Words with that buzz

Catchphrases and buzzwords can tell us much about a year pastwhat resonated,what stuck,what the year revealed...

Catchphrases and buzzwords can tell us much about a year pastwhat resonated,what stuck,what the year revealed about the sensibility of the nation,whether youre a wise Latina woman,a mini-Madoff,a teabagger or Balloon Boy. But if ever there were a year to put buzzwords before a death panel,this would be it,before the aporkalypse comes.

APORKALYPSE: Undue worry in response to swine flu. Includes unnecessary acts like removing nonessential kisses from Mexican telenovelas and the mass slaughter of pigs in Egypt.

BIRTHER: A person who believes that Barack Obama was not born in the United States and therefore cant be president.

CHIMERICA: The intertwined economies of China and the United States,which together dominate the world economy. Popularized by Niall Ferguson in his book The Ascent of Money.

CRASH BLOSSOM: A headline that can be misconstrued,like Shark Attacks Puzzle Experts. Will Shortz is not in jeopardy; the sharks are just confounding scientists.

DRACULA SNEEZE: Covering the mouth with the crook of the elbow when sneezing,like Dracula hiding his face with a cape.

DRIVE LIKE A CULLEN: To drive like a bat out of hell,like a member of the Cullen family in the Twilight vampire books by Stephenie Meyer.

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GAYMARRY,GAY-MARRY: To marry someone of the same sex. Also used hyperbolically to mean to form an unconventional relationship,as in,I love my new cellphone so much I want to gay-marry it.

GREAT RECESSION: A reference to the current

ECONOMIC DOWNTURN. Used at least a few times for every recession since 1980,but never with such vigor as now.

GREEN SHOOTS: Signs of an economic recovery or of a companys financial turnaround.

HEINIE: A pronunciation of H1N1,the swine flu virus

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IMMA LET YOU FINISH: Part of Kanye Wests interruption of Taylor Swifts acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards,a widely popular joke meme on the Internet.

MANCESSION: A recession that affects men more than women. Also hecession.

MINI-MADOFF: A person who perpetrates a Ponzi scheme smaller than Bernie Madoffs.

OCTOMOM: Nadya Suleman,who gave birth to octuplets in January.

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SEXTING: The sending of sexual messages or pictures by mobile telephone.

SOCIAL DISTANCING: Staying away from other people so as not to catch or spread the flu. Common since late 2005 but surging in 2009.

SWINE FLU PARTY: A gathering held so people can be infected by a mild form of swine flu,in theory creating antibodies against more dangerous forms. Such a practice is universally discouraged by doctors.

VOOK: A digital book that includes some video in its text.

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WARMIST: Someone who believes that the earth is jeopardized by becoming warmer. Shortened from global warmist and used mainly by people who are skeptical about global warming.

UNUNBIUM: The temporary name of a newly found element,Uub for short. It comes from the Latin for the elements number,112.