We get an AARP newsletter and I rarely do more than glance at it, but there was an article that caught my eye a few days ago. It talked about how our language is changing and it listed some terms that, beginning now, will actually appear in the new dictionaries that are published. (What with the Internet, I suspect not many people buy dictionaries any more…)
Anyhow, I sort of like some of the new words, like:
automagically – automatic in a way that is magical.
bromance – a close platonic male friendship
catastrophize – to present a situation as worse than it is.
chillax – to calm down and relax.
Of course some of the words aren’t really new – they’re just old words that have taken on a new meaning, like “friend” – one of the new definitions of that word will be, “to add to a list of personal associates on a website.” And “viral” – which gets the new meaning of, “circulating rapidly on the Internet.”
I’ve heard, and use, some words that weren’t listed, such as:
USian – a citizen or native of the United States of America.
textative – given to text messaging.
whinese – a language spoken by children or spouses on long road trips.
quadrilemma – a difficult choice among four alternatives.
ebully – one who uses e-mail, blogs, forums, etc. to insult or threaten another person.
flusterpated – a feeling of intense frustration whiled being flustered.
Some words I’ve heard and sometimes use and like, I really don’t have any idea what they mean – of course that doesn’t stop me, I just remain beefuzzled as I send out a big woot to you all….
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