mouse potato

Lady Miss Kier is a mouse potato. 'I wake up, I go and turn the computer on before I wash my face or brush my teeth. I'll be sitting there in my underwear, and before I know it, four hours have passed. Then I pick up the phone, push some more buttons and the food delivery arrives, and then 16 hours have passed in front of the computer. It leaves you completely drained.'

1994 July 14, Ruth Shurman, “Me and my Gizmo: No. 8”, in The Guardian:

The internet, the authors say, affords the average mouse-potato the opportunity to experience a Naipaul-esque enigma of arrival in far-away lands without ever leaving the shores of Trinidad.

2001 December 7, Aniruddho Sanyal, “The Trini Trinity Is Found On De Line”, in The Times Higher Education Supplement:

(slang) A person who spends excessive amounts of time using a computer.


swop

en-verb

swop (third-person singular simple present swops, present participle swopping, simple past and past participle swopped)

swops (present singular third-person)
swopping (participle present)
swopped (participle past)
swopped (past)

'We make a pair, by God and by St James! / But, brother, what do you say to swopping names?'

1951, Geoffrey Chaucer, translated by Nevill Coghill, The Canterbury Tales: Translated into Modern English (Penguin Classics), Penguin Books, published 1977, page 315:


swop

A fusion of swing and hip-hop dance styles.


absquatulate

absquatulate (third-person singular simple present absquatulates, present participle absquatulating, simple past and past participle absquatulated)

absquatulates (present singular third-person)
absquatulating (participle present)
absquatulated (participle past)
absquatulated (past)

Attested since the 1830s in American English, a jocular mock-Latin word. Blend of abscond + squat + perambulate, as ab- (“away (from)”) (as in abscond) + squat + *-ulate (as in perambulate, properly -ate), hence meaning “get up (from a squat) and depart (quickly)”. The middle portion was perhaps influenced by -le (“(frequentative)”) and the dialectal term squattle (“depart”); compare contemporary skedaddle.

Even within the past year, several Land Officers and keepers of public monies--the Collector of New Orleans and Plattsburg--the Post Masters of Mobile and Worcester have made serious and prominent additions to the long catalogue of absquatulating defaulters.

1840 January 9, “The President's Message, No. 2”, in Lincoln Telegraph, volume IV, number 41, Bath, Maine, page 3:

Why, I expect in a year or two to see coffins introduced into the parlors of the Fifth Avenue, and to find them, when their owners fail or absquatulate, advertised for sale at auction, with the rest of the household furniture, at a great sacrifice on the original cost.

1860 September, “A Day with the Dead”, in The Atlantic Monthly, volume 6, number 35:

Whilst I was looking for the books, Lord Orville came in. He looked uncommonly down in the mouth, as he said: ‘Is this true, Miss Anville; are you going to cut?‘ ‘To absquatulate, Lord Orville,’ said I, still pretending that I was looking for the books.

1863, William Makepeace Thackeray, Roundabout Papers:

"[…]Now I see you again—I’m satisfied. I’m satisfied completely. See? I’m going to absquatulate, see? Hey Presto right away.”
He turned to his tea for a moment, finished his cup noisily, stood up.

1910, H. G. Wells, The history of Mr. Polly:

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles

Oxford University Press
w:Oxford University Press

(intransitive, slang) To leave quickly or in a hurry; to depart, flee.

вдигам гълъбите

to leave quickly or in a hurry; to take oneself off; to decamp; to depart


infotopia

A free, open Internet without advertising or paywalls would be an infotopia.


Tanzania

Blend of Tanganyika + Zanzibar + -ia, combining the names of the former countries that merged to form Tanzania in 1964.

United Republic of Tanzania
United Republic of Tanzania#English

A country in East Africa. Official name: United Republic of Tanzania.

