Buzzwords

"It's a strange world of language in which skating on thin ice can get you into hot water." - Franklin P. Jones

The New York Times ran a fun article called “The Buzzwords of 2009.” According to the article,

“Catchphrases and buzzwords can tell us much about a year past — what resonated, what stuck, what the year revealed about the sensibility of the nation, whether you’re a wise Latina woman, a mini-Madoff, a teabagger or Balloon Boy.”

The article finished with Grant Barrett’s buzzwords for 2009. Octomom and birther made the list. However, there were others I haven’t heard but liked such as:

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.

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.

green shoots
Signs of an economic recovery or of a company’s financial turnaround.

heinie
A pronunciation of H1N1, the swine flu virus.

mancession
A recession that affects men more than women. Also hecession.

vook
A digital book that includes some video in its text.

ununbium
The temporary name of a newly found element, Uub for short. It comes from the Latin for the element’s number, 112.

Click here to see the complete list or to read the entire article.

Do you have any favorite words from 2009? Can you predict what some of the 2010 buzz words might be?

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Tags: Franklin Jones, buzzwords, Grant Barrett, New York Times,