Lara Formosa’s illustration of new words of 2014.Did you take a stessu (selfie) with your borrinu last week, when parts of Malta were blanketed overnight by what many believe was snow?
While the excitement of the rare event was shared through photos of miniature snowmen, social media users were struggling for a word which they had never needed until then.
So they coined the word borrinu (snowman) – just as a small chocolate is ċikkulatina and a young Toni is a Toninu.
Borrinu was one of the 11 “words of the year” chosen by the popular Facebook page Kelma Kelma run by University of Malta lecturer Michael Spagnol, who regularly updates the 35,500 followers with curiosities and information about the Maltese language.
Every year the online Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries, among others, list new English words that made it into the pop-culture lexicon.
Selfie was reportedly 2013’s biggest, and the Maltese version stessu also made it into the list of words for that year.
This year, Oxford Dictionaries crowned the word ‘vape’. Although coined in 1983, when electronic cigarettes were still a hypothetical device, vape only became a buzzword last year when many began to inhale the vapour produced by e-cigarettes.
But while the English debated the advantages of vapers vaping indoors over smokers smoking outdoors, the Maltese dived in for the ALS ice bucket challenge and... wait for it... tbarmlu throughout summer.
Titbarmel was coined for those who threw an ice-cold bucket of water over their heads to raise awareness – and funds – for the rapidly progressive, fatal disease.
The word, which has a nice ring to it, inspired other definitions, including a colleague who believes titbarmel sounds like a drunkard tripping and rolling over a bucket.
Meanwhile, if you are a nisatur (womaniser), you should probably be careful of a warazza – a woman with a nice backside but a less attractive face.
Titbarmel was inspired by the summer’s ALS Ice Bucket challenge. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is seen here getting a cold shower in August.Social trends tend to surface online and the Maltese seem to have developed a sweet tooth last year, with many posting pictures of themed cakes and muffins. But while the word kejk has settled down comfortably within the Maltese lexicon, there was a vacuum when it came to small cakes, popularly known as muffins and cupcakes, so Dr Spagnol coined the diminutive kejkina.
He said these words showed that the Maltese could be creative with our own language and did not need to borrow words from other languages.
“Creativity is commended in our society – in food, clothing, technology – so why not in language?
Malta’s little snowmen earned the name borrinu this Christmas. Photo: Jonathan Zarb“Every year we see new English words, like duckface and selfie. That is the continuous development of a language, and the Maltese language is no exception.
“Facebook is an ideal place from where to gather these new words as it is a reflection of what is going on in the social world,” the Maltese and linguistics lecturer told Times of Malta.
Will these words end up in the dictionary?
“That is up to the people and the frequency they use these words. Just like food, clothes and technology, language has a practical use and the aesthetic aspect.
In November Kim Kardashian’s backside was the talk of the internet. Does she qualify as a warazza?“When a journalist needed a Maltese word for ‘crossword’, Prof. Ġużè Aquilina coined the word tisliba, a word which has made it into our dictionary. There were other words, like sikkieta for ‘silencers’, coined by Dun Karm Psaila, which were forgotten,” he explained.
Stessu is a case in point and most are nowadays familiar with the word. However, there may be words related to events that did not last long, like the ice bucket challenge, which might soon be forgotten.
Kelma Kelma’s top 11 for 2014
Bjondata – to do or say something stupid or take ages to understand a joke
Warazza – someone with a nice backside but not otherwise attractive
Tistessja – taking a selfie
Nisatur – womaniser
Borrinu – snowman
Kejkina – a muffin or a cupcake
Xorbgażmu – the feeling you get after having a drink or two following weeks of abstention.
Logħoburist – the one person on Facebook that constantly sends game requests to his friends
Fottifesti – killjoy
Tissajfaġġja – indulge in excessive pleasure all summer
Titbarmel – throw an icecold bucket of water over your head
How are new words coined?
Add a suffix, as in xemxata (sunstroke), to get bjondata (blonde moment). Just as you have kaċċatur (hunter), you can also have a nisatur (womaniser).
Compounding two words, as in qawsalla (qaws and alla) and ‘duckface’ or ‘facepalm’ can create new words like fottifesti (killjoy).
Blending two words, as in motor and hotel to make ‘motel’, or chill and relax to get ‘chillax’. In Maltese there is traġikomiku, and now also warazza from wara and mazza.