Beʼekʼid Honeezítsoh Bibąąhgi Naakaii Łizhiní Bikéyah


genome

From earlier genom, from German Genom, coined by German botanist Hans Winkler in 1920 as a blend of Gen (“gene”) + Chromosom (“chromosome”). By surface analysis, gene + -ome, or a blend of gene + chromosome. Spelling altered to reflect the surface analysis.

blend

Creating a complete map of the human connectome would therefore be a monumental milestone but not the end of the journey to understanding how our brains work. The achievement will transform neuroscience and serve as the starting point for asking questions we could not otherwise have answered, just as having the human genome has made it possible to ask new questions about cellular and molecular systems.

2012 March-April, Terrence J. Sejnowski, “Well-connected Brains”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 2017-04-27, page 171:

(genetics) The complete genetic information (either DNA or, in some viruses, RNA) of an organism.

مَجِين

complete genetic information of an organism


emoticon

/ɪˈməʊtɪˌkɒn/

սմայլիկ

representation of an emotion of the writer

A remark intended humorously is often indicated by the letter G in parentheses, for "grin," or by a sideways happy face built from punctuation marks. Such symbols are known as emoticons.

[1992 December 1, William Grimes, “Computer as a Cultural Tool: Chatter Mounts on Every Topic”, in The New York Times, page C13:

In a 4 by 2 experimental procedure, :) ;) :( or no emoticon were inserted alternately in simulated e-mail message mock-ups

2006, Joseph B. Walther, “Nonverbal dynamics in computer-mediated communication”, in Valerie Manusov, Miles Patterson, editors, The SAGE Handbook of Nonverbal Communication, →ISBN, page 470:

The range of interpretations was surprising broad, for instance the emoticon (-.-) had 16 possible interpretations

2007, M. Yanagisawa, M. Kobayashi, Y. Kato, S. Kato, D. Scott, “Research on the emotions interpreted from emoticons in Japanese cellular telephone email”, in T. Hirashima, U. Hoppe, S. Young, editors, Supporting Learning Flow through Integrative Technologies, →ISBN, page 271:

A graphical representation of a particular emotion of the writer, used especially in SMS, email, or other electronic communication.

A graphic made up of text characters to represent such emotion; a smiley.

In addition to placing emoticons by clicking icons in the pop-up panel shown in Figure 4-2, you can enter the text representation in your text chat window. For example, to show the image of the emoticon with sunglasses, you enter (cool).

2007, Loren Abdulezer, Susan Abdulezer, Howard Dammond, Skype for Dummies, →ISBN, page 61:

An image or graphic icon used to represent such emotions; an emoji.


qubit

Blend of quantum + bit, a play on cubit (“historical unit of length”). Coined by American physicist Benjamin Schumacher in 1995.

coin

Coordinate term: bit

Quantum computing, on the other hand, is based on quantum bits, or qubits.

Each extra qubit in a quantum machine doubles the number of simultaneous operations it can perform.

2012 February 25, ‘An uncertain future’, The Economist:

Google’s Sycamore computer has all of 53 qubits to its name, as does a new IBM computer, installed online at the company’s Quantum Computation Center in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. System One, IBM’s black cube from tomorrow, only has 20 qubits.

2019 October 21, Dennis Overbye, “Quantum Computing Is Coming, Bit by Qubit”, in New York Times:

By harnessing that odd behavior, scientists can instead build a quantum bit, or qubit, which stores a combination of 1 and 0. Two qubits can hold four values at once. And as the number of qubits grows, a quantum computer becomes exponentially more powerful.

2019 October 23, Cade Metz, “Google Claims a Quantum Breakthrough That Could Change Computing”, in New York Times:

(quantum computing) A quantum bit; the basic unit of quantum information described by a superposition of two states; a quantum bit in a quantum computer capable of being in a state of superposition.


Taswegian

Blend of Tasmanian + Glaswegian. Royal Australian Navy slang from about 1930. Possibly a reference to the cold climate of Tasmania, comparing it to the cold climate of Glasgow.

(Australia, navy, slang) A Tasmanian seaman.

The town is filled with lovely, lovely Taswegians, the kindest and most generous people I have ever met.

2005, Beverly Walton, Watermarks: A Tasmanian Journal, page 25:

The new year is also vigorously celebrated further south during the Hobart Summer Festival (p646), when Taswegians stuff themselves with food, wine and song.

