Funny Neologisms

flirtationship noun informal a relationship that consists chiefly of flirting Hey, are you and so-and-so dating? If you get this question a lot, along with raised eyebrows and winks from your mutual friends, chances are youre in a flirtationship. [www.howtoputthefunbackintodating.com 29 August 2012] momshell noun informal a very attractive and glamorous new mother, usually a celebrity Call them momshells (mother-as-bombshell) for bouncing back after having a baby and jumping right back into their busy Hollywood careers looking svelte and stylish with no signs of baby weight. [http://news.yahoo.com 20 Aug 2012] jigsaw family noun a family in which two or more sets of children from previous relationships live together When she was asked to write a sequel to a classic childrens book, Jacqueline Wilson said no. But then she saw the fun she could have with the wish-granting fairy and a modern jigsaw family. [www.guardian.co.uk 10 Aug 2012] mansplain verb informal (of a man) to explain something patronisingly to a woman Lupe Fiasco Mansplains Some More in the Video for Bitch Bad [www.spin.com 23 August 2012] wifestyle noun informal what sort of wife you are Your choice of wifestyle: be like Kate Moss or Kate Middleton [www.newstatesman.com 02 July 2012] bankster noun informal a banker whose actions are illegal Where do banksters, you know, bad guy bankers, want their money? [www.wired.com 30 Sept 2012] pentrepreneur noun an entrepreneur of pensionable age BBCDragonsDen pentrepreneur is as excruciating as mumpreneur. [twitter.com/susanaktemel/status 16 Sept 2012] spankbuster noun informal a popular novel featuring scenes of sado-masochism

Sales of 5.3m in print and ebook drive EL Jamess spankbuster past the Highway Code and Dan Brown [www.guardian.co.uk 07 Aug 2012] omnishambles noun informal a show of utter incompetence Aircraft carrier omnishambles wastes 100 million. The Ministry of Defence has spent 100 million preparing to use fighter jets that have now been abandoned, ministers have admitted. [www.telegraph.co.uk 10 May 2012] walk for phrasal verb to be employed as a catwalk model for a particular fashion house Shes walked for designers such as McQueen, Balenciaga, Chanel [...] [http://mcqueen3486.hubpages.com 6 May 2012] generation rent noun young people in the UK and the US, most of whom cannot now afford to buy their own homes and consequently rent them The current clutch of young adults have been nicknamed generation rent after a series of studies suggested that Britain is changing from a nation of home owners into a continental-style society where renting is the norm. [www.telegraph.co.uk 27 June 2012] banner blindness noun the ability to ignore banner advertising on websites Banner blindness is a well-documented phenomenon. The modern-day internet consumer is well aware of, and used to, the standard advertising formats. [www.guardian.co.uk 12 April 2012] binge thinker noun someone who tends to worry or think about multiple subjects in an uncontrolled way Weve become a nation of binge thinkers with worry in-trays we can never clear, says stress expert Professor Cary Cooper from Lancaster University. [Grazia (UK celebrity magazine) 11 June 2012] family balancing noun the ability to select the gender of a child in order to provide the desired gender mix in a family Dr. Gillian Lockwood, Consultant Gynaecologist, Medical Director of the Midland Fertility Services debated for the motion This house believes that PGD for sex selection for family balancing (gender selection) is a basic human right. [www.ukcfa.co.uk 04 June 2012]

nappy wall noun the barrier that prevents a woman with a young child from progressing in the workplace That what too many women face nowadays isnt a glass ceiling because of their sex, but a nappy wall if they choose to have a child as well as a career? [www.telegraph.co.uk 15 June 2012] mumblogger noun a mother who blogs about topics of interest to other mothers A large number of mumbloggers mothers who write blogs are meeting in the flesh, at Moorgate in London. [The Guardian (UK broadsheet) 23 June 2012] mummy porn noun informal pornographic literature adopted primarily by a demographic of young/young-ish mothers I was on the train the other day with a pile of women reading porn. Mummy Porn that is to coin that unsavoury new phrase. [www.google.co.uk 06 June 2012] activist investor noun someone who buys shares in a company in order to use the influence that gives them to campaign on an issue The board of Yahoo is discussing the future of Scott Thompson, its chief executive, after an activist investor at the technology giant accused him of lying on his CV. [The Independent (UK broadsheet) 10 May 2012] crowdfunded adjective funded by asking many people to contribute, usually in an online campaign DailyMotion teams up with Flattr for crowdfunded video [gigaom.com 02 May 2012] applepick verb to steal someones iPhone Somebody walked down the aisle and plucked my iPhone right out of my hand [...] The people at the store were very sympathetic [...] But they were like, Oh yeah you got applepicked. Yeah, happens a lot. [WNYC: All things Considered (current affairs radio show) 10 April 2012] reality soap noun a TV show which features a cast who are not professional actors, but who are shown in stage-managed situations Hoboken, New Jersey, the Garden State city best known as the birthplace of Frank Sinatra, drew the ire of fans of the vodka-soaked reality soap Jersey Shore this week.

