J
anuary seems like a fine month for some lexicography fun, with all the top-this-and-that-of-2009 lists sprouting out there. And yes there is such a thing as lexicography fun … if, say, you belong to the Word Nerd club at Springbox. (I don’t, but my friend does.)
Let’s start with some neologisms (new words) of 2009 from Merriam-Webster, where I learned a delicious new word (locavore) and got a serious laugh (sock puppet). Really? Ah, as it turns out, “sock puppet” hadn’t previously failed to join the ranks of official words, it merely earned a secondary definition as a “deceptive online identity.” Not quite as charming as definition #1.
So then I tried to figure out a few of the new definitions before I clicked on them. Here’s how it went.
Zip line: “Hey Milton why don’t you ‘zip line’ your TPS report down to auditing for me.” As in, get it there quick. Nope, it actually means zip line.
Memory foam: “Um, I had a late night Lumbergh … Forgot … TPS … report. [pointing at head] ‘Memory foam.’” As in, hangover brain. Nope, it actually means memory foam.
Okay, that was fun but fruitless. Moving on …
Merriam-Webster also has a Word of the Year 2009 list, which is based on searches and appears to be largely driven by politics, with the likes of such words as inaugurate, rogue and philanderer.
The Global Language Monitor has a few nifty lists: Top Words, Phrases and Names of 2009, with Twitter, King of Pop and Barack Obama as the chart toppers, respectively. Twitter was such the universal list-topping sweetheart of 2009, that its verb form “tweet” has landed on Lake Superior State University’s 35th annual List of Words Banished from the Queen's English (for misuse, overuse and general uselessness).
Yes, the year-end lists are infinite. But if you didn’t see the word, expression or definition that you hoped to see in one of these examples, submit it to Merriam-Webster’s open dictionary! Or for some real fun just browse the open dictionary. While you’re at it, see if you can guess the definition of polates, aughties or sneeve.
This feels like an appropriate time to point out that neologism has two definitions.
1. a new word, usage, or expression
2. a meaningless word coined by a psychotic
It’s true.