2009, Justine Vaisutis, Australia, Lonely Planet, page 32:

That was when I learned that every Taswegian worth his salt carries an axe in his boot and, more often than not, two in case of axe-less friends.

2011, Teri Louise Kelly, Punktuation, page 57:

(Australia, humorous, sometimes derogatory) An inhabitant of Tasmania.


stem

From Middle English stem, stemme, stempne, stevin, from Old English stemn, from Proto-West Germanic *stamni, from Proto-Germanic *stamniz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand, stay”).

der

the apple does not fall far from the stem

(chiefly British) A winder on a clock, watch, or similar mechanism.


stem

en-verb

stem (third-person singular simple present stems, present participle stemming, simple past and past participle stemmed)

stems (present singular third-person)
stemming (participle present)
stemmed (participle past)
stemmed (past)

From Middle English stemmen, a borrowing from Old Norse stemma (“to stop, stem, dam”) (whence Danish stemme/stæmme (“to stem, dam up”)), from Proto-Germanic *stammijaną. Cognate with German stemmen, Middle Dutch stemmen, stempen. Compare stammer.

(skiing) To move the feet apart and point the tips of the skis inward in order to slow down the speed or to facilitate a turn.


lob

lob (third-person singular simple present lobs, present participle lobbing, simple past and past participle lobbed)

lobs (present singular third-person)
lobbing (participle present)
lobbed (participle past)
lobbed (past)

First attested late 16th c. in the sense "allow or cause to dangle, hang," from sense 2.

And their poor jades / Lob down their heads.

1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:

(obsolete, transitive) To let fall heavily or lazily.


lob

From Middle English lob (“pollock”), cognate with Middle Dutch and Middle Low German lobbe (“a type of small plump or stocky fish, cod”), Danish lubbe, from Old Norse lubba, ultimately from sense 2 in the sense of "clumsy, heavily or lumpily hanging."


Medicaid

US government system for providing medical assistance to persons unable to afford medical treatments.


squid

Unknown. Perhaps a sailors' alteration of squirt.

(US, military, slang, mildly derogatory) A sailor in the Navy.


spread

en-verb

spread (third-person singular simple present spreads, present participle spreading, simple past and past participle spread)

spreads (present singular third-person)
spreading (participle present)
spread (participle past)
spread (past)

From Middle English spreden, from Old English sprǣdan (“to spread, expand”), from Proto-Germanic *spraidijaną (“to spread”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to strew, sow, sprinkle”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian spreede (“to spread”), West Frisian spriede (“to spread”), North Frisian spriedjen (“to spread”), Dutch spreiden (“to spread”), Low German spreden (“to spread”), German spreiten (“to spread, spread out”), Norwegian spre, spreie (“to spread, disseminate”), Swedish sprida (“to spread”), Latin spernō, spargō, Ancient Greek σπείρω (speírō), Persian سپردن (sepordan, “to deposit”), English spurn.

cog

I dropped my glass; the water spread quickly over the tiled floor.

(intransitive) To take up a larger area or space; to expand, be extended.

বিয়পা

(intransitive) to take up a larger area, expand


electron

Blend of electric + ion, coined by Anglo-Irish scientist George Stoney in 1891, changed by him multiple times from an earlier electrolion and original electrine (used as early as 1874) as the name for the electric charge associated with a univalent ion. Compare electro-, -on.
The particle ("corpuscule") was discovered in 1896. The name electrion was proposed for the particle in 1906 but curtailed because Hendrik Lorentz preferred electron.

coin

monochromated scanning transmission electron microscope

(chemistry, obsolete) Alloys of magnesium and other metals, like aluminum or zinc, that were manufactured by the German company Chemische Fabrik Griesheim-Elektron.


Governator

/ˈɡʌvɚneɪtɚ/

Blend of governor + terminator. In his acting career, Schwarzenegger played a "Terminator" robot in the Terminator film series.

Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger#English

Nickname for Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor of California.


sal

From Middle English sal, from Latin sal. Doublet of salt.


faction

en-noun

faction (countable and uncountable, plural factions)

Borrowed from Middle French faction, from Latin factiō (“a group of people acting together, a political faction”), noun of process from perfect passive participle factus, from faciō (“do, make”). Doublet of fashion.

der

Publick [sic] affairs soon fell into the utmost confusion, and in this state of faction and perplexity, the island continued, until its re-capture by the French in 1779.

1805, Johann Georg Cleminius, Englisches Lesebuch für Kaufleute, page 188:

He asks the audience if they believe that they will be more loved by the gods if the city is in a state of faction than if they govern the city with good order and concord.

2001, Odd Magne Bakke, "Concord and Peace": A Rhetorical Analysis of the First Letter of Clement With an Emphasis on the Language of Unity and Sedition, publ. Mohr Siebeck, →ISBN, page 89:


metrosexual

/ˌmɛtɹəˈsɛkʃuəl/

Blend of metropolitan + heterosexual, equivalent to metro- + sexual. Coined by British writer Mark Simpson in 1994.

coin

A man — typically urban, heterosexual, and affluent — who is concerned with personal appearance, such as personal grooming, fashion, and aesthetics in general.

A heterosexual man who is seen, sociologically, as having attributes common to homosexuals.


metrosexual

en-adj

metrosexual (comparative more metrosexual, superlative most metrosexual)

more metrosexual (comparative)
most metrosexual (superlative)

/ˌmɛtɹəˈsɛkʃuəl/

Of or relating to a metrosexual or the metrosexual lifestyle.


squelch

en-verb

squelch (third-person singular simple present squelches, present participle squelching, simple past and past participle squelched)

squelches (present singular third-person)
squelching (participle present)
squelched (participle past)
squelched (past)

Unknown. Perhaps a blend of squash + quell + quench. Compare also English squolsh, English squoosh.

Even the king's announcement could not squelch the rumors.

Oh 'twas your luck and mine to be squelched.

c. 1615–1616, Thomas Middleton, John Fletcher, “The Nice Valour, or, The Passionate Mad-man”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act V, scene i:

If you deceive us you will be squelched.

1858–1865, Thomas Carlyle, History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC:

The party’s dominant right wing squelched not only Sherman’s hopes for an early convention, but may have also put the MLA out of contention for the leadership.

1982 December 11, Frances Russell, “Economic performance buoys Pawley’s position”, in The Vancouver Sun (The Weekend Sun), Vancouver, BC, page A6:

We believe that Facebook is using privacy as a pretext to squelch research that it considers inconvenient.

2021 August 10, Laura Edelson, Damon McCoy, “We Research Misinformation on Facebook. It Just Disabled Our Accounts.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(transitive, US) To halt, stop, eliminate, stamp out, or put down, often suddenly or by force.


quest

→ Macedonian: квест (kvest)

→ Russian: квест (kvest)

→ Ukrainian: квест (kvest)

From Middle English quest, queste; partly from Anglo-Norman queste, Old French queste (“acquisition, search, hunt”), and partly from their source, Latin quaesta (“tribute, tax, inquiry, search”), noun use of quaesita, the feminine past participle of quaerere (“to ask, seek”).

der

A journey or effort in pursuit of a goal (often lengthy, ambitious, or fervent); a mission.

(video games) A task that a player may complete in order to gain a reward or advance the story.

to rove in quest of game, of a lost child, of property, etc.

The act of seeking, or looking after anything; attempt to find or obtain; search; pursuit.

Gad not abroad at every quest and call / Of an untrained hope or passion.

[1633], George Herbert, edited by [Nicholas Ferrar], The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC:

(obsolete) Request; desire; solicitation.


quest

en-verb

quest (third-person singular simple present quests, present participle questing, simple past and past participle quested)

quests (present singular third-person)
questing (participle present)
quested (participle past)
quested (past)

Next day we quested in search of our caravan, and after some pains recovered it.

1634, Thomas Herbert, Description of the Persian Monarchy now beinge the Orientall Indyes, Iles and other ports of the Greater Asia and Africk:

(transitive) To search for something; to seek.


hanger

From Middle English hanger, haunger, hangere, equivalent to hang + -er. Compare West Frisian hinger (“hanger”), Dutch hanger (“hanger”), German Hänger and Henker.