[www.sheknows.com 3 Feb 2012] That is something I can assure you, as I had my share of witnessing tv-productions being made and even participated in a pilot for reality soap, taped in L.A. [meetmisso.creatorsofdesire.com 16 Feb 2012] twit-rape verb to hijack someones Twitter account and tweet as if you are them The intern wrote: I should log out of my Twitter so that my intern doesnt twit-rape me [www.digitalspy.co.uk 26 Jan 2012] twittion noun a Twitter petition Please sign this twittion so we can prove that there are MANY fans here in Australia! [b2staustralia.blogspot.com 17 Jan 2012] glitterbomb verb to throw glitter on someone (as a protest against homophobic views) In a message to the micro-blogging service Twitter, a person using the name Nick Espinosa said: I just glitterbombed Mitt Romney and yelled feel the rainbow, the 1 percent pays for hate, youre not welcome in our state! [globalpost.com 1 Feb 2012] human safari noun a trip in which tourists can glimpse indigenous peoples India has ordered the arrest of a tour operator for running a human safari after a video emerged showing police making half-naked women from a tiny island tribe dance in return for food. [www.guardian.co.uk 12 Jan 2012] phablet noun a hybrid device that is halfway between a smartphone and a tablet computer Hankil Yoon, a product strategy executive at Samsung, is showing off the new Galaxy Note, an oversized smartphone with a 5.3 inch display thats part of a new class of phones being dubbed phablets. [www.forbes.com 28 Feb 2012] pin verb to put an image or video on a virtual moodboard on the website Pinterest It allows people to create online displays of their likes and dislikes from home decor to nail art by pinning images and videos on to virtual boards. [The Guardian (UK broadsheet) 25 Feb 2012] daggering noun a raunchy style of dance for a couple in which the man makes thrusting moves towards the womans groin or bottom Fans of the genre and attendees of Notting Hill carnival will have known of daggering for years, but it

garnered the attention of the childrens commissioners office during Channel 4 Newss investigation into teenage girls in gangs. [www.guardian.co.uk 30 March 2012] showroom verb to examine and research a product in a shop before buying it more cheaply online The showrooming trend might sound like a retailers worst nightmare, requiring not only that the retailer offers the best showroom experience, but also offers the best value (price, conditions and service) [...] [http://socialcommercetoday.com 5 Jan 2012] thrifter noun a person who shops only at discount stores and thrift shops selling secondhand goods New resale shops have been booming. [...] Hard times have brought in hordes of new thrifters one in six adults now shops at the stores. [AARP Bulletin (monthly over-50s newspaper) Jan. 2012] woopies plural noun informal well-off older people Ten years ago the new breed of telescopes cost around 700 and the first users of this new wave of instruments tended to be retired men and women woopies or well-off old people. [The Observer (UK broadsheet) 22 Jan 2012] Janopause noun the practice of abstaining from alcohol for the month of January Are you a fan of the Janopause detox? The British Liver Trust has poured cold water on the practice of giving up alcohol for January. Tell us your thoughts. [www.guardian.co.uk 2 Jan 2012] perma-camper noun a homeless person who lives in his or her vehicle, often a minivan What you find when you talk to perma-campers is that theyre often affectionate about their vehicles. The way they see things, living in a vehicle is a way to stay in control of their lives. [NPR: All Things Considered (news) 12 March 2012] biphobia noun extreme dislike of and prejudice against bisexual people Dr Gerada is a GP in Vauxhall, which has the largest gay community in London outside of Soho. She warned that homophobia and biphobia persist. [GP (UK trade magazine) 29 Feb 2012] BYOD abbreviation bring your own devices: describes a situation such as a job where an employee is expected to bring their own equipment, for example a laptop

