It's an annual event. The latest Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary has 100 new words in it to reflect changes in society. You've probably heard some, and you might have even used one or two in a sentence.
Most of these words have been around a while, and nost of the concepts behind the words -- such as the stay-at-home vacation or false-faced friend -- are much older than that.
John Morse, president and publisher of the Springfield-based dictionary publisher, said many of this year's new words are tied to changes in technology, increasing environmental awareness and aging baby boomers' concerns about their health and have become part of the general lexicon. "These are not new words in the language, by any means," Morse said. "(But) when words like 'neuroprotective' and 'cardioprotective' show up in the Collegiate, it's because we've made the judgment that these are not just words used by specialists. ... These really are words now likely to show up in The New York Times, in The Wall Street Journal."
Here are some of my favorite (good and bad) new words in this year's edition:
Frenemy: Your classic enemy who acts like a friend. This is a concept that's older than Judas. OK, a lot of folks are like that, but it doesn't mean they deserve a special name.
Staycation: Saving money on vacation by just not going anywhere. Basically, laying out from work for a week, sitting on the front stoop in your underdrawers, and spending Sunday clearing the pizza boxes from your kitchen and all the dead soldiers from your lawn.
Waterboarding: Enhanced interrogation (or torture) technique that mimics drowning. Used to be known as "sticking one's face in the john and flushing it" in gangster movies.
Locavore: A person who eats only locally grown food. While I consider it a travesty to eat any seafood that does not come from Lowcountry waters, don't call me a locavore.
Shawarma: A sandwich especially of sliced lamb or chicken, vegetables, and often tahini wrapped in pita bread. Whatever it is, it sure isn't from around here. Pass.
Sock puppet: A false identity used for online fraud. Shari Lewis' Lambchop has grown up and become a downright malevolent presence on the Internet.
Flash mob: A group of people gathered through online social networking. Do they wear virtual raincoats?
Green-collar: Describes the growing environmental-protection industry.
Carbon footprint: It used to be what you'd leave after a day of working in the coal mine. Now, it's a source of Al Gore's income.
Cardioprotective: I figured this would happen. "Heart-healthy" just doesn't have the right ring to it.
Reggaeton: Music of Puerto Rican origin that combines rap and Caribbean rhythms. That's the definition, anyway. If there's a difference between reggaetron and "dancehall" reggae (Yellowman was one of the earlier performers of that genre), I've yet to hear it. Of course it's not like I investigated the matter -- much as I like reggae, rap does horrible things to me.
Here's a thought: Maybe I should come up with a word for rap-induced gag reflex and peddle it to Merriam-Webster.
Earmark: This one's been in fairly common use (particularly among journalists) for decades. What took the folks at Merriam-Webster so long? Here's a partial answer: According to Morse, some words spend some time in limbo while wordsmiths wait to see if they are just fads. So maybe "earmark" spent a long time on doube-secret probation.
Vlog: What I get if I stick a bunch of videos on this blog. I think I'll pass on that; not only do videos eat tons of your system resoures, words and the occasional still photo are fine for me. "Blog" is a dumb enough word and I refuse to call myself a blogger, but at least that's a word that rolls off the tongue. Vlog, forget it.
Naproxen: Another one that finally made it into the dictionary. I was prescribed naproxen for pain and inflammation after injuring my foot 15 years ago, and it didn't work then. I had to check the Merriam-Webster site to make sure "naproxen" didn't mean "placebo."
Researchers often keep track of words over many years. Here's one to watch: "prepone," commonly used in India among English-speaking Indians and refers to the act of arranging for an event to take place earlier than originally planned. Kind of the opposite of postpone. "Prepone didn't make it this time," Morse said. "But we know about it."
Which means they'll get "prepone" in the dictionary later. Or earlier.
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