That by which a thing is suspended.
A bridle iron.

That by which a thing is suspended.
A clothes hanger.

[H]is shoulder was graced with a broad buff belt, from whence depended a huge hanger with a hilt like that of a backsword […].

1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:

I made an offer to go for my books and chest of clothes, but he swore I should not move out of his sight; and if I did he would cut my throat, at the same time taking his hanger.

1789, Olaudah Equiano, chapter 4, in The Interesting Narrative, volume I:

He was a stout old gentleman, with a weather-beaten countenance; he wore a laced doublet, broad belt and hanger, high-crowned hat and feather, red stockings, and high-heeled shoes, with roses in them.

1819, Washington Irving, The Sketch Book, Rip Van Winkle:

When he called ‘Watch!’ they cut him on the head with a hanger or short cutlass and fired a pistol so close to his face he was thought to be powder-burned for life.

2012, Jerry White, London in the Eighteenth Century, Bodley Head, published 2017, page 440:

(now historical) A short and broad backsword, worn so to hang at the side, especially popular in the 18th century.

About the tenth of July in the same Summer a pair of sparrow-hawks bred in an old crow's nest on a low beech in the same hanger; and as their brood, which was numerous, began to grow up, became so daring and ravenous, that they were a terror to all the dames in the village that had chickens or ducklings under their care.

1789, Gilbert White, The Natural History of Selborne, Page 187:

'Twould blow like this through holt and hanger

1896, A. E. Housman, A Shropshire Lad, On Wenlock Edge the wood's in trouble:


hyperlink

→ Danish: hyperlink

From hyper- + link, or a blend of hypertext + link.

Click the hyperlink to go to the next page.

(Internet) Some text or a graphic in an electronic document that can be activated to display another document or trigger an action.

Copy the hyperlink and paste it into an email.

(by extension) The URL or other address that defines a hyperlink's target or function.


hyperlink

hyperlink (third-person singular simple present hyperlinks, present participle hyperlinking, simple past and past participle hyperlinked)

hyperlinks (present singular third-person)
hyperlinking (participle present)
hyperlinked (participle past)
hyperlinked (past)

Their Web page hyperlinks to your Web site.

2001, Barbara Notarius, Gail Sforza Brewer, Open Your Own Bead & Breakfast, 4th edition, John Wiley and Sons, page 165:

(of a hypertext document) To point to another document by a hyperlink.

υπερσυνδέω

to point to another document by a hyperlink

One valuable thing a blogger often does is hyperlink to magazine and newspaper stories or other interesting blogs, she says.

2004 April 15, Gregory M. Lamb, “Blogs: Here to Stay - With Changes”, in Christian Science Monitor:

Indeed, what consumers will see on a Web site is likely to vary depending on the point or Web page at which they access the Web site, how many pages they “hyperlink” through when reviewing the site, and how much of the page containing the disclosure is displayed by consumers' Web browsers without requiring additional scrolling.

1999, John Graubert, Jill Coleman, “Consumer Protection and Antitrust Enforcement at the Speed of Light: The FTC Meets the Internet”, in Canada–United States Law Journal, volume 25, page 275:

To use a hyperlink to jump to a document.

υπερσυνδέομαι

to use a hyperlink to jump to a document


dunch

Blend of dinner + lunch, probably in imitation of brunch.

I have a lunchtime meeting tomorrow, so let's have dunch together instead.

(informal, rare) A leisurely meal between lunch and dinner in the late afternoon or early evening (about 3-5 p.m.), usually instead of lunch or dinner.


munt

munt (third-person singular simple present munts, present participle munting, simple past and past participle munted)

munts (present singular third-person)
munting (participle present)
munted (participle past)
munted (past)

(Australia, slang) To vomit (usually while drunk).


munt

(New Zealand, slang, used by schoolchildren) Something or someone dumb or annoying.


grue

Blend of green + blue. The philosophy sense was coined by American philosopher Nelson Goodman in 1955 to illustrate concepts in the philosophy of science. The linguistic sense was coined by American linguist Paul Kay in 1975 as a translation from languages such as Welsh that have a basic cover term that covers both the hues called "green" and "blue" in English.

coinage

The grue property is defined as: x is grue if and only if x is green and is observed before the year 2000, or x is blue and is not observed before the year 2000.

