September 21, 2012

Word Spy: Fascinating Facts Friday

Words fascinate me. But I have to admit, I'm a traditionalist. I don't like "new" words. I trust Webster, the original, much more than fly-by-night pretenders. Words that didn't make the original cut should be slang, in my mind.

Still, I find some of the new words interesting, and I find many of them through Paul McFedries Word Spy site.

Some fun ones I've run across there recently...

mansplaining pp Explaining in a patronizing way, particularly when done by a man who combines arrogance with ignorance of the topic. [Man + explaining.]
 
fiberhood n. A neighborhood that has Internet access via fiber-optic cable. [Fiber + neighborhood.]
 
twitchfork n. An angry or  aggressive protest on Twitter, particularly one seeking justice or vengeance. [Twitter + pitchfork.] —twitchfork mob n.
 
shtick lit n. A writing genre in which the author undertakes an odd or stuntlike project with the intention of writing about the experience. Also: schtick lit, shtik lit. (Note: Love this one!)
 
binge viewing n. A period of excessive indulgence spent watching previously broadcast episodes of a TV show. —binge viewer n.

And one I'll definitely be watching out for...
 
gynobibliophobia (gye.noh.bib.lee.oh.FOH.bee.uh) n. A dislike of women writers.

What do you think of "new" words constantly flooding our beautiful language? (okay, that wasn't at all a loaded question. he he)

5 comments:

Callie Leuck said...

I've loved "mansplaining" since I first heard it. It's just a beautiful word, and amusing to boot!

Unknown said...

OK, I was wrong... I thought the gyno thingy was fear of talking about a UTI to your gynocologist!

Helene Poulakou said...

Does the word "womansplaining" exist? Really curious, because I've met this so many times!

Jo Michaels said...

LOVE this post! Thanks for the new website linkys :) I adore finding new words. Well done. WRITE ON!

Tia Bach said...

I'm so glad you all appreciated these words like I did. Word lovers unite!