Jan 08 2025 - Learn Your New Word

 

It is time to start using the new words added to dictionaries in 2024.  I bet we forgot to find out what they are.  I expect we didn't pay attention to some of last year's words:  girl dinner (attractively presented collection or snacks that involve little preparation, deemed sufficient for a meal for one), bed rotting (many hours in bed during the day),  or enshitification (gradual decline of an online platform service's functionality).  The Time list for 2024 words is HERE.  We will get the new words for 2025 in the coming few weeks - 224's was in February last year.  The word world is very active. I see that there's a new word for this month - January brain:  a feeling of tiredness and a lack of energy and motivation that some people experience when they go back to work in the new year after the Christmas holidays. Here's another for this time of year:  winter arc.  It is a trend that involves spending the whole winter season making lifestyle changes relating to your physical and mental health and wellbeing, such as breaking bad habits and exercising more.  I think we already know this one: Quitter's Day: the second Friday of January, the day when most people abandon their New Year’s resolutions and go back to their old habits.  According to Forbes Health, 62% of us never even wanted to make a new year's resolution in the first place.   There's a a new word feed email service.  Vocabulary.com's word is fuselage, The New York Times has actuarial, and Merriam-Webster has Gelid (extremely cold or icy).  Dictionary.comhas this word:  abstergent (cleansing).

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Dec 23 2022 - Christmas in the Air

There's definitely a lot of news of what's in the air just at Christmas 2022 - rain and snow.  But how would we know that "Christmas is in the air?"  What would it be?  It means in circulation, in people's thoughts.  Another interpretation is that it is coming very soon.   We're still in the rain here, so await the snow flurries.  Toronto is calling it a "bomb cyclone".  Others called it a "weather bomb".  Now there's a new weather word for me.  Aren't there so many new words all the time?  What is 2022's new expression Goblin mode?  Here's the OED definition:  “a type of behaviour which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations”.  It came about first on Twitter in 2009, but burst out of the pack in February 2022.  And then comes Gaslighting:  “manipulating (a person) by psychological means into questioning his or her own sanity”. And the big one is Permacrisis:  “an extended period of instability and insecurity”. CNN's article on the topic found these words peculiar or depressing.  CNN explains that normal words just won't do sometimes.   Here's the proof of that - a  humorous review of the new words of 2022 from Merriam-Webster: Because (conjunction) The new definition of “because” is “by reason of.” It’s often used comedically to explain complicated things vaguely. As in, “the sky is blue because science,” or “I don’t like her because reasons.” TBH (abbreviation) This abbreviation stands for “to be honest.” It’s often used in text conversations, as in “I don’t feel like going out tonight, TBH.” Fluffernutter (n)This word describes a sandwich that entails spreading peanut butter and marshmallow topping on white bread. Yum? Amirite (interjection)This is a combination of three words “am I right.” It’s used conversationally, often humorously. As in, “Writers and their love of words, amirite?” Copypasta (n)This refers to any type of data (including text) that has been copied and spread online. It can range from lighthearted memes to serious political messages.  Deplatform (v) Use this word to refer to taking any sort of speaking platform away from somebody. Specifically, it can refer to kicking someone off of a large communication platform, like social media. Whataboutism (n) This word refers to the act of responding to an accusation by saying that somebody else committed an offense that was the same or worse.  As in “sure, I was late to work but whatabout that guy who didn’t even show up today?” FTW (abbreviation)  These three letters stand for “for the win.” This abbreviation is often used in social media commentary or when stating approval for something. As in “Fridays off FTW.” And this is all copy pasta from me.

Today's picture s are more interpretations of the sculpture walls in front of the Butterfly Conservatory in Niagara Falls.

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Is Fake News a Dumpster Fire?

How did 2017 end and how will 2018 start?  In word terms, I mean.  We can easily find out about 2017 - there's a word of the year.  Wikipedia defines the word of the year:  "The word(s) of the year, sometimes capitalized as "Word(s) of the Year" and abbreviated "WOTY" (or "WotY"), refers to any of various assessments as to the most important word(s) or expression(s) in the public sphere during a specific year." The official dictionary sites report on the most searched word of the year and seems to be based on quantity - statistics rather than quality - assessments. The English Oxford Living Dictionaries says that the word of the Year for 2017 is... youthquake, defined as ‘a significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people’. Dictionary.com has this word: Complicit.   Merriam-Webster's 2017 Words of the Year is Feminism, followed by dotard, gaffe, syzygy, and others. The Collins Dictionary word of the year is... Fake News. Wikipedia looks to the American Dialect Society for the definitive word.  Members in the 129-year-old organization include linguists, lexicographers, etymologists, grammarians, historians, researchers, writers, editors, students, and independent scholars, according to the ADS release. Their word of the year is "Fake News." The society chose the phrase on Jan. 5th. They defined it as “disinformation or falsehoods presented as real news” and “actual news that is claimed to be untrue.” It was selected for “best representing the public discourse and preoccupations of the past year.”  What did they have to say about it? “When President Trump latched on to fake news early in 2017, he often used it as a rhetorical bludgeon to disparage any news report that he happened to disagree with,” said Ben Zimmer, chair of the American Dialect Society’s New Words Committee. “That obscured the earlier use of fake news for misinformation or disinformation spread online, as was seen on social media during the 2016 presidential campaign.” Here is the ADS' full list of words over the years.  And how does fake news relate to dumpster fire?  ADS' word last year was dumpster fire - (US, slang) A chaotic,unpleasant, unmanageable thing, situation or person:  a disaster. To find out about the origins of this expression, look at the Huffington Post article.  In the personal realm, there is a movement that seeks out a word to define one's year ahead. This kind of choosing relates to New Year's Resolutions.  Take a look at connect.org for more on this. Here are two of my favourite locations - the underground walkway at rush hour in Toronto's Scotia Plaza and the Charles Daley Park willow tree.