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Today’s Word Wrap keeps on with our tradition of bringing you the hippest, most happening new words and phrases being coined, as they’re coined… well, okay, with at least a 5-second delay, ‘cause, let’s face it, a blog that brands itself as SMART certainly don’t wanna look all stupid and bleep.
Today’s sparkling entries, as usual, are brought to you by the good folk over at wordspy.com
menoporsche (MEN.uh.por.shuh; MEN.uh.porsh) n. Angst and anxiety exhibited by some men upon reaching middle age, especially when those feelings manifest in the purchase of a sports car or an affair with a younger woman. (Citations)
potty whispering n. The technique of training an infant to go to the washroom on cue by associating the act of elimination with a brief word or sound, especially one whispered in the baby’s ear.
—potty whisperer n. (Citations)
climate refugee n. A person who has been forced to relocate due to changing climate or to a disaster caused by or associated with climate change. (Citations)
foliologist (foh.lee.AWL.uh.gist) n. A person who is an expert on where and when tree leaves change color during the fall. (Citations)
celebutard (suh.LEB.yoo.tard) n. A celebrity who is or is perceived to be unintelligent. (Citations)
sock puppet n. A fake persona used to discuss or comment on oneself or one’s work, particularly in an online discussion group or the comments section of a blog. —adj.—sock puppeteer n.—sock puppetry n. (Citations)
afflufemza n. The tendency to assume that the anxiety and stress felt by affluent mothers who have to choose between staying at home or pursuing a career, is felt by all mothers regardless of their socioeconomic status. (Citations)
I thought a “Foliologist” was anyone who has been studying Congressmen in Florida.
posted by Sheldon Siegel on 10-20-2006 at 10:55 am
celebutard made me laugh out loud.
posted by Mangesh on 10-20-2006 at 1:08 pm
Celebutard could be made into a game similar to “Where’s Waldo”…put all the current celebrities in a picture and have people try and spot the one who is NOT the celebutard.
posted by Kathy on 10-25-2006 at 7:16 am
I like menoporsche the best, but celebutard (ex. Jessica Simpson) is damn funny too !!
posted by Jay Landau on 10-25-2006 at 9:12 am
Isn’t “celebutard” repetitively redundant again and again?
posted by MP Moran on 10-25-2006 at 11:05 am
Re Menoporsche: When the PT Cruiser first came out, my brother called it the Midlife Chrysler.
posted by T Baehr on 10-25-2006 at 11:31 am
I loved celebutard BUT to be politically correct — celebrally challenged?
posted by Melissa on 10-25-2006 at 4:15 pm
My favorite made up word came from a contest run by the Washington Post a couple of years ago. “Karmageddon” - Like, when everyone gets so stressed, like, ya know and just loses all their cool and the world just like explodes.
(paraphrased - the original was much funnier, but i never could tell a joke)
posted by Melodie on 10-25-2006 at 11:40 pm
Re potty whispering. They’ve been using a similar technique in China that I assume must be centuries, if not millenia, old. Mothers whistle softly in their babies’ ears while holding them near the curb of the street. Split-pants aid in the process, and millions of diapers are saved. Just watch your step while crossing the street.
posted by Susie on 10-26-2006 at 1:03 pm