Here are some new words from 2010 to add to your lexicon for small talk in the new year.
Nominations for (American Dialect Society`s) 2010 Word of the Year
- spillion: An immense number, especially for fluid measures. Also spillionaire, a person made rich by money from BP’s cleanup fund.
- gate rape: The invasive new airport pat-down procedure; or enhanced pat-down, the politically correct label that the American Government assigned to the controversial new frisking procedure.
- kinetic event: Pentagon spineech [my invention] term for violent attacks on troops in Afghanistan.
- hacktivism: Using computer hacking skills as a form of political or social activism.
- skyaking: Jumping out of a plane in a kayak.
- gleek: A fan of the TV show “Glee”
- vuvuzela: South African plastic trumpet used by fans during the FIFA World Cup matches.
See their full list
Words officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2010
- social media websites and applications used for social networking
- defriend another term for unfriend (remove someone from a list of friends or contacts on a social networking site)
- hikikomori the abnormal avoidance of social contact, typically by adolescent males (in Japan)
- staycation holiday spent in one’s home country
- buzzkill a person or thing that has a depressing or dispiriting effect
- freemium a business model, especially on the Internet, whereby basic services are provided free of charge while more advanced features must be paid for
- frenemy a person with whom one is friendly despite a fundamental dislike or rivalry
- bromance a close but non-sexual relationship between two men
See their full list