Some more interesting new words

It’s time to get groovy again with a new crop of hip words being used by the cool crew. (And we promise that’s the last you’ll hear that jargon)

First off…a gesture, not a word, per se, since images are the new words.

“BTS heart” gesture – The finger heart gesture is a trend that was popularized in South Korea during the 2010s by K-pop stars. The thumb and index finger of one hand are crossed to form a heart shape, and an invisible virtual heart is imagined above it.

20-Boppers — the 2020s version of old-school “teeny boppers.” The 20-boppers can be found in clubs and bars with distinctive clothing. The girls wear skimpy ripped shorts, spandex shorts, micro-mini skirts or colorful super-tight tights below, and midriff-baring blouses/shirts or halter-top-bra outfits above. The boys, not surprisingly, wear pretty much what they did in 2005: skinny jeans, clean t-shirts (or occasionally untucked button-up shirts) and the universal footwear for 15-30-year old guys…cool Vans. The 20-boppers descend on the clubs in droves, often arriving or leaving in concert. At the club, the dance modes are variations on individual or group twerking because the music typically consists of a throbbing bass line with hints of other instruments.

cheugy — The opposite of trendy, that is, once-stylish in middle school and high school but no longer in style and may include (but not limited to) fashion, social media habits and slang. My favorite offshoot: The “Cheugosphere!” But don’t worry if you can’t pronounce the term because like any teen- or 20-bopper-trending term, it will undoubtedly be gone in a month or so. (See, e.g. “bae” from a couple years ago or “on fleek.” As soon as it started to get picked up, it was dropped…as cheugy…by those in the know.)

NoFOMO – No Fear Of Missing Out. In pre-pandemic days, many people — young and old — had the FOMO condition, especially teens who say they would go to parties simply because they were afraid something cool would happen and they didn’t want to arrive at school on Monday and find that they missed the party of the year while parents were out of town. However, during the pandemic it gradually started to feel OK to simply stay in, chill with Netflix or Zoom calls and work on your TikTok—for the kids that is. But for older folks it wasn’t that much different: instead of going to happy hours, museum events, parties and Meetups, the adults could feel perfectly guilt-free and at ease alone…chillin’ with Netflix or Zoom calls. (Disclaimer: I invented this variation on the term FOMO.)

Soultel : (1) a place where you send your soul when you need to do something a bit shady; (2) a place you send your over-wrought soul for a needed vacay, e.g., instead of having a nervous breakdown. (Disclaimer: I invented this one too)

verbigerate (vuhr-BIJ-uh-rayt) To obsessively repeat meaningless words and phrases. From Latin verbigerare (to talk, chat), from verbum (word) + gerere (to carry on). Earliest documented use: 1656. “Then she started verbigerating ‘Hallelujah’ for hours.” You want to be careful inserting this in conversation but it seems like it could be quite useful when certain politicians get to yakkin’.

scaldabanco (skal-duh-BAHNG-koh) A fiery speaker, especially a preacher. From obsolete Italian scaldabanco (literally, heats the bench), from scaldare (to heat) + banco (bench). Earliest documented use: 1670.

gobemouche (GOB-moosh) noun: A gullible or credulous person. From French gobe-mouche (flycatcher, sucker), from gober (to suck or swallow) + mouche (fly). Earliest documented use: 1818.

Pigeon chess – a pointless exercise in argumentative futility. “Never play chess with a pigeon. It will just knock over the pieces, shit all over the board and strut around like it won.” https://extranewsfeed.com/the-first-victim-of-authoritarianism-is-language-ef27ae176fdf

And finally, a COVID-era term winging in from the travel world:

bleisure – basically “travel, business and leisure” or “business travel and leisure,” — business travel that coincides with a pleasure vacay via private jet charter. Although the word, which comes to us from the Airline Travel blog, has been around for a while, the concept caught fire during the pandemic…at least for those who could afford private jet charters.

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FYI: ‘verbigerate,’ ‘scaldabanco’ and ‘gobemouche’ were all posted in the various editions of the excellent A Word A Day newsletter

I also coined “20-boppers,” heh heh.

Fun new words!

Here are some fun new words (or maybe just new to me) — including a brand new one (called a neologism by linguists) that I just made up…at the end!

