The Lexicographer's Rules

Recent interesting catchwords from the Double-Tongued Dictionary are:

meter n. a million Zimbabwean dollars.

lip dub n. an amateur video of people singing along to a popular song.

Recent interesting catchwords from the Double-Tongued Dictionary are:

wife-beater n. in the United Kingdom, a strong alcoholic drink, so-called because it may encourage fighting. Often specifically applied to the beer brand Stella Artois. This is obviously a different use of the term than the one that refers to the sleeveless men’s undershirt made of ribbed cotton.

dry meat n. a euphemism for bushmeat.

The American Dialect Society’s word-of-the-year vote—the longest-running such vote anywhere—takes place in Chicago in January at its annual meeting. The academic society is now accepting word-of-the-year nominations at woty@americandialect.org. Word of the Year is interpreted in its broader sense as “vocabulary item"—not just words but phrases. Your nominations do not have to be brand-new, but they should be newly prominent or notable in the past year, and should have appeared frequently in the national discourse. The word-of-the-year vote is not a formal induction of words into the American language, but a whimsical affair. Nominate accordingly.

The New York Times has a brief story about the most popular family names in the United States. For the first time, two of them are Hispanic: Garcia and Rodriguez. The census data the story is based on is here.

Recent interesting catchwords from the Double-Tongued Dictionary are:

Thanksgiving express lane n. a brand-new term for a part of airspace normally reserved for military flights that will be opened up to commercial traffic during the busiest flying days of the year.

tiger cruise n. a trip aboard a military vessel in which sailors are accompanied by friends and family.