A - E
A
ANDROPAUSE (OR VIROPAUSE), n. The end of virility. [blend of
virility and menopause
Context and Source: "andropause or viropause, the end of
virility," (Newsweek 9/16/96)
ANIME, n. See JAPANIMATION.
ARTSY, adj. pretending to be artistic. Overly artistic. [Compound
of arts + 'y' (adjectival ending, "have the characteristic
of")]
A.S.S. GRADUATE, n. A long-winded person (who's attended the
"American Sidebartending School"). [Lingo used by
journalists covering the O.J. Simpson Civil Trial. Found in Newsweek]
AUDIOPHILE, n. One who loves and collects audio equipment and media
[compound from L. audio 'hear' and G. phile 'loving']
Context and source: "Being an audiophile, I own an 8 track
player, phonograph, cassette player, CD player, DAT recorder, and a
Minidisc player." (Conversation)
AUTO "DENTIST", n. One who repairs dents, hail damage,
and other types of minor damage on automobiles. ["dentist"
to mean "one who repairs dents."]
Context and source: "Auto 'dentist' specializing in dents,
dings, and hail damage; high quality, affordable
rates,"advertisement painted on the auto dentist's car. (used by
persons associated with car body repair--none phrase)
B
BACK STORY, n. The events of a character's life prior to the start
of a fictional story. Also used metaphorically to mean
"background"[compound of "back" and
"story"]
BAGGRAVATION, n. A feeling of annoyance and anger one endures at
the airport when his bags have not arrived at the baggage carousel but
everyone else's bags have [blend formed from words bag and
aggravation].
Context and source: "Nancy couldn't help but feel baggravation as
she watched other passengers get their luggage and leave the
airport." (Internet)
BENEDICT, n. [alter, of Benedick] a newly married man who has long
been a bachelor. [based on the Shakespearean character from Much Ado
About Nothing]
Source: Word a Day
BFE , adj. Very far away: Beyond Fu**ing Egypt. also B.F.E., b.f.e.
[Acronym. Egypt was chosen somewhat arbitrarily as a country on the
opposite side of the world. Variant: Bomfoq Egypt]
Context and source: "My car is parked BFE!" (Conversation)
BIG-EYED, adj. One who eats when s/he is not hungry; greedy.
[compound of big+eye+d 'adjective forming]
Context and Source: If I see food, I want to eat it. I'm so big-eyed.
(Conversation)
BLADING, v. The act of rollerblading, or skating while wearing a
modified version of rollerskates called rollerblades which have only
one continuous line (a blade) of wheels on the underside of each boot
[clip of verb rollerblading ].
Context and source: "I'm going blading around the inner loop if
you want to come." (Conversation)
BRONCO BAG, n. Tarp material used to protect well-coifed TV types
from sun or rain. [Lingo used by journalists covering the O.J. Simpson
Civil Trial. Found in Newsweek]
BTW, conj. Shorthand method of expressing by the way, commonly used
in office memorandums and email communications.
Context and source: "BTW, there's a diversity training class
meeting at 1:00 in the conference room." (Memorandum at work)
C
CADILLACING, v. Slang. Relaxing. syn. chilling.
Context and source: "He didn't work at all. He was just
cadillacing." (Conversation)
CAMPOS, n. The campus police who patrol Rice University; refers to
either one policeman, a group of them, and/or the collective entity of
policemen. [clipping/blend of 'campus' and 'police.']
Context and source: "You could get a ticket from the campos if
you park your car here." (Conversation)
CARJACKING, n. An incident by which a usually armed individual
coerces the driver of an automobile to give up his vehicle or drive it
and the assailant to some specified location [blend of car and
hijacking ].
Context and source: "A carjacking at the corner of Cherry Lane
and the Interstate 30 access road has left local residents
shocked." (KXAS Local News, 9-28-96)
COMETISED - adj. used to describe Netscape when it freezes or jams.
[ based on the observation of a "shooting star" or a comet
(cannot really tell) that appears on the Netscape button, in the upper
right corner of a Netscape browser. ]
Context and source: "Oh geez, Netscape is cometised."
(Internet Newsgroup)
CORDS, n. A garment or article of clothing made of corduroy fabric.
[Clipping of corduroy]
Context and source: "Hey, I like your cords!" (Conversation)
CROSS-TRAINER, n. A type of athletic shoe designed for
cross-training, an all encompassing fitness routine which involves
running, weight lifting, and other sports [compound formed from roots
cross and train + -er ].
Context and source: "The new Nike Cross-Trainer."
(Advertisement, Sports Illustrated 9-30-96)
D
DATE RAPE, n. An incidence of forced sexual intercourse by one of
two individuals after an initial social encounter, usually a date
[compound formed with roots date and rape ].
Context and source: "You Can Protect Yourself Against Date
Rape" (Flyer at Hanszen College, Rice University)
DEFLICTED,adj. Affected with a condition that misshapes or
distorts. [Blend of "afflicted" and "deformed."]
Context and source: "I wouldn't want my girlfriend to have the
deflicted body of a rower." (Conversation)
DETOX, n. A clinic or treatment facility at which substance abusers
attempt to rid themselves of dependency on a particular drug. Part of
this process entails the actual physical removal of toxins present in
the body due to the abuse of a substance [clip of detoxification ].
Context and source: "Mrs. Herrod checked herself into
detox..." (Conversation)
DISORIENT EXPRESS, n. A state of confusion. [novel formation].
Context and Source: "I felt like I was on the Disorient Express
for good this time."(Newsweek 11/14/96)
E
EARWITNESS, n. An individual who hears an incident occur,
especially one who later gives a report on what he heard [blend of ear
and eyewitness ].
Context and source: "I didn't see what happened, I just heard it.
I guess I was an earwitness." (Conversation)
EATERS COMA, n. A condition characterized by sluggishness,
sleepiness, and often a lack of motivation to do anything but
rest/relax or sleep; a condition whose onset occurs shortly after a
meal, usually dinner.
Context and source: "I have a lot of homework to do, but I just
ate a big dinner and now I've got eaters coma." (Conversation)
EATERS DEATH, n. The acute form of eaters coma; characterized by
difficulty in standing up and walking, onset occurs after an extremely
large meal.
Context and source: "I've got eaters death and I don't think I
can get up from this chair."(Conversation)
EBONICS, n. Black English Vernacular [Blend of ebony and phonics]
E-MAIL, n. An application of personal computers through which
messages are automatically (electrically) sent through networks of
computers to Electronic mailboxes [clipped compound formed from
electronic and mail ].
Context and source: "I need to check my e-mail"
(Conversation)
EMOTICON, n. A symbol, usually found in e-mail messages, made up of
punctuation marks that resembles a human expression. [Blend of emotion
and icon]
Contex and source: " I received a strange symbol at the end of an
e-mail and was informed that it is called and emoticon."
New
words F - N
New
words O - Z