1965, Nelson Goodman, Fact, Fiction and Forecast:

The unexamined emeralds cannot be both green and grue, since if they are grue and unexamined they are blue.

2007, Michael Clark, Paradoxes from A to Z:

(philosophy) Of an object, green when first observed before a specified time or blue when first observed after that time.

bloen

philosophy: of an object that is first green, then blue

(linguistics) A single color inclusive of both green and blue as different shades, used in translations from languages such as old Welsh and Chinese that lacked a distinction between green and blue.

𑚝𑚯𑚥𑚭

linguistics: green or blue in languages that do not distinguish the two colors


daffynition

Blend of daffy (“mad; eccentric”) + definition

blend

Daffynitions appear in fictionaries, not dictionaries, and they add hidden dimensions to the words they describe.

1980, Gyles Daubeney Brandreth, The Joy of Lex: How to Have Fun with 860,341,500 Words, New York: Morrow, →ISBN, page 269:

A form of pun involving the reinterpretation of an existing word, on the basis that it sounds like another word or phrase.


bleeding edge

Blend of bleed + leading edge, and metaphorically alluding to the cutting edge (“forefront or position of greatest advancement in some field”) as a double-edged sword.

(cartography, printing) The situation produced when the image extends beyond the nominal margin.


telethon

/ˈtɛl.əˌθɒn/

A televised fundraising event encouraging viewers to make donations via telephone.


acetamide

(organic chemistry) The amide of acetic acid, CH₃CONH₂.


newbie

Uncertain: perhaps an alteration of newie with intrusive b (compare freebie), possibly a blend of newborn + baby, or perhaps a shortening of new boy or new beginner.

If you find that you would prefer using the new printer most of the time, while using the original only when needed, you can make the newbie the default printer for your system.

2005, Rickford Grant, Linux Made Easy: The Official Guide to Xandros 3 for Everyday Users, San Francisco: No Starch Press, →ISBN, page 155:

(slang) Anything recently introduced into a setting, especially something that replaces an older version.


Greeklish

A system for transliterating Greek into the Latin alphabet, either phonetically (for example, transliterating Νίκη as Niki) or orthographically (for example, transliterating Νίκη as Nikh).

γκρίκλις

a system for transliterating Greek into the Latin alphabet


kibi-

The IEC prefix meaning 2¹⁰ = 1,024. Compare kilo-, meaning 10³ = 1,000, a thousand. Abbreviation: Ki


mebi-

The IEC prefix meaning 2²⁰ = 1,024² = 1,048,576. Compare to mega-, meaning 10⁶ = 1,000² = 1,000,000, a million.


gibi-

The IEC prefix meaning 2³⁰ = 1,024³ = 1,073,741,824. Compare giga-, meaning 10⁹ = 1,000³ = 1,000,000,000, a billion.


bumbershoot

Probably a blend of bumber + shoot, modifications of umbr(ella) + (para)chute. Compare umbershoot.

It smells like rain. Perhaps we should take along a bumbershoot.

Oh! Hang the bumbershoot! [Flings umbrella away, clasps Mrs. Dobbs wildly.]

1887, Olivia Lovell Wilson, “Left. A Railroad Episode.”, in Parlor Varieties: Part Three: Plays, Pantomimes, and Charades, Boston, Mass.: Lee and Shepard; New York, N.Y.: Charles T. Dillingham, →OCLC, act I, page 113:

Little drops of water / It is safe to bet / If you have no bumbershoot, / Make you doosid wet.

1891 March 21, “From the New Mother Goose”, in Brooklyn Life: A Journal of Society, Literature, Drama & the Clubs, volume III, number 55, Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.: Brooklyn Life Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 2, column 1:

"It—it belongs in our family," said Button-Bright, beginning to eat and speaking between bites. "This umbrella has been in our family years, an' years, an' years. But it was tucked away up in our attic an' no one ever used it 'cause it wasn't pretty." / "Don't blame 'em much," remarked Cap'n Bill, gazing at it curiously; "it's a pretty old-lookin' bumbershoot."

