Mark my words,they are changing
The word is out. It is new and different. The recession has churned out glum faces,sober weekends and empty wallets.....
The word is out. It is new and different. The recession has churned out glum faces,sober weekends and empty wallets. But as a byproduct,it has produced something else which just rolls off your tongue. New words are out,and they are making more sense with every passing day.
Try homedulging,a cocktail of home and indulging. It means friends get their own booze to your sitting room,the new neighbourhood hangout and party.
The recessionista person shopping for bargains on designer wear has already made its way into conversations. But already,recessionista is on its way to being so last week as chiconomic chic and economic takes centrestage.
This is what neologisms are all about: a perfect reflection of a fast growing society. A neologism,coined in 1803 is a word devised in a specific time period often directly attributable to a specific person,publication,period,or event.
Politicians are well-known neologists.
For example,the White Houses recent offering is ObamanomicsUS President Barack Obamas plan to help save the country from the backlash of recession. Or theres Saddlebacking. The story goes,that President Obama asked Rick Warren,pastor of Saddleback Church and author of The Purpose Driven Lifeto speak at his inauguration. Warren has old-fashioned views about homosexuality and gay columnist Dan Savage asked readers to define the term saddlebacking,preferably as a sexual abuse.
No one can beat the good ol George W. Bush for giving rise to some classics. His last memorable one was when an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the former US President in Baghdad. The Internet a neologism itself has Ducking the Shoe or Duck the Shoe as a new oft used phrase. Its definition? Escaping even the most minor of punishments for extended errors or catastrophic misdeeds. And who can forget Bushs very own weapons of mass destruction that gave birth to loads of new phrases weapons of mass deception,weapons of mass discomfort,weapons of mass entertainment or weapons of mass obstruction.
Neologisms go through stages before they enter a language. They could be unstable extremely new or used by few people,diffused significant but not widespread use,stable recognised by most,dated not new or now a cliché or simply passé use of it is now a stigma. Unstable neologisms include a Sundaily Every Sunday or to fing to move ones fingers. Metrosexual and wardrobe malfunction are now passé.
Social networking sites also give new dimensions to language,with the noun being used like a verb: on Facebook you friend people you know.
Closer home,Rajuicing can be found on desi blogs. It means sexing up the accounts to make a company look attractive to the stock market. It is part Raju after Ramalinga Raju of Satyam Computers and part juicing up.
Danny Boyles Slumdog Millionaire also threw up a neologism with the movie having a Slumdog kind of night at the Oscars. But Slumdog cannot beat Brangelina as Hollywoods favourite neologism.
Meanwhile,as we xerox,google,and photoshop on the Internet,the word and its meaning are changing.
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