Journalists, politicians and social commentators were as productive as ever in 2012 in coining new words, terms and expressions that enrich our language. I find the work of wordsmiths interesting as they often combine wit with a good command of semantics. Some of the words coined are not quite new, but they are often revived to encapsulate a current concept that defies easy definition.
Some of us seem eternally addicted to delusional thinking- John Cassar White
The US presidential election campaign inspired creative semantic fireworks that gave us some very descriptive words and phrases. Mitt Romney coined the phrase “binders full of women”.
Before you let your imagination run away with possible interpretations of this sexist phrase, let me explain that these words were said by Romney during his second presidential debate. He was quizzed by a voter on how he tried to bring women into his Cabinet while he was governor of Massachusetts. Romney stated: “I went to a number of women’s groups and said ‘Can you help us find folks? And they brought us whole binders full of women.”
President Barack Obama was no less witty and pungent when he reacted to Romney’s coining of the portmanteau word ‘Obamacare’. Obama invented the word ‘Romnesia’, fusing his challenger’s name and amnesia. At a rally in Virginia, Obama criticised Romney’s selective loss of memory. He said: “If you come down with Romnesia and you can’t seem to remember the policies that are still on your website or the promises you have made over the six years you have been running for President, here is the good news: Obama care covers pre-existing conditions. We can fix you up. We’ve got a cure.”
The Oxford University Press has just announced the 2012 Word of the Year. The word ‘GIF’ won the award. It means creating a GIF file of an image or video sequence, especially relating to an event. Mobile phones with built-in digital cameras are more practical than I thought.
A close second was ‘Eurogeddon the potential financial collapse of the eurozone, envisaged as having catastrophic implications for the region’s economic stability’. A similarly popular phrase used in the economic context is ‘fiscal cliff’. The Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has defined this term as “the major fiscal events that could happen simultaneously at the close of 2012 and the dawning of 2013. The events include the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts, the payroll tax cut and to other important tax-relief provisions”.
Social commentators provided us with some more spicy neologisms. A popular one is ‘YOLO you only live once; typically used as rationale or endorsement for impulsive or irresponsible behaviour. Another favourite word in social circles is ‘brofessional your perpetual single friend who is always available for a night of debauchery with otherwise married, stay-at-home types.
One of my favourites is ‘Freddy Cougar’, even if I suspect it may be politically incorrect to use it. Freddy Cougar (or Krueger) is a fictional disfigured serial killer who appears in the 1984 film Nightmare on Elm Street. Today, it is used by some cruel social commentators to describe a scary, middle-aged (or older) woman who mistakenly thinks she’s more desirable than she actually is.
A less offensive neologism is ‘cashtration the act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time’. I also like ‘intaxication euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realise it was your money to start with. No less pungent is the word ‘glibido’ – one who is all talk and no action.
This summer we had an invasion of nasty mosquitoes feasting on our blood streams. So for those who want a good label for these devilish creatures I suggest the word ‘beelzebug “Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out”.
Some think that today’s generation is becoming increasingly neurotic. Many younger people suffer from ‘nomophobia’, anxiety caused by being without one’s mobile phone. Could this be the cause of an increasing incidence of ‘quarterlife crisis’ among our youngsters? This latest new term is used to describe the condition that is associated with the feeling that some people in their early 20s suffer of being unsettled and unfulfilled.
But my favourite neologism, even if not the newest, is ‘hopium the stubborn refusal to look reality in the face and just keep on “wishin’ and hopin’”. Some of us seem eternally addicted to delusional thinking.
johncassarwhite@yahoo.com