1912, L[yman] Frank Baum, “The Magic Umbrella”, in Sky Island […], 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: The Copp, Clark Co., →OCLC, page 25:

Two women pickets, Krkossa and Menefee, walked the picket line in front of the Respondent's studio for 1½ hours on 1 day carrying large old-fashioned men's umbrella (perhaps better described by the word "bumbershoots") thereby, according to the Respondent's theory, committing serious strike misconduct by interfering with pedestrian traffic in front of the Respondent's studio, by preventing others on the street or sidewalk from reading advertising material painted on the approximately 50-foot expanse of windows of the Respondent's building facing upon the street, and by reason of the hazard allegedly created of physical damage to passing pedestrians from the ribs of said bumbershoots.

1958 December 1, “Wichita Television Corporation Incorporated, d/b/a KARD-TV and International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees & Moving Picture Machine Operators of the U.S. & Canada, Motion Picture Projectionists, Local No. 414, AFL-CIO [Cases Nos. 17-CA-1109 and 17-CA-1153]”, in Decisions and Orders of the National Labor Relations Board, volume 122, Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office [for the National Labor Relations Board], published 1959, →OCLC, page 251:

Nick Fury. Hey, Percy! Get that blasted umbrella outta my ribs!! / Percy Pinkerton. I beg your par … Oh! You mean my bumbershoot!

1964 September, Stan Lee, “On to Okinawa!”, in Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, number 10, New York, N.Y.: Marvel Comics Group, →OCLC, page 8:

Me ol' bamboo, me ol' bamboo / You'd better never bother with me ol' bamboo. / You can have me hat or me bumbershoot / But you'd better never bother with me ol' bamboo.

1968, Richard Morton Sherman, Robert Bernard Sherman (lyrics and music), “Me Ol’ Bamboo”, in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: Original Cast Soundtrack, performed by Dick Van Dyke, New York, N.Y.: United Artists, →OCLC:

Wait a minute! Where's my hat? Where— and somebody stole my bumbershoot!

1970 December 11, Ken Anderson et al., The Aristocats, spoken by Napoleon (Pat Buttram), Glendale, Calif.: Walt Disney Productions, →OCLC:

On the march, it began to rain, I had an umbrella, but at 5:51 we copped out for our dinner-date, when just in sight of the sidestreet leading to the U. N., solid with motionless people under their parapluies and bumbershoots; that’s the way it shone back to us, international.

1972, Hortense Calisher, “Seizures of Love and Work”, in Herself, New York, N.Y.: Arbor House, →ISBN, page 274:

Drizzles and mizzles. Recruit a bumbershoot.

1982, Robert B[ailey] Thomas, “April, the Fourth Month”, in Jud Hale [i.e., Judson D. Hale Sr.], editor, The (Old) Farmer’s Almanack, Calculated on a New and Improved Plan for the Year of Our Lord 1982, number 190, Dublin, N.H.: Rob Trowbridge, Yankee Publishing, →OCLC, page 49:

She was terrified as a pair of footmen—dressed in full sixteenth-century livery, powdered wigs and all—cut through the chaos and ushered them inside the Waldorf, shielding them from the flying debris with bumbershoots.

2021 April, Renée Rosen, chapter 60, in The Social Graces, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, →ISBN, page 352:

(originally and chiefly US, slang, humorous) An umbrella.

sontsa

(slang, humorous) umbrella — see also umbrella


climber

From Middle English climber, clymber, clymbare (“one who climbs, climber”), from climben (“to climb; to ascend, fly upward, rise; to slope upwards; to approach God in prayer; to advance; to overcome, triumph; to aspire; to be presumptuous”) + -er, -ere (suffix forming agent nouns). The English word is analysable as climb (verb) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns).

affix

Someone or something that climbs (such as a mountain climber).

(botany) A plant such as a vine that climbs upwards as it grows by attaching itself to some support.

