tie up official documents (3).
1. _______ elephant
2. _______ herring
3. _______ mail
4. True _______
5. _______ thumb
6. _______ area
7. _______ horn
8. _______ moon
9. _______ prose
10. _______ journalism
Quote of the Day: I wish people would get hip to it already, so I don't have to talk about it anymore and explain what the '60s were all about and explain psychedelic and all of that. --Ray Manzarek
Word of the Day: Variegate (verb) - to make varied in appearance by differences, as in colors.
Write: The word psychedelic is word the characterises the 1960s. What new word would you select from this decade to best characterize life in this decade? Why?
Answers: 1. white 2. red 3. black 4. blue 5. green 6. grey 7. green 8. blue 9. purple 10. yellow
1 - Ebert, Roger. Great Movies. Chicago Sun Times. 9/5/99.
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/%2F19990905%2FREVIEWS08%2F909050301%2F1023
2 - Ayto, John. Twentieth Century Words. Oxford: Oxford University Press,1999.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
September 13: New Words for People Day
Today is the anniversary of the appearance of a new word in a letter to the editor in The Tampa Tribune on September 13, 1995. The word is gater, meaning a person who lives in a gated community, is an example of one of many neologisms that pop up each year to describe people in new situations in the ever-changing world in which we live.
The website Word Spy, founded by Paul McFedries, searches out all kinds of new words and phrases that have appeared in print but not yet in the dictionary. McFedries site documents hundreds of the neologisms, several of which are defined beginning with: "A person who . . . ." Here are a few examples:
-mucus trooper (MYOO.kus troo.pur) n. An employee with a cold or the flu who insists on showing up for work.
-salad dodger (SAL.ud daw.jur) n. An overweight person; a person who shuns healthy foods.
-thresholder (THRESH.hohl.dur) n. A young person on the threshold of adulthood, especially one who is anxious or depressed about leaving home or taking on adult responsibilities.
-zinester (ZEEN.stur) n. A person who writes, edits, and publishes a zine; a person who reads only zines (1).
Today's Challenge: A Visit to the -er
The words below are all examples of neologisms that refer to different types of people. See if you can match up each word with the definitions below.
fleshwriter
i-dotter
woodpusher
phrasemonger
piggybacker
kipper
typosquatter
fiver
1. A person who donates five percent of their income to charity and/or spends five hours per week doing volunteer work.
2. The person for whom a ghostwriter writes a book.
3. A fastidious, detail-oriented person.
4. An adult son or daughter, particularly one aged 30 or more, who still lives with his or her parents. From kids in parents' pockets eroding retirement savings.
5. A person who uses phrases or quotes that were coined by other people.
6. A person who uses a wireless Internet connection without permission.
7. A chess player of limited skill.
8. A person who registers one or more Internet domain names based on the most common typographical errors that a user might commit when entering a company's registered trademark name (e.g., amazom.com) (1).
Quote of the Day: One company, Amsterdam-based www.trendwatching.com, has a global network of more than 7,000 "springspotters" who troll their own neighborhoods and report back which trends, products and behaviors are brewing. --Shawna Vanness
Answers: 1. fiver 2. fleshwriter 3. i-dotter 4. kipper 5. phrasemoner 6. piggybacker 7. woodpusher 8. typosquatter
1 - http://www.wordspy.com/
The website Word Spy, founded by Paul McFedries, searches out all kinds of new words and phrases that have appeared in print but not yet in the dictionary. McFedries site documents hundreds of the neologisms, several of which are defined beginning with: "A person who . . . ." Here are a few examples:
-mucus trooper (MYOO.kus troo.pur) n. An employee with a cold or the flu who insists on showing up for work.
-salad dodger (SAL.ud daw.jur) n. An overweight person; a person who shuns healthy foods.
-thresholder (THRESH.hohl.dur) n. A young person on the threshold of adulthood, especially one who is anxious or depressed about leaving home or taking on adult responsibilities.
-zinester (ZEEN.stur) n. A person who writes, edits, and publishes a zine; a person who reads only zines (1).
Today's Challenge: A Visit to the -er
The words below are all examples of neologisms that refer to different types of people. See if you can match up each word with the definitions below.
fleshwriter
i-dotter
woodpusher
phrasemonger
piggybacker
kipper
typosquatter
fiver
1. A person who donates five percent of their income to charity and/or spends five hours per week doing volunteer work.
2. The person for whom a ghostwriter writes a book.
3. A fastidious, detail-oriented person.
4. An adult son or daughter, particularly one aged 30 or more, who still lives with his or her parents. From kids in parents' pockets eroding retirement savings.
5. A person who uses phrases or quotes that were coined by other people.
6. A person who uses a wireless Internet connection without permission.
7. A chess player of limited skill.
8. A person who registers one or more Internet domain names based on the most common typographical errors that a user might commit when entering a company's registered trademark name (e.g., amazom.com) (1).
Quote of the Day: One company, Amsterdam-based www.trendwatching.com, has a global network of more than 7,000 "springspotters" who troll their own neighborhoods and report back which trends, products and behaviors are brewing. --Shawna Vanness
Answers: 1. fiver 2. fleshwriter 3. i-dotter 4. kipper 5. phrasemoner 6. piggybacker 7. woodpusher 8. typosquatter
1 - http://www.wordspy.com/
Friday, September 11, 2009
September 11: Words from 9/11 Day
The simple mention of the term 9/11 immediately evokes images of smoke rising from the Twin Towers. On this day we remember the attack of 2001 and the 2,752 lives that were lost.
Just as the date and the images associated with it have changed us, the events of 9/11 and the post-9/11 world have also changed our language.
Not since December 7, 1941 and Pearl Harbor has a term so quickly entered the English lexicon. And 9/11 was not a term that would disappear soon; it was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" by the American Dialect Society in 2001, meaning lexicographers predict that the term will be used long past its origin (1).
In addition other terms have entered the common lexicon since 9/11, such as:
Al-Jazeera
Al-Qaida
Axis of Evil
Guantanamo
IED
Islamo-fascist
Jihad
Pre-emption
Shock and awe
Taliban
WMD (2).
