Sexting, mini-Madoff, Great Recession among 2009’s online buzzwords
December 23rd, 2009 - 3:11 pm ICT by ANI
London, December 23 (ANI): Popular slang, phrases, news events such as sexting, mini-Madoff, Great Recession, octomom have made it to a list of buzzwords, offering a linguistic look back at 2009.
New interactive online dictionary called Wordnik that tracks down trends and terms that extend a language, posted the inventive terms.
“It was founded by lexicographers Erin McKean (a former editor of The New Oxford American Dictionary and author of Weird and Wonderful Words), and editorial director Grant Barrett who edited the Official Dictionary of Unofficial English, and compiled a list of buzzwords for the New York Times,” reports the Independent.
The list includes:
aporkalypse: Undue worry in response to swine flu. Includes unnecessary acts like removing nonessential kisses from Mexican telenovelas and the mass slaughter of pigs in Egypt.
birther: A person who believes that Barack Obama was not born in the United States and therefore can’t be president.
Chimerica: The intertwined economies of China and the United States, which together dominate the world economy. Popularized by Niall Ferguson in his book The Ascent of Money.
conflict minerals: Gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum, widely used in electronic devices and commonly mined in politically unstable countries or regions. Related to conflict diamonds.
drive like a Cullen: To drive like a bat out of hell, like a member of the Cullen family in the Twilight vampire books by Stephenie Meyer.
Great Recession: A reference to the current economic downturn. Used at least a few times for every recession since 1980, but never with such vigor as now.
green shoots: Signs of an economic recovery or of a company’s financial turnaround.
jeggings: jean leggings.
mini-Madoff: A person who perpetrates a Ponzi scheme smaller than Bernie Madoff’s.
netbook: An inexpensive portable computer, usually smaller than a laptop but larger than a smartphone, intended mainly for use with the Internet.
Octomom: Nadya Suleman, who gave birth to octuplets in January.
sexting: The sending of sexual messages or pictures by mobile telephone.
vook: A digital book that includes some video in its text.
warmist: Someone who believes that the earth is jeopardized by becoming warmer. Shortened from global warmist and used mainly by people who are skeptical about global warming. (ANI)
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- 'Unfriend' named Word of the Year in New Oxford American Dictionary - Nov 17, 2009
- Thousands cheer for Kannada at Bangalore meet - Feb 04, 2011
- Internet words 'bloggable' and 'scareware' enter Oxford Dictionary - Feb 24, 2011
- De Niro to play Bernie Madoff in TV biopic - May 17, 2011
- 'Moving forward' tops list of 2010's most annoying phrases - Dec 23, 2010
- Sherlock Holmes book goes digital on iPhone, iPad - Feb 18, 2011
- 'Tweetups', 'unfriend' added to Oxford English Dictionary - Dec 30, 2009
- Bernie Madoff's Boxers Anyone? - Nov 12, 2010
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- Bernard Madoff's son, Mark, found dead on second anniversary of father's arrest - Dec 11, 2010
- Two former employees of Bernard Madoff arrested - Nov 19, 2010
Tags: barack obama, bat out of hell, books by stephenie meyer, conflict diamonds, cullen family, economic downturn, erin mckean, financial turnaround, gold tin, mass slaughter, mexican telenovelas, new oxford, niall ferguson, online dictionary, oxford american dictionary, ponzi scheme, slang phrases, swine flu, unstable countries, weird and wonderful words