So, the question to you is, If your employer or prospective employer requires you to BYOD, would you keep or take the job?. [www.zdnet.com 5 Jan 2012] brosiery noun pantyhose for men Franceso Cavallini [...] told Womens Wear Daily last week that there is a cult following for mantyhose, also called brosiery and guylons. [New York Times (US broadsheet) 11 March 2012] idiocracy noun rule, government or control exercised by foolish people This is what happens when you move from being a technological leader in the world to becoming an idiocracy. Your infrastructure starts to crumble and you just run behind the problems. [Natural History (US nature and science magazine) Jan. 2012] lit flick noun informal a film adapted from a novel of some literary merit Classic lit flick: Stanley Kubricks one-time banned A Clockwork Orange starring Malcolm McDowell [www.metro.co.uk 8 Nov 2011] twisticuffs plural noun humorous an argument conducted on Twitter No FBUI Facebooking under the influence; Avoid Twisticuffs (online arguments); Be clever on social media vs. being controversial. [http://law2sm.com 14 Nov 2011] zombie account noun a savings account that pays negligible interest Some 20 percent of savings accounts on the market are zombie accounts which pay pitiful interests rates of less than 0.1 percent, according to Jane Platt, chief executive of National Savings & Insurance. [www.citywire.co.uk 24 Nov 2011] automagically adverb independently, without effort and as if by magic [He explained] how to automagically solve the problem of having millions of rows of data, and not knowing how to find the 15 valuable rows [...] [http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/14 Mar 2012] couch commerce noun the buying of goods online from the home Above, you can see an intriguing graph from Compuware APM that shows a kind of kooky new trend in shopping this holiday season, something the researchers are calling couch commerce. [www.tuaw.com 5 Dec 2011]

dwell time noun technical the time spent on a website We obviously like to see tons of game plays and long dwell times, but we also like critical acclaim [...] [The Observer (UK broadsheet) 2 Oct 2011] gastrosexual noun a man who enjoys cooking, especially as a form of seduction Enter: The gastrosexual male. Hes the guy who has taken up cooking to impress his woman. He uses his culinary prowess as bait, as he does with his personality, looks or social status. [www.thehindu.com 08.10.11] granny tax noun informal a proposed tax on pensioners designed to help to pay for care of the elderly Pensioners were told yesterday they could be hit with a granny tax to fund their long term care. [Daily Mirror (UK tabloid) 05 July 2011] skort noun a skirt with integral shorts underneath Navy blue shorts with sport logo/house colour or navy blue skort for girls [list of uniform requirements for UK secondary school 01 July 2011] photobombing noun spoiling a photograph by jumping into the picture just as it is being taken After searching through a hundred of her best bombs, I asked her to write a How To Guide for photobombing to which she graciously agreed. [thisisphotobomb.memebase.com 23.06.11] hi-driff noun the upper stomach when deliberately exposed by clothes Baring all in a crop top is wayyy [sic] too scary for most of us, so were loving the new hi-driff trend flashing that little bit of flesh just above the waist. [Grazia (UK celebrity magazine) 20.06.11] Facebooking noun the activity of using the social networking website Facebook So the more obstreperous aspects of Facebooking are neither here nor there. [The Observer (UK broadsheet) 29.05.11] discoverable adjective (of websites and other media), able to be explored or discovered Were flipping traditional TV on its head and letting the kids decide whats popular by voting things up and making them more discoverable. [The Guardian (UK broadsheet) 02.04.11] Posh 2.0 noun an upper-class, bohemian person

Posh 2.0s are young, hip and creative if a little inclined to drop their Ts, pronounce their THs as Fs and throw their Innits about, in the name of demonstrating how down they are. [Grazia (UK celebrity magazine) 30.05.11] Eurabia noun a term used to describe the supposed domination of Europe by Islamic people and customs Europe is rapidly being transformed into Eurabia, a cultural and political appendage of the Arab/Muslim world that is fundamentally anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, anti-Western and anti-American. [www.nationalismtoday.com 08.05.11] deather noun a person who does not believe that US forces killed Osama Bin Laden Meet The Deathers: Andrew Briebart Website Pushing Conspiracy Theory That Osama Might Not Be Dead [http://thinkprogress.org (caption) 02.05.11] hilaire adjective informal hilarious It promises Carrie all grown-up fashion moments the bit where she inadvertently juggles her Blackberry and her Mulberry Alexa and laugh-out-loud gags (the mammogram one! Hilaire! The twins bit! Inspired!) [Grazia (UK celebrity magazine) 13.06.11] vote up phrasal verb to vote for something that you like on a website or TV programme Were flipping traditional TV on its head and letting the kids decide whats popular by voting things up and making them more discoverable. [The Guardian (UK broadsheet) 2 April 2011] globalista noun a very cosmopolitan and well-travelled person Not only is the art on the walls his own, but the interior, designed by GQ contributing editor Tara Bernerd, brings a globalistas vision to informal dining in an upscale environment. [GQ (UK men's magazine) April 2011] dumbphone noun a mobile that is not a smart phone The market is 90 percent dumbphone users. [Heard in conversation (man 40s) 11 February 2011] Androids are awesome, iPhones impressive [...] but dumbphones still dominate. [www.foxnews.com 10 February 2011] bunga bunga noun informal sexual entertainment She is one of a string of women who are alleged to have taken part in naked bunga bunga parties at the prime ministers villa.