Update May 2021: cheugy — The opposite of trendy. Stylish in middle school and high school but no longer in style, may include but not be limited to fashion, habits on social media and slang, My favorite offshoot: The Cheugosphere! But don’t worry if you can’t pronounce the term because like any teen- or 20-bopper trending term, it will undoubtedly be gone by June. (see, e.g. “bae” from a couple years ago. As soon as it started to get picked up, it was dropped as cheugy by those in the know.)

Fauxpology — “Apologies are such important verbal transactions. So why are so many of them soooo bad? McCarthy & Ingall from SorryWatch and Beaudin of fauxpolo.gy pinpoint what to look out for, to sort the apologies from the fauxpologies.” In particular, watch out for so-called apologies like “If anyone was offended…” or “I regret…” (which is more about the speaker than the victim).

Chumbox — boxes at the side or bottom of a web page that have several pieces of clickbaity “sponsored content” or “suggested reading.” This one isn’t really new, but it’s nice to know there’s a word for this most annoying of all website ad gimmicks. Tip: never click on anything that says “Never do this,” “Do this every day” or “I beg…”

Note: this is a real web ad I’ve inserted as a graphic; do not try this at home!

Dispronunciation — someone saying a name incorrectly on purpose. Whereas ‘misinformation’ is information that happens to be false, and ‘disinformation’ is false information purposely spread, and ‘mispronunciation’ is simply someone trying struggling to say our name — but dispronunciation is when you mispronounce for some political or literary (perhaps satirical) purpose.
   Example: When Sen. David Perdue (R) of Georgia, referred to his colleague of many years as “Kamala-mala-mala, I don’t know, whatever!”, he was mispronouncing on purpose, for political, supposedly comic effect. Fox News host Tucker Carlson was also notoriously guilty, though it doesn’t appear he actually knew the correct pronunciation

Firehosing — propaganda technique that involves pushing out as many lies as possible as often as possible. Example: The systemic strategy that anti

Duane Gish arguing against evolution

-vaxxers use to spread misinformation. (The Guardian, Nov 7, 2019, Science communicator Lucky Tran)]
–see also Gish Gallop: a rhetorical technique that involves overwhelming your opponent with as many arguments as possible, with no regard for the relevance, validity, or accuracy of those arguments.¹

Hygge — the art of coziness in the home, which Danes call “hygge” (pronounced: hoo-gah or HUE-gah). One key way to create an atmosphere of contentment is through lighting, focusing on warm lights and simple designs to turn your home into a Scandinavian haven.

Braille parking (from the book Corked, p43) — where you maneuver the car around into a parking spacing using other cars to bounce into place

Elevator gaze — when you look someone up and down

And now…some COVID-era terms

Body mullet: What people wear on Zoom calls: a nice top…but below the waist, underwear or less. (“Business on top, party down below.”)

 

 

 

 

Domino distancing: When the person behind you in line stands too close, causing you to crowd the person in front of you, and on and on until everyone dies.

New “days of the week”: Someday, Noneday, Whoseday?, Whensday?, Blursday, Whyday?, Doesn’tmatterday

Power break — alternative to “having a nervous breakdown.” Basically, what the Brits call a “mini-break” except it’s not a long weekend getaway, more like a planned “disconnection from work” after a grueling period. Coined by Jerry Useem in March 2021 Atlantic

And ta da…Introducing my new word!

Soultel : (1) a place where you send your soul when you need to do something a bit shady; (2) a place you send your over-wrought soul for a needed vacay (e.g., instead of having a nervous breakdown)

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¹named after the behavior of creationist Duane Gish in formal debates [ Debates and the Globetrotters by Eugenie C. Scott (July 7, 1994) The TalkOrigins Archive.] Also called a Trump Tirade^[2]  or the Alex Avalanche.

And some last-minute additions:

Don’t you dunh-dunh me! (mimicking the Law & Order theme)

Deepities — apparent profundities that really aren’t: “Love is just a word,” (Daniel Dennett)

“Quote-mining” – taking a quote out of context (Jesus & Mo cartoon)

“The sweet sound of a bullet whizzing past my ear” – John Oliver discussing not having his show scheduled during Impeachment II