Double-Tongued Dictionary Recent Citations

Citation Queue These are recently added citations for catchwords that have not yet been researched or incorporated into a full dictionary entry. There is also a date-sorted archive which includes all citations, whether used in a full entry or not, as well as the full entries themselves.

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trend-spotting n. I was recently chatting with my hairdresser who was telling me she had gone on a “trend-spotting” visit to New York. She asked me, in German, how would she say the word “trend-spotting” in English? Unless I heard wrong and the word “trendspotten” exists as a separable verb, I’m pretty sure it is an English word. (May. 20, 2004) [full citation…]

ge-email v. My favorite new set of German words has to do with technology. Who knew that “e-mail” was an inseparable verb, evidenced by the past tense of the verb, “ge-emailed?“ But be sure to separate the verb “download,“ so when it’s done, you can tell me it’s “downgeloaded.“ (May. 20, 2004) [full citation…]

downgeload v. My favorite new set of German words has to do with technology. Who knew that “e-mail” was an inseparable verb, evidenced by the past tense of the verb, “ge-emailed?“ But be sure to separate the verb “download,“ so when it’s done, you can tell me it’s “downgeloaded.“ (May. 20, 2004) [full citation…]

faxen v. And don’t forget the word “faxen,“ if you want to be really up on the new phrasology. Repeat after me, “Ich faxe, du faxt, er/sie/es faxt!“ Try saying that three times fast. (May. 20, 2004) [full citation…]

Fiberal n. The premiums and the broken promise about tax increases have been controversial. The neologism “Fiberal” has gained rapid acceptance, and both Mr. Sorbara and Mr. McGuinty are being pilloried in the press and on open-line radio shows as liars. (May. 20, 2004) [full citation…]

optics n. In this part of the world, only a high-level resignation will do: Rumsfeld, obviously, but he, after offering an apology, swiftly visited Abu Ghraib. All over the Arab world, Rumsfeld was seen on television embracing the prison’s personnel. One Arab diplomat I talked to could not contain his dismay. The “optics,“ as he called it, were awful. (May. 20, 2004) [full citation…]

kleptoparasitize v. Known to kleptoparasitize diving American Coots (LeSchack and Hepp 1995) and Eurasian Coots (Fulica atrica; Amat and Soriguer 1984). (May. 20, 2004) [full citation…]

makeinu n. Single and childless women in their 30s or older are makeinu, According to novelist Junko Sakai, who coined the phrase with her bestseller “Makeinu no Toboe (The Howl of the Losing Dog),“ It doesn’t matter how successful, beautiful or happy they might be. They’re all “loser dogs.“…Loser dogs are a social underclass from the way they act. Without a family to care for, or a husband to order them about, they enjoy sizable disposable incomes and lots of free time. (May. 19, 2004) [full citation…]

gyaru-moji n. Japanese girls, however, now prefer to communicate amongst each other using special characters that require more time to input. These characters are called “gyaru-moji” (gyaru is the slang word for girl). The words made from gyaru-moji are a mixture of Japanese syllables, numbers, mathematical symbols and Greek characters. It’s like a secret code used by teenagers; at first glance, the code resembles hieroglyphics. (May. 19, 2004) [full citation…]

trike n. A “trike” is slang for something officially known as a “flexwing microlight aircraft.“ They call it a trike because it has three wheels, like a tricycle. (May. 19, 2004) [full citation…]

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