[www.dailymail.co.uk 25 February 2011] chadult noun a child who dresses and behaves like an adult While we suspect parents (yes, we mean you Will Smith!) are behind the rise of the chadult, we still feel uneasy when we see pics of Tom Cruises Suri donning a pair of heels and clutching her Starbucks coffee. [www.madeformums.com 18 February 2011] gestational carrier noun a surrogate mother They thanked everyone who was so supportive throughout this process, in particular our gestational carrier. [bbc.co.uk 18 January 2011] quintastic noun informal a very glamorous and youthful (usually celebrity) fifty-year old The increasingly glamorous image of 50-year-olds has even spawned a new term, the Quintastics thanks, in part, to the visibility of a number of high-profile celebrities who met the event with undiminished glamour in the past year [...] [The Observer Magazine (UK broadsheet) 23 January 2011] water poverty noun the inability to pay for water bills Water poverty will become the new fuel poverty for an increasing number of households as scarcity of supply pushes up bills [...] [The Observer (UK broadsheet) 20 February 2011] hacktivist noun someone who hacks into computer data as a form of activism Internet hacktivists have fired the latest salvo in the Wikileaks infowar. [www.bbc.co.uk 07 Dec 2010] slacktivist noun informal someone whose activist activities are confined to signing online petitions, etc. Hey reddit, lets show these stupid Facebook slacktivist (sic)that what they do doesnt help raise awareness or anything and donate to their cause. [www.reddit.com 12 Dec 2010] twitpic noun a picture posted as a Tweet Victoria Beckham joins Twitter, posting twitpics of her fashion shows and her dogs, signing off with in love and light, VBx. [The Times (UK broadsheet) 18 Dec 2010] edupreneur noun someone working as an entrepreneur in an area of education Switching sides: prominent educationists now working as edupreneurs. [The Guardian (UK

broadsheet, headline) 26 Oct 2010] social graph noun a record of a persons online contacts In that way, the leaching of Facebook IDs, and of peoples social graphs who they are linked to will be of great concern to Facebook, which derives its value from being able to act as the go-between for highly targeted advertising served to its users. [www.guardian.co.uk 18 Oct 2010] vaguebooking noun the practice of leaving deliberately vague or ambiguous posts on Facebook Yes, Im guilty of vaguebooking, as its called. [Radio 5Live 09 Nov 2010] funemployment noun enjoyable unemployment As frivolous as it sounds, funemployment is a statement about American society. Experts say its both a reflection of the countrys cultural narcissism and attitudes of entitlement and self-centeredness and a backlash against corporate America and its Dilbert-like work environment. [www.latimes.com 31 Oct 2010] nevertiree noun a person past retirement age who still works Instead of planning a conventional retirement or making plans to retire early, most of our respondents aspire to keep on working in some form to become a Nevertiree rather than a retiree. [www.barclayswealth.com 27 Dec 2010] sofalise verb to stay in and communicate with family and friends via electronic devices Why socialise when you can just stay home and sofalise? [The Daily Mail (UK tabloid) 08 Nov 2010] glocalization noun the tailoring of globally produced products to make them suitable to local tastes and needs Glocalization often involves an international corporation tailoring their product to local tastes rather than trying to sell a one size fits all version of their product in many markets. [curiosity.discovery.com 25 Dec 2010] intexticated adjective unable to concentrate while driving because of being distracted by texting Driving While Intexticated is more hazardous than Driving While Intoxicated. The response time of texter-drivers was three to four times slower than that of drunks. [Charleston Daily Mail (US newspaper) 21 Oct 2010] intextication noun the state of being unable to drive safely while texting Intextication Prevention Tools This SafeCell Android App Credits You Money for Safe Driving [www.trendhunter.com (advert)] 31 Oct 10

totes adverb very informal very, totally Its totes the best hun cal froyo [hundred calorie frozen yogurt]! [http://www.yelp.com/list/its-totes-thebest-hun-cal-froyo-san-mateo] Jul 2010 whevs exclamation very informal whatever: used as a sign of rude indifference Gimme your number (on here, message or text whevs). [http://www.facebook.com/group.php? gid=286027300060] Jan 2011 eye-gazing party noun a dating trend based on the practice of speed-dating in which participants do not speak to each other but instead, gaze at each other for a set amount of time before moving on Eye-gazing parties arent the only new dating trend out there. [Marie-Claire (UK women's magazine)] Dec 2010 tweetheart noun a friend or lover that you communicate with via Twitter Gathering of Tweethearts at Chilis [www.iamthewitch.com (headline)] 07 Oct 2010 abandoned DNA noun DNA a person leaves behind, for example on a cup, which can then be tested and stored in a data bank by the police or other authorities without the persons permission What about abandoned DNA? Can police follow you around and wait till you spit on the street and then collect that? [WNYC: Leonard Lopate Show (US NY culture and current affairs)] 16 Dec 2010 lappy noun informal a laptop computer Ill probably need a new lappy in not too long.