english

More English words, Australian style

| Chris

My vocabulary is much more robust today than it was three posts ago. Thanks to the folks down under!

I think, these are all nominees for the Word of the Year Award, as well.

Tanorexia – the result of too much suntan
Arse Antlers – tattoo in that fashionable area above the buttocks
Butt Bra – the kind that raises the profile of the buttocks to go with your arse antlers
Manscaping – refers to removal of body hair for men; sometimes tied to the female preoccupation with the Lady Garden, or pubic zone
Infomania – for those who constantly put aside the job at hand to concentrate on incoming email and text messages
Password Fatigue – frustration from having too many passwords to recall
Floordrobe – someone’s clothes spread around the house, clean or otherwise
Credit Card Tart – someone who shifts loans around from one credit card to pay for another
Glass Cliff – refers to people placed in jobs with high risk of failure because they belong to a group not well represented in leadership positions, such as women
Chindia – joining China and India in terms of their fast growing strategic and economic clout in the world
Great Firewall of China – refers to the block preventing Chinese internet users from accessing online sites deemed undesirable by the Chinese government. To get around it may take a Cyberathlete, or professional computer game player
Climate Canary – refers to a geographical feature, plant or animal species pointing to climate change
Toad Juice – refers to a liquid fertilizer produced in Australia from pulverized cane toads, an introduced environmental pest marching its way across the continent

Think I’m making these up? Read the news! Now, make up your own word, and vote for it.

Oh yeah, I know a little Aussie word myself…. Foster’s. 🙂 Cheers, mate!

You eated my cookies and hurted my feelings

| Chris

Waaaaah!I swear, I heard one of the kids down the street say these words before.

Sup with the schooling system, yo? That ain’t what MC Hammer would call “Proper.” Have we finally upgraded to English 2.0 without my knowledge? Since, back in the day, we didn’t have grammar and spell checkers, we were forced to learn things the old-fashioned way. By memory. Could it be that technology have been spoiling us rotten for awhile now? I remember being able to multiply and divide by hand. I’m afraid it’s a lot more convenient to hit the calculator icon these days, than to grab the pen and piece of paper in front of me.

However, while some people still need to play catch-up on learning basic language skills, I’m afraid, in this day and age, we all have to somehow do so, as well. Though, in some other way. I don’t know about you, but the English dictionary seems to be getting thicker and thicker on a daily basis. Albeit, unofficially.

I mean, since when did the word “favorite” become a verb? (Did I just hear someone mention “Googled?”) Technorati would say… Your blog has been favorited five times. Good luck convincing your spell checker to pass that one. And, it just doesn’t roll nicely on the tongue, either. Admit it!

By the way, I found the following list from the American Dialect Society after having read the news yesterday announcing “Subprime” as official word of the year 2007. These words are just a small sample from an extensive list that goes all the way back to 1990.

2007
Subprime – an adjective used to describe a risky or less than ideal loan, mortgage, or investment.
Googlegänger – A person with your name who shows up when you google yourself.
Texter – a person who sends text messages.
Billary/Hill-Bill – Bill and Hillary Clinton
Quadriboobage – The appearance of having four breasts caused by wearing a brassiere that is too small.

2006
Plutoed – to be demoted or devalued (This is just cruel, I think. Call me sentimental but I love and miss my Pluto!)
Brokeback – of questionable masculinity; insufficiently heteronormative.
Pornament – a Christmas ornament of the adult kind.

2005
Truthiness – the quality of stating concepts or facts one wishes or believes to be true, rather than concepts or facts known to be true.
Flee-ancée – in reference to runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks.

It’s also interesting to find these out:

Word of the decade (90’s) – Web
Word of the century (20th) – Jazz
Word of the millennium (past one, I’m guessing) – She

There you go. I hope you were entertained, somehow.

Oh, and if you’re wondering what your emo boy just blurted out on the celly while wafflin’ with his G, here’s a fun place to find out. Now, that’s sick, brah.