Today's Challenge: New World - New Words
The definitions below are for two-word expressions that have become a part of our everyday vocabulary since 9/11. Some are new -- others were around before 9/11, but have taken on added meaning since the attacks on September 11, 2001 and the events that followed it.
1. The United and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001.
2. Site of the destroyed World Trade Center.
3. Plainclothes law-enforcement officers on airplanes.
4. Alternative name for French fries promoted when France resisted military force against Iraq.
5. British national Richard Reid tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic airplane in December 2001 with explosives in his shoes.
6. The prison noted for mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. forces.
7. A conventional bomb that disperses radioactive material.
8. Massive collecting of information that is then sifted for specific information.
Word of the Day: asymmetrical warfare
This noun is a neologism, which according to Word Spy means, “Warfare in which the combatants have markedly different military capabilities and the weaker side uses non-standard tactics such as terrorism.”
Quote of the Day: America is not like a blanket -- one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size. America is more like a quilt -- many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread. --Henry M. Jackson
Answers. 1. Patriot Act 2. Ground Zero 3. air marshal 4. freedom fries 5. shoe bomber 6. Abu Ghraib 7. Dirty Bomb 8. Data mining
1 -Paul McFedries. Word Spy: The Word Lover's Guide to Modern Culture. New York: Broadway Books, 2004.
2 - Latazio, George. "New World Requires New Vocabulary." The Seattle Times. 10 Sept. 2006, A15.
Just as the date and the images associated with it have changed us, the events of 9/11 and the post-9/11 world have also changed our language.
Not since December 7, 1941 and Pearl Harbor has a term so quickly entered the English lexicon. And 9/11 was not a term that would disappear soon; it was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" by the American Dialect Society in 2001, meaning lexicographers predict that the term will be used long past its origin (1).
In addition other terms have entered the common lexicon since 9/11, such as:
Al-Jazeera
Al-Qaida
Axis of Evil
Guantanamo
IED
Islamo-fascist
Jihad
Pre-emption
Shock and awe
Taliban
WMD (2).
Today's Challenge: New World - New Words
The definitions below are for two-word expressions that have become a part of our everyday vocabulary since 9/11. Some are new -- others were around before 9/11, but have taken on added meaning since the attacks on September 11, 2001 and the events that followed it.
1. The United and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001.
2. Site of the destroyed World Trade Center.
3. Plainclothes law-enforcement officers on airplanes.
4. Alternative name for French fries promoted when France resisted military force against Iraq.
5. British national Richard Reid tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic airplane in December 2001 with explosives in his shoes.
6. The prison noted for mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. forces.
7. A conventional bomb that disperses radioactive material.
8. Massive collecting of information that is then sifted for specific information.
Word of the Day: asymmetrical warfare
This noun is a neologism, which according to Word Spy means, “Warfare in which the combatants have markedly different military capabilities and the weaker side uses non-standard tactics such as terrorism.”
Quote of the Day: America is not like a blanket -- one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size. America is more like a quilt -- many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread. --Henry M. Jackson
Answers. 1. Patriot Act 2. Ground Zero 3. air marshal 4. freedom fries 5. shoe bomber 6. Abu Ghraib 7. Dirty Bomb 8. Data mining
1 -Paul McFedries. Word Spy: The Word Lover's Guide to Modern Culture. New York: Broadway Books, 2004.
2 - Latazio, George. "New World Requires New Vocabulary." The Seattle Times. 10 Sept. 2006, A15.
Friday, September 12, 2008
September 13: New Words for People Day
Today is the anniversary of the appearance of a new word in a letter to the editor in The Tampa Tribune on September 13, 1995. The word is gater, meaning a person who lives in a gated community, is an example of one of many neologisms that pop up each year to describe people in new situations in the ever-changing world in which we live.
The website Word Spy, founded by Paul McFedries, searches out all kinds of new words and phrases that have appeared in print but not yet in the dictionary. McFedries site documents hundreds of the neologisms, several of which are defined beginning with: "A person who . . . ." Here are a few examples:
-mucus trooper (MYOO.kus troo.pur) n. An employee with a cold or the flu who insists on showing up for work.
-salad dodger (SAL.ud daw.jur) n. An overweight person; a person who shuns healthy foods.
-thresholder (THRESH.hohl.dur) n. A young person on the threshold of adulthood, especially one who is anxious or depressed about leaving home or taking on adult responsibilities.
-zinester (ZEEN.stur) n. A person who writes, edits, and publishes a zine; a person who reads only zines (1).
Today's Challenge: A Visit to the -er
The words below are all examples of neologisms that refer to different types of people. See if you can match up each word with the definitions below.
fleshwriter
i-dotter
woodpusher
phrasemonger
piggybacker
kipper
typosquatter
fiver
1. A person who donates five percent of their income to charity and/or spends five hours per week doing volunteer work.
2. The person for whom a ghostwriter writes a book.
3. A fastidious, detail-oriented person.
4. An adult son or daughter, particularly one aged 30 or more, who still lives with his or her parents. From kids in parents' pockets eroding retirement savings.
5. A person who uses phrases or quotes that were coined by other people.
6. A person who uses a wireless Internet connection without permission.
7. A chess player of limited skill.
8. A person who registers one or more Internet domain names based on the most common typographical errors that a user might commit when entering a company's registered trademark name (e.g., amazom.com) (1).
Word of the Day: neologism
A neologism is a new word that comes into use. In the age of the internet and ever-evolving technologies, neologisms are more prevalent than at anytime in history.
Quote of the Day: One company, Amsterdam-based www.trendwatching.com, has a global network of more than 7,000 "springspotters" who troll their own neighborhoods and report back which trends, products and behaviors are brewing. --Shawna Vanness
Answers: 1. fiver 2. fleshwriter 3. i-dotter 4. kipper 5. phrasemoner 6. piggybacker 7. woodpusher 8. typosquatter
1 - http://www.wordspy.com/
The website Word Spy, founded by Paul McFedries, searches out all kinds of new words and phrases that have appeared in print but not yet in the dictionary. McFedries site documents hundreds of the neologisms, several of which are defined beginning with: "A person who . . . ." Here are a few examples:
-mucus trooper (MYOO.kus troo.pur) n. An employee with a cold or the flu who insists on showing up for work.
-salad dodger (SAL.ud daw.jur) n. An overweight person; a person who shuns healthy foods.
-thresholder (THRESH.hohl.dur) n. A young person on the threshold of adulthood, especially one who is anxious or depressed about leaving home or taking on adult responsibilities.
-zinester (ZEEN.stur) n. A person who writes, edits, and publishes a zine; a person who reads only zines (1).
Today's Challenge: A Visit to the -er
The words below are all examples of neologisms that refer to different types of people. See if you can match up each word with the definitions below.
fleshwriter
i-dotter
woodpusher
phrasemonger
piggybacker
kipper
typosquatter
fiver
1. A person who donates five percent of their income to charity and/or spends five hours per week doing volunteer work.
2. The person for whom a ghostwriter writes a book.
3. A fastidious, detail-oriented person.
4. An adult son or daughter, particularly one aged 30 or more, who still lives with his or her parents. From kids in parents' pockets eroding retirement savings.
5. A person who uses phrases or quotes that were coined by other people.
6. A person who uses a wireless Internet connection without permission.
7. A chess player of limited skill.
8. A person who registers one or more Internet domain names based on the most common typographical errors that a user might commit when entering a company's registered trademark name (e.g., amazom.com) (1).
Word of the Day: neologism
A neologism is a new word that comes into use. In the age of the internet and ever-evolving technologies, neologisms are more prevalent than at anytime in history.
Quote of the Day: One company, Amsterdam-based www.trendwatching.com, has a global network of more than 7,000 "springspotters" who troll their own neighborhoods and report back which trends, products and behaviors are brewing. --Shawna Vanness
Answers: 1. fiver 2. fleshwriter 3. i-dotter 4. kipper 5. phrasemoner 6. piggybacker 7. woodpusher 8. typosquatter
1 - http://www.wordspy.com/
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
September 11: Words from 9/11 Day
The simple mention of the term 9/11 immediately evokes images of smoke rising from the Twin Towers. On this day we remember the attack of 2001 and the 2,752 lives that were lost.
Just as the date and the images associated with it have changed us, the events of 9/11 and the post-9/11 world have also changed our language.
Not since December 7, 1941 and Pearl Harbor has a term so quickly entered the English lexicon. And 9/11 was not a term that would disappear soon; it was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" by the American Dialect Society in 2001, meaning lexicographers predict that the term will be used long past its origin (1).
In addition other terms have entered the common lexicon since 9/11, such as:
Al-Jazeera
Al-Qaida
Axis of Evil
Guantanamo
IED
Islamo-fascist
Jihad
Pre-emption
Shock and awe
Taliban
WMD (2).
Today's Challenge: New World - New Words
The definitions below are for two-word expressions that have become a part of our everyday vocabulary since 9/11. Some are new -- others were around before 9/11, but have taken on added meaning since the attacks on September 11, 2001 and the events that followed it.
1. The United and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001.
2. Site of the destroyed World Trade Center.
3. Plainclothes law-enforcement officers on airplanes.
4. Alternative name for French fries promoted when France resisted military force against Iraq.
5. British national Richard Reid tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic airplane in December 2001 with explosives in his shoes.
6. The prison noted for mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. forces.
7. A conventional bomb that disperses radioactive material.
8. Massive collecting of information that is then sifted for specific information.
Word of the Day: asymmetrical warfare
This noun is a neologism, which according to Word Spy means, “Warfare in which the combatants have markedly different military capabilities and the weaker side uses non-standard tactics such as terrorism.”
Quote of the Day: America is not like a blanket -- one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size. America is more like a quilt -- many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread. --Henry M. Jackson
Answers. 1. Patriot Act 2. Ground Zero 3. air marshal 4. freedom fries 5. shoe bomber 6. Abu Ghraib 7. Dirty Bomb 8. Data mining
1 -Paul McFedries. Word Spy: The Word Lover's Guide to Modern Culture. New York: Broadway Books, 2004.
2 - Latazio, George. "New World Requires New Vocabulary." The Seattle Times. 10 Sept. 2006, A15.
Just as the date and the images associated with it have changed us, the events of 9/11 and the post-9/11 world have also changed our language.
Not since December 7, 1941 and Pearl Harbor has a term so quickly entered the English lexicon. And 9/11 was not a term that would disappear soon; it was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" by the American Dialect Society in 2001, meaning lexicographers predict that the term will be used long past its origin (1).
In addition other terms have entered the common lexicon since 9/11, such as:
Al-Jazeera
Al-Qaida
Axis of Evil
Guantanamo
IED
Islamo-fascist
Jihad
Pre-emption
Shock and awe
Taliban
WMD (2).
Today's Challenge: New World - New Words
The definitions below are for two-word expressions that have become a part of our everyday vocabulary since 9/11. Some are new -- others were around before 9/11, but have taken on added meaning since the attacks on September 11, 2001 and the events that followed it.
1. The United and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001.
2. Site of the destroyed World Trade Center.
3. Plainclothes law-enforcement officers on airplanes.
4. Alternative name for French fries promoted when France resisted military force against Iraq.
5. British national Richard Reid tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic airplane in December 2001 with explosives in his shoes.
6. The prison noted for mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. forces.
7. A conventional bomb that disperses radioactive material.
8. Massive collecting of information that is then sifted for specific information.
Word of the Day: asymmetrical warfare
This noun is a neologism, which according to Word Spy means, “Warfare in which the combatants have markedly different military capabilities and the weaker side uses non-standard tactics such as terrorism.”
Quote of the Day: America is not like a blanket -- one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size. America is more like a quilt -- many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread. --Henry M. Jackson
Answers. 1. Patriot Act 2. Ground Zero 3. air marshal 4. freedom fries 5. shoe bomber 6. Abu Ghraib 7. Dirty Bomb 8. Data mining
1 -Paul McFedries. Word Spy: The Word Lover's Guide to Modern Culture. New York: Broadway Books, 2004.
2 - Latazio, George. "New World Requires New Vocabulary." The Seattle Times. 10 Sept. 2006, A15.
Friday, April 25, 2008
April 25: DNA Day
On this date in 1953 James Watson and Francis Crick published an article in the British magazine Nature that changed the world of biology and genetics. In an article that was a model of brevity (only two pages), they presented their double helix model of the DNA, a model that for the first time explained how the genetic code is passed from one generation to the next.
The work of Watson and Crick sparked a revolution in the scientific world, leading to amazing and controversial discoveries and experiments in genetic engineering.
Fifty years to the day of the publication of Watson and Crick’s article, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) announced the successful completion of the Human Genome Project, an international effort to identify, map, and sequence the 3 billion DNA letters in the human genetic instruction book.
The root of the word genetics is from the Greek gen which means many different things relating to life: production, formation, generation, origin, cause, birth, kind, and race. Examples of words with this root are cryogenics, eugenic, genealogy, generate, genesis, genocide, genre, heterogeneous, homogeneous, indigenous, progeny, and telegenic (1).
The word gene was coined in 1909, and DNA, the three-letter initialization for deoxyribonucleic acid, first appeared in the dictionary in 1944.
Since the discovery of Watson and Crick in 1953, several other gene related terms have been added to the language, here is a small sample (2, 3).
genetic code (1961)
genetic engineering (1969)
genetic fingerprint (1969)
genetic screening (1980s)
obesity gene (1990s)
genetically modified (1995)
On April 7 (Television Broadcast Day), we looked at two-letter initializations like TV. DNA is an example of a three-letter initialization. Initializations are different from acronyms where the letters make a word (as in NASA); in initializations each letter is pronounced as an individual letter as in C – I - A.
Today's Challenge: Initial Shock Part Three
How many three-letter initializations can you name? List them alphabetically and use a good dictionary if you need help. See example answers after the Quote of the Day.
Quote of the Day: Life can only be understood backwards. It must be lived forwards. --Soren Kierkegaard
1 – Crutchfield, Roger S. English Vocabulary Quick Reference. Virginia: LexaDyne Publishing, Inc., 1999.
2 - Flexner, Stuart Berg and Anne H. Soukhanov. Speaking Freely: A Guided Tour of American English. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
3 – Ayto, John. 20th Century Words. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
ABC, BBC, BCS, CBS, CEO, CIA, CNN, CPA, CPU, DNA, DVD, EKG, FBI, FAQ, FYI, HIV, IBM, IOU, IRA, LCD, LSD, MLB, NBA, NBC, NFL, NHL, NYU, POW, SAT, SDI, UFO, VHS
The work of Watson and Crick sparked a revolution in the scientific world, leading to amazing and controversial discoveries and experiments in genetic engineering.
Fifty years to the day of the publication of Watson and Crick’s article, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) announced the successful completion of the Human Genome Project, an international effort to identify, map, and sequence the 3 billion DNA letters in the human genetic instruction book.
The root of the word genetics is from the Greek gen which means many different things relating to life: production, formation, generation, origin, cause, birth, kind, and race. Examples of words with this root are cryogenics, eugenic, genealogy, generate, genesis, genocide, genre, heterogeneous, homogeneous, indigenous, progeny, and telegenic (1).
The word gene was coined in 1909, and DNA, the three-letter initialization for deoxyribonucleic acid, first appeared in the dictionary in 1944.
Since the discovery of Watson and Crick in 1953, several other gene related terms have been added to the language, here is a small sample (2, 3).
genetic code (1961)
genetic engineering (1969)
genetic fingerprint (1969)
genetic screening (1980s)
obesity gene (1990s)
genetically modified (1995)
On April 7 (Television Broadcast Day), we looked at two-letter initializations like TV. DNA is an example of a three-letter initialization. Initializations are different from acronyms where the letters make a word (as in NASA); in initializations each letter is pronounced as an individual letter as in C – I - A.
Today's Challenge: Initial Shock Part Three
How many three-letter initializations can you name? List them alphabetically and use a good dictionary if you need help. See example answers after the Quote of the Day.
Quote of the Day: Life can only be understood backwards. It must be lived forwards. --Soren Kierkegaard
1 – Crutchfield, Roger S. English Vocabulary Quick Reference. Virginia: LexaDyne Publishing, Inc., 1999.
2 - Flexner, Stuart Berg and Anne H. Soukhanov. Speaking Freely: A Guided Tour of American English. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
3 – Ayto, John. 20th Century Words. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
ABC, BBC, BCS, CBS, CEO, CIA, CNN, CPA, CPU, DNA, DVD, EKG, FBI, FAQ, FYI, HIV, IBM, IOU, IRA, LCD, LSD, MLB, NBA, NBC, NFL, NHL, NYU, POW, SAT, SDI, UFO, VHS
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
September 11: Words from 9/11 Day
The simple mention of the term 9/11 immediately evokes images of smoke rising from the Twin Towers. On this day we remember the attack of 2001 and the 2,752 lives that were lost.
Just as the date and the images associated with it have changed us, the events of 9/11 and the post-9/11 world have also changed our language.
Not since December 7, 1941 and Pearl Harbor has a term so quickly entered the English lexicon. And 9/11 was not a term that would disappear soon; it was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" by the American Dialect Society in 2001, meaning lexicographers predict that the term will be used long past its origin (1).
In addition other terms have entered the common lexicon since 9/11, such as:
Al-Jazeera
Al-Qaida
Axis of Evil
Guantanamo
IED
Islamo-fascist
Jihad
Pre-emption
Shock and awe
Taliban
WMD (2).
Today's Challenge: New World - New Words
The definitions below are for two-word expressions that have become a part of our everyday vocabulary since 9/11. Some are new -- others were around before 9/11, but have taken on added meaning since the attacks on September 11, 2001 and the events that followed it.
1. The United and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001.
2. Site of the destroyed World Trade Center.
3. Plainclothes law-enforcement officers on airplanes.
4. Alternative name for French fries promoted when France resisted military force against Iraq.
5. British national Richard Reid tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic airplane in December 2001 with explosives in his shoes.
6. The prison noted for mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. forces.
7. A conventional bomb that disperses radioactive material.
8. Massive collecting of information that is then sifted for specific information.
Quote of the Day: America is not like a blanket -- one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size. America is more like a quilt -- many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread. --Henry M. Jackson
Answers. 1. Patriot Act 2. Ground Zero 3. air marshal 4. freedom fries 5. shoe bomber 6. Abu Ghraib 7. Dirty Bomb 8. Data mining
1 -Paul McFedries. Word Spy: The Word Lover's Guide to Modern Culture. New York: Broadway Books, 2004.
2 - Latazio, George. "New World Requires New Vocabulary." The Seattle Times. 10 Sept. 2006, A15.
Just as the date and the images associated with it have changed us, the events of 9/11 and the post-9/11 world have also changed our language.
Not since December 7, 1941 and Pearl Harbor has a term so quickly entered the English lexicon. And 9/11 was not a term that would disappear soon; it was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" by the American Dialect Society in 2001, meaning lexicographers predict that the term will be used long past its origin (1).
In addition other terms have entered the common lexicon since 9/11, such as:
Al-Jazeera
Al-Qaida
Axis of Evil
Guantanamo
IED
Islamo-fascist
Jihad
Pre-emption
Shock and awe
Taliban
WMD (2).
Today's Challenge: New World - New Words
The definitions below are for two-word expressions that have become a part of our everyday vocabulary since 9/11. Some are new -- others were around before 9/11, but have taken on added meaning since the attacks on September 11, 2001 and the events that followed it.
1. The United and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001.
2. Site of the destroyed World Trade Center.
3. Plainclothes law-enforcement officers on airplanes.
4. Alternative name for French fries promoted when France resisted military force against Iraq.
5. British national Richard Reid tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic airplane in December 2001 with explosives in his shoes.
6. The prison noted for mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. forces.
7. A conventional bomb that disperses radioactive material.
8. Massive collecting of information that is then sifted for specific information.
Quote of the Day: America is not like a blanket -- one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size. America is more like a quilt -- many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread. --Henry M. Jackson
Answers. 1. Patriot Act 2. Ground Zero 3. air marshal 4. freedom fries 5. shoe bomber 6. Abu Ghraib 7. Dirty Bomb 8. Data mining
1 -Paul McFedries. Word Spy: The Word Lover's Guide to Modern Culture. New York: Broadway Books, 2004.
2 - Latazio, George. "New World Requires New Vocabulary." The Seattle Times. 10 Sept. 2006, A15.
Monday, August 27, 2007
August 27: New Words From the Workplace Day
On this date in 1984, a new word appeared in an article entitled "The New Baby Boom" published in the Washington Post. The word was flexplace, meaning a company policy that enables employees to work either at the office or from home (1).
Flexplace is just one example of the many neologisms, new words, that emerged and continue to emerge from the constantly evolving workplace. Flexplace is the offspring of an earlier neologism flextime (also flexitime) which appeared in print in 1972 to describe working conditions in which employees could vary their starting and finishing times as long as they worked the contracted number of hours in a week. As early as 1974 Economist magazine forcasted the technological explosion that would allow office staff to work from home. The word used here was telecommute: "As there is no logical reason why the cost of telecommunications should vary with distance, quite a lot of people by the late 1980s will telecommute daily to their London offices while living on a Pacific island if they want" (2).
The radical changes in the workplace over the last thirty years have spawned all manner of neologisms. A prime source for tracking these changes is the book and website called Word Spy. Founded by Paul McFedries, Word Spy searches out new words and phrases that have appeared in published sources multiple times. These neologisms are candidates for the dictionary. They won't all make it; nevertheless, these linguistic new kids on the block have their moment in the sun, used by people trying to communicate with each other in clear and concise ways about emerging ideas and new trends. In the book Word Spy, McFedries uses an excellent analogy to describe the volatile nature of the English language:
I view language not a solid mountain to be admired from afar, but rather an active volcano to be studied up close. This volcano is constantly spewing out new words and phrases; some of them are mere ash and smoke that are blown away by the winds; others are linguistic lava that slides down the volcano and eventually hardens as a permanent part of the language. But although volcanoes have periods of intense activity followed by periods of inactivity, word creation never stops (3).
Today's Challenge: Words at Work
The 8 words below are workplace neologisms being watched by Word Spy. See if you can match up the term with its definition.
modem cowboy/cowgirl
hot desk
corporate concierge
hotelling
touchdown center
virtual manager
to office
placemaking
1. noun. An employee whose job entails performing the personal tasks—such as making dinner reservations and taking in dry cleaning—of other employees who have no time to do these things themselves.
2. verb. To perform office-related tasks, such as photocopying and faxing.
3. present participle. An office setup in which mobile workers do not have permanent desks or cubicles and so must reserve a workspace when they come into the office.
4. noun. A person who lives and works out of a home located in the country.
5. noun. A desk that is not assigned to a particular employee, but rather is available for use and can be reserved in advance by a mobile worker whenever they are required to be in the office.
6. noun. A facility where business travelers can make calls, plug in their notebook computers, and connect to the Internet.
7. present participle. Designing a building or area to make it more attractive to and compatible with the people who use it.
8. noun A manager who directs employees from a remote location such as home or a central office.
Quote of the Day: The rapidity with which new verbs are made in the United States is really quite amazing. Two days after the first regulations of the Food Administration were announced, "to hooverize" appeared spontaneously in scores of newspapers, and a week later it was employed without any visible sense of its novelty in the debates of Congress. —H. L. Mencken
Answers: 1. corporate concierge 2. to office 3. hotelling 4. modem cowboy/cowgirl 5. hot desk 6. touchdown center 7. placemaking 8. virtual manager
1. http://www.wordspy.com/words/flexplace.asp
2. Ayto, John. Twentieth Century Words. Oxford: Oxford University Press,1999.
3. Paul McFedries. Word Spy: The Word Lover's Guide to Modern Culture. New York: Broadway Books, 2004.
Flexplace is just one example of the many neologisms, new words, that emerged and continue to emerge from the constantly evolving workplace. Flexplace is the offspring of an earlier neologism flextime (also flexitime) which appeared in print in 1972 to describe working conditions in which employees could vary their starting and finishing times as long as they worked the contracted number of hours in a week. As early as 1974 Economist magazine forcasted the technological explosion that would allow office staff to work from home. The word used here was telecommute: "As there is no logical reason why the cost of telecommunications should vary with distance, quite a lot of people by the late 1980s will telecommute daily to their London offices while living on a Pacific island if they want" (2).
The radical changes in the workplace over the last thirty years have spawned all manner of neologisms. A prime source for tracking these changes is the book and website called Word Spy. Founded by Paul McFedries, Word Spy searches out new words and phrases that have appeared in published sources multiple times. These neologisms are candidates for the dictionary. They won't all make it; nevertheless, these linguistic new kids on the block have their moment in the sun, used by people trying to communicate with each other in clear and concise ways about emerging ideas and new trends. In the book Word Spy, McFedries uses an excellent analogy to describe the volatile nature of the English language:
I view language not a solid mountain to be admired from afar, but rather an active volcano to be studied up close. This volcano is constantly spewing out new words and phrases; some of them are mere ash and smoke that are blown away by the winds; others are linguistic lava that slides down the volcano and eventually hardens as a permanent part of the language. But although volcanoes have periods of intense activity followed by periods of inactivity, word creation never stops (3).
Today's Challenge: Words at Work
The 8 words below are workplace neologisms being watched by Word Spy. See if you can match up the term with its definition.
modem cowboy/cowgirl
hot desk
corporate concierge
hotelling
touchdown center
virtual manager
to office
placemaking
1. noun. An employee whose job entails performing the personal tasks—such as making dinner reservations and taking in dry cleaning—of other employees who have no time to do these things themselves.
2. verb. To perform office-related tasks, such as photocopying and faxing.
3. present participle. An office setup in which mobile workers do not have permanent desks or cubicles and so must reserve a workspace when they come into the office.
4. noun. A person who lives and works out of a home located in the country.
5. noun. A desk that is not assigned to a particular employee, but rather is available for use and can be reserved in advance by a mobile worker whenever they are required to be in the office.
6. noun. A facility where business travelers can make calls, plug in their notebook computers, and connect to the Internet.
7. present participle. Designing a building or area to make it more attractive to and compatible with the people who use it.
8. noun A manager who directs employees from a remote location such as home or a central office.
Quote of the Day: The rapidity with which new verbs are made in the United States is really quite amazing. Two days after the first regulations of the Food Administration were announced, "to hooverize" appeared spontaneously in scores of newspapers, and a week later it was employed without any visible sense of its novelty in the debates of Congress. —H. L. Mencken
Answers: 1. corporate concierge 2. to office 3. hotelling 4. modem cowboy/cowgirl 5. hot desk 6. touchdown center 7. placemaking 8. virtual manager
1. http://www.wordspy.com/words/flexplace.asp
2. Ayto, John. Twentieth Century Words. Oxford: Oxford University Press,1999.
3. Paul McFedries. Word Spy: The Word Lover's Guide to Modern Culture. New York: Broadway Books, 2004.
Friday, August 24, 2007
August 24: Weather Words Day
Today is the anniversary of an editorial by Charles Dudley Warner published in the Hartford Courant in 1897. The subject of the editorial is long forgotten, but one quote from the article lives on as a famous quote: Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.
Although many credit Warner with the funny line, some argue that it really should be credited to Mark Twain, who was a friend and collaborator with Charles Dudley Warner. Ralph Keyes, the author of The Quote Verifier, comes down on Twain's side, saying that the wording of the editorial reveals that Warner got the quote from Twain: "A well known American writer said once that, while everybody talked about the weather, nobody seemed to do anything about it" (1).
Weather or not Twain said it (pun intended), there is no doubt that weather has rained down on the English lexicon. Many of our everyday idioms are weather related (see Word Daze March 23), and some of our common words have meteorological origins:
Astonish: Being struck by thunder would certainly be an astonishing experience. This word comes to English via the French estoner which in turn was derived from Latin ex = out + tonare = to thunder. Thus the literal translation of astonish is thunderstruck.
Window: This word comes from the Norse vindauge which comes from vindr = wind + auga = eye. Thus a window is an eye for the wind.
Lunatic: For centuries people have considered the effects of the moon on the weather and the varying moods of earthlings. Because the moon does affect ocean tides, it does have an indirect impact on the weather. There is less evidence, however, to prove the moon's relationship to the human psyche. Nevertheless the word lunatic is derived from Luna the moon goddess, who in myth would sometimes toy with the sanity of mortals.
Today's Challenge: Forecast Calls for Neologisms
The nouns below probably do not look familiar. They are all neologisms, new words that have appeared in print but that are not yet in the dictionary. See if you can match up the words with their definitions below. For more details on each word visit Word Spy, a site devoted to neologisms.
geomythology
weather tourist
weather bomb
megacryometeor
gigantic jet
tornado bait
space weather
season creep
1. Earlier spring weather and other gradual seasonal shifts, particularly those caused by global climate change.
2. A person whose vacation consists of tracking down and observing tornadoes, hurricanes, and other severe weather phenomena.
3. A massive and powerful storm that develops quickly and without warning.
4. One or more mobile homes or trailers, especially when located in or near a tornado zone.
5. A massive lightning flash that extends from the top of a thundercloud up to the ionosphere.
6. Electrical storms generated when the solar wind emitted by the sun interacts with the Earth's magnetic field. Also: space-weather.
7. A large chunk of ice that forms in the atmosphere and falls to the ground.
8. The study of past earthquakes, volcanoes, and other geological events that combines the analysis of both physical evidence and the myths and legends related to the events.
Quote of the Day: To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring. --George Santayana
Answers: 1. season creep 2. weather tourist 3. weather bomb 4. tornado bait 5. gigantic jet 6. space weather 7. megacryometeor 8. geomythology
1 - Keyes, Ralph. The Quote Verifier: Who Said What, Where, and When. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2006.
2 - Funk, Wilfred. Word Origins and Their Romantic Stories. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1950.
3 - http://www.wordspy.com/index/Science-Weather.asp
Although many credit Warner with the funny line, some argue that it really should be credited to Mark Twain, who was a friend and collaborator with Charles Dudley Warner. Ralph Keyes, the author of The Quote Verifier, comes down on Twain's side, saying that the wording of the editorial reveals that Warner got the quote from Twain: "A well known American writer said once that, while everybody talked about the weather, nobody seemed to do anything about it" (1).
Weather or not Twain said it (pun intended), there is no doubt that weather has rained down on the English lexicon. Many of our everyday idioms are weather related (see Word Daze March 23), and some of our common words have meteorological origins:
Astonish: Being struck by thunder would certainly be an astonishing experience. This word comes to English via the French estoner which in turn was derived from Latin ex = out + tonare = to thunder. Thus the literal translation of astonish is thunderstruck.
Window: This word comes from the Norse vindauge which comes from vindr = wind + auga = eye. Thus a window is an eye for the wind.
Lunatic: For centuries people have considered the effects of the moon on the weather and the varying moods of earthlings. Because the moon does affect ocean tides, it does have an indirect impact on the weather. There is less evidence, however, to prove the moon's relationship to the human psyche. Nevertheless the word lunatic is derived from Luna the moon goddess, who in myth would sometimes toy with the sanity of mortals.
Today's Challenge: Forecast Calls for Neologisms
The nouns below probably do not look familiar. They are all neologisms, new words that have appeared in print but that are not yet in the dictionary. See if you can match up the words with their definitions below. For more details on each word visit Word Spy, a site devoted to neologisms.
geomythology
weather tourist
weather bomb
megacryometeor
gigantic jet
tornado bait
space weather
season creep
1. Earlier spring weather and other gradual seasonal shifts, particularly those caused by global climate change.
2. A person whose vacation consists of tracking down and observing tornadoes, hurricanes, and other severe weather phenomena.
3. A massive and powerful storm that develops quickly and without warning.
4. One or more mobile homes or trailers, especially when located in or near a tornado zone.
5. A massive lightning flash that extends from the top of a thundercloud up to the ionosphere.
6. Electrical storms generated when the solar wind emitted by the sun interacts with the Earth's magnetic field. Also: space-weather.
7. A large chunk of ice that forms in the atmosphere and falls to the ground.
8. The study of past earthquakes, volcanoes, and other geological events that combines the analysis of both physical evidence and the myths and legends related to the events.
Quote of the Day: To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring. --George Santayana
Answers: 1. season creep 2. weather tourist 3. weather bomb 4. tornado bait 5. gigantic jet 6. space weather 7. megacryometeor 8. geomythology
1 - Keyes, Ralph. The Quote Verifier: Who Said What, Where, and When. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2006.
2 - Funk, Wilfred. Word Origins and Their Romantic Stories. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1950.
3 - http://www.wordspy.com/index/Science-Weather.asp
Saturday, August 04, 2007
August 4: Top 100 Day
Today is the the anniversary of the introduction of Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart. The first number one song on the chart was Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool."
Prior to August 4, 1958, Billboard had separate charts for Most Played By Jockeys, Best Sellers in Stores, and Most Played in Juke Boxes. The new Hot 100 list combined the Best Sellers and the Most Played By Jockeys lists into a single chart. Because Juke Boxes were becoming less popular, their numbers were not included.
The linguistic equivalent of Billboard's Hot 100 would have to be Word Spy's Top 100 Words . Created by technical writer Paul McFedries, Word Spy is a web site devoted to neologisms. Neologisms are new words -- words that have appeared in print multiple times, but that are not in the dictionary.
Word Spy gives the arm chair linguist a peek behind the lexical curtain. Visiting this web site is a little like watching a preseason football practice: you get to see all the players (words) on the field, but you're not sure which ones will make the final cut. In the case of neologisms, the final cut is making it into the dictionary. The lexicographers at the Oxford English Dictionary do their work behind the scenes, and most neologisms have the life span of the common house fly. In contrast, Word Spy makes lexicography democratic: you get to see all the words, it's free, and McFedries even accepts reader submissions.
Here are a couple of examples for neologisms from Word Spy:
aireoke (air.ee.OH.kee) n. Playing air guitar and singing to prerecorded music; playing air guitar in a public performance. Also: air-eoke. [Blend of air guitar and karaoke.]
Manilow method n. The discouragement of loitering in public places by broadcasting music that is offensive to young people, particularly the songs of singer Barry Manilow.
In addition to words and definitions, Word Spy also provides pronunciations, citations, and notes on each word. WARNING: Reading this site can become addictive! (2)
Today's Challenge: Brave New Words
See if you can match up the 8 neologisms from Word Spy with the 8 definitions numbered below.
freegan
buzzword bingo
godcasting
NOPE
Google bombing
Drink the Kool-Aid
fauxhawk
male answer syndrome
1. n. A person or attitude that opposes all real estate development or other projects that would harm the environment or reduce property values.
2. n. A hairstyle in which a strip of hair across the top of the head is longer and higher than the hair on the remainder of the head.
3. n. A person, usually a vegan, who consumes only food that is obtained by foraging, most often in the garbage of restaurants, grocery stores, and other retailers.
4. v. To become a firm believer in something; to accept an argument or philosophy wholeheartedly or blindly.
5. n. Setting up a large number of Web pages with links that point to a specific Web site so that the site will appear near the top of a Google search when users enter the link text.
6. n. The tendency for some men to answer a question even when they don't know the answer.
7. n. A word game played during corporate meetings. Players are issued bingo-like cards with lists of buzzwords such as paradigm and proactive. Players check off these words as they come up in the meeting, and the first to fill in a "line" of words is the winner.
8. pp. Podcasting an audio feed with a religious message (2).
Quote of the Day: The genius of democracies is seen not only in the great number of new words introduced but even more in the new ideas they express. --Alexis de Tocqueville
Answers: 1. NOPE: (Not On Planet Earth) 2. fauxhawk 3. freegan 4. Drink the Kool-Aid5. Google bombing 6. male answer syndrome 7. buzzword bingo 8. godcasting
1 - This Day in History - Entertainment - August 4. The History Channel
http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?month=10272960&day=10272969&cat=entertainment
2. wordspy.com
http://www.wordspy.com/topwords.asp
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
March 21: New Words from the '50s Day
The decade of the '50s was full of changes is culture and technology; these changes impacted the English language in the form of neologisms, new words that eventually entered the dictionary and our everday English lexicon. One prime example is rock 'n' roll.
Today is the anniversary of the first rock concert, held in Cleveland, Ohio, on March 21, 1952. The concert, called the Moondog Coronation Ball, was organized by Alan Freed, Cleveland disc jockey and reported originator of the now classic Americanism "Rock and Roll." Freed organized the event in honor of his loyal listeners, the Moondoggers, and himself, the King of the Moondoggers. Tickets were under $2.00, but counterfeiting of tickets created confusion, fights, and chaos in the Cleveland Arena. Legitimate ticket holders attempted to force their way into the arena, resulting in broken doors and windows. After only one song, by John "Hucklebuck" Williams, fire marshals shut the entire concert down.
On this date, which some mark as the birthday of rock ‘n’ roll, we honor the many new words that came out of the 1950s.
The Oxford Press book of 20th Century Words lists the following examples of words that entered the dictionary in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Decade:
A.S.A.P.
Backlash
Beatnik
Big Bang
Biological clock
Brain-washing
Charisma
Cinerama
Cowabunga
Credit card
Dee-jay
Discotheque
Disinformation
Fast food
Freudian slip
Junk mail
Lego
Ms
Murphy’s law
Nerd
RAM
Sci-fi
Scrabble
-speak
UFO
-ville
Walter Mitty
World War III
Xerox
Today's Challenge: List as many words, phrases, or associations as you can for the word "rock."
Quote of the Day: Rock and Roll: Music for the neck downwards. --Keith Richards.
Today is the anniversary of the first rock concert, held in Cleveland, Ohio, on March 21, 1952. The concert, called the Moondog Coronation Ball, was organized by Alan Freed, Cleveland disc jockey and reported originator of the now classic Americanism "Rock and Roll." Freed organized the event in honor of his loyal listeners, the Moondoggers, and himself, the King of the Moondoggers. Tickets were under $2.00, but counterfeiting of tickets created confusion, fights, and chaos in the Cleveland Arena. Legitimate ticket holders attempted to force their way into the arena, resulting in broken doors and windows. After only one song, by John "Hucklebuck" Williams, fire marshals shut the entire concert down.
On this date, which some mark as the birthday of rock ‘n’ roll, we honor the many new words that came out of the 1950s.
The Oxford Press book of 20th Century Words lists the following examples of words that entered the dictionary in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Decade:
A.S.A.P.
Backlash
Beatnik
Big Bang
Biological clock
Brain-washing
Charisma
Cinerama
Cowabunga
Credit card
Dee-jay
Discotheque
Disinformation
Fast food
Freudian slip
Junk mail
Lego
Ms
Murphy’s law
Nerd
RAM
Sci-fi
Scrabble
-speak
UFO
-ville
Walter Mitty
World War III
Xerox
Today's Challenge: List as many words, phrases, or associations as you can for the word "rock."
Quote of the Day: Rock and Roll: Music for the neck downwards. --Keith Richards.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
March 21: New Words from the '50s Day
The decade of the '50s was full of changes is culture and technology; these changes impacted the English language in the form of neologisms, new words that eventually entered the dictionary and our everday English lexicon. One prime example is rock 'n' roll.
Today is the anniversary of the first rock concert, held in Cleveland, Ohio, on March 21, 1952. The concert, called the Moondog Coronation Ball, was organized by Alan Freed, Cleveland disc jockey and reported originator of the now classic Americanism "Rock and Roll." Freed organized the event in honor of his loyal listeners, the Moondoggers, and himself, the King of the Moondoggers. Tickets were under $2.00, but counterfeiting of tickets created confusion, fights, and chaos in the Cleveland Arena. Legitimate ticket holders attempted to force their way into the arena, resulting in broken doors and windows. After only one song, by John "Hucklebuck" Williams, fire marshals shut the entire concert down.
On this date, which some mark as the birthday of rock ‘n’ roll, we honor the many new words that came out of the 1950s.
The Oxford Press book of 20th Century Words lists the following examples of words that entered the dictionary in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Decade:
A.S.A.P.
Backlash
Beatnik
Big Bang
Biological clock
Brain-washing
Charisma
Cinerama
Cowabunga
Credit card
Dee-jay
Discotheque
Disinformation
Fast food
Freudian slip
Junk mail
Lego
Ms
Murphy’s law
Nerd
RAM
Sci-fi
Scrabble
-speak
UFO
-ville
Walter Mitty
World War III
Xerox
Today's Challenge: List as many words, phrases, or associations as you can for the word "rock."
Quote of the Day: No steam or gas ever drives anything until it is confined. No Niagara is ever turned into light and power until it is tunneled. No life ever grows until it is focused, dedicated, disciplined. --Harry Emerson Fosdick
Today is the anniversary of the first rock concert, held in Cleveland, Ohio, on March 21, 1952. The concert, called the Moondog Coronation Ball, was organized by Alan Freed, Cleveland disc jockey and reported originator of the now classic Americanism "Rock and Roll." Freed organized the event in honor of his loyal listeners, the Moondoggers, and himself, the King of the Moondoggers. Tickets were under $2.00, but counterfeiting of tickets created confusion, fights, and chaos in the Cleveland Arena. Legitimate ticket holders attempted to force their way into the arena, resulting in broken doors and windows. After only one song, by John "Hucklebuck" Williams, fire marshals shut the entire concert down.
On this date, which some mark as the birthday of rock ‘n’ roll, we honor the many new words that came out of the 1950s.
The Oxford Press book of 20th Century Words lists the following examples of words that entered the dictionary in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Decade:
A.S.A.P.
Backlash
Beatnik
Big Bang
Biological clock
Brain-washing
Charisma
Cinerama
Cowabunga
Credit card
Dee-jay
Discotheque
Disinformation
Fast food
Freudian slip
Junk mail
Lego
Ms
Murphy’s law
Nerd
RAM
Sci-fi
Scrabble
-speak
UFO
-ville
Walter Mitty
World War III
Xerox
Today's Challenge: List as many words, phrases, or associations as you can for the word "rock."
Quote of the Day: No steam or gas ever drives anything until it is confined. No Niagara is ever turned into light and power until it is tunneled. No life ever grows until it is focused, dedicated, disciplined. --Harry Emerson Fosdick
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