Monday, January 24, 2011

WTH is a WOTY?

by carol

The month of January is not only a time for new year resolutions. It also provides the opportunity to look back and assess certain aspects of the previous year.

As a self-confessed logophile (see blog entry on August 20, 2010), my favorite reviews come from the groups that select a “word of the year” (WOTY). These are words or phrases that came to special prominence during the year or which encapsulate a significant issue of it. WOTY is also one method seized upon by publicists to market dictionaries, which are invaluable but unsexy.

The Macquarie Dictionary group in Australia has its list of nominated words at their website http://macquariedictionary.com.au/ Online voting ends January 28th, so hustle over there if you want to vote for your choice.  It won’t be an easy decision.  Here are some of the choices:

preload - verb  
to consume alcoholic drinks at one's home in advance of going to a social event where such drinks would be more expensive.

koala ears - plural noun
1. patches of pubic hair protruding from the leg openings of a swimming costume or underwear.
2. thick tufts of hair growing over the ears, especially those occurring when a hairstyle is growing out.

tart noir - noun
a genre of crime fiction in which the female investigator is a woman who is tough, independent, and sexy.

fauxmance - noun
a sham romantic relationship between two celebrities, fabricated as a means to gain publicity.

email fatigue - noun
the sense of being overwhelmed by a high volume of incoming emails, resulting in an inability to deal with them effectively.

googleganger - noun
a person with the same name as oneself, whose online references are mixed with one's own among search results for one's name.

ego-surf - verb
to search the internet for instances of one's own name, as in mentions in text, links to one's blog, etc.

self-gift - noun
something bought for oneself as a personal indulgence.

lowbat - adjective
1. of or relating to an electronic device, especially a mobile phone, the functioning of which is impaired by having a battery which needs charging.
2. tired or exhausted: I was lowbat for days after the party. 

vajazzle – verb; noun
verb (of a woman) to decorate the pubic area by applying adhesive crystals to the skin after removal of hair by waxing; the decoration so applied.

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