пълзящо растение

(cycle racing) A cyclist who specializes in riding especially well on steep hills or roads.

grimpeur

His mother was a climber, determined that her children should attend the right schools and generally succeed in what was still very much a WASP world.

1977 August 20, Robert Etherington, “John Horne Burns and His Enemies”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 7, page 10:

(figuratively, derogatory) A person who is constantly trying to get ahead socially.

(ornithology) A bird that climbs, such as a parrot or woodpecker; specifically (archaic), a bird having two toes pointing forward, and two pointing backward, formerly regarded as being from the order Scansores or Zygodactyli (now obsolete as the birds formerly in this order have been reclassified into different orders); a zygodactyl.

If his greatest hits are museum climbers that complement the subject matter in surrounding exhibits, then "the mall jobs," he says, which are more about color and composition, "are little ditties."

2016 September 28, Megan Gambino, “King of the Playground, Spencer Luckey, Builds Climbers That Are Engineering Marvels”, in Smithsonian Magazine, archived from the original on 2022-12-10:

Regardless of the design, the playground will include a traditional climber with a ramp, an upper-level climber, multiple climbing and balance opportunities, junior slides, two senior slides, a wheelchair accessible bouncing glider, a pull along slide, activity panels, a freestanding climber and swings.

2019 May 13, “Eastview Community Park wants your input for new playground”, in Guelph Today, archived from the original on 2023-03-04:

Students raced in a swarm to be the first to the top of Monterey middle school’s newest piece of playground equipment, a $50,000 climber, when principal Ken Andrews removed the yellow tape on Friday.

2019 June 4, Travis Paterson, “Monterey installs playground climber to kids’ delight”, in Victoria News, archived from the original on 2021-12-06:

We've been working for the past year to bring an inclusive zipline and a spinning rope climber to the playground!

2022 July 13, Nixon Norman, quoting Jessica Berkholtz, “Cove Universal Playground receives exciting and inclusive new additions”, in WZDX, archived from the original on 2022-08-11:

The new playground, which is made of wood, features a climber, swings, a sand play area with a play hut and digging toys.

2022 September 26, “New playground installed at Errington Community Park”, in CHEK News, archived from the original on 2022-10-07:

(chiefly Canada) Any structure on a playground designed to be climbed on.

(climbing) Synonym of climbing iron (“a kind of crampon attached to the shoe to aid with climbing”)


climber

en-verb

climber (third-person singular simple present climbers, present participle climbering, simple past and past participle climbered)

climbers (present singular third-person)
climbering (participle present)
climbered (participle past)
climbered (past)

From climb + -er (frequentative suffix); or a blend of climb + clamber.

Stick plentie of bows among runciuall pease / to climber thereon, and to branch at their ease.

1878, Thomas Tusser, “Februaries Husbandrie”, in Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie. […], London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Trübner & Co., […], →OCLC; republished as W[illiam] Payne, Sidney J[ohn Hervon] Herrtage, editors, Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie. […], London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Trübner & Co., […], 1878, →OCLC, stanza 12, page 89:

(intransitive, obsolete) To ascend or mount with effort; to clamber, to climb.


jandal

Blend of Japanese + sandal, originally a trademarked name.

(New Zealand) A flip-flop (type of footwear)


spool

From Middle English spole (possibly via Old Northern French spole, espole), from Middle Dutch spoele, from Old Dutch *spōla, *spuola, from Proto-Germanic *spōlǭ (“spool”), from Proto-Indo-European *spel- (“to cleave, split”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Spoule (“spool”), Dutch spoel (“spool”), German Spule (“spool”), Swedish spole (“spool”), Icelandic spóla (“spool; reel”). The aviation usage is based on the visual similarity of one of the spools of a turbine engine to a spool used for thread (especially in cross-section).

der

If you need to reload film, the cassette can be rewound slightly by turning the hub located on one end of its spool.

2011, Rebekah Modrak, Bill Anthes, Reframing Photography: Theory and Practice:

A reel; a device around which thread, wire or cable is wound, especially a cylinder or spindle.

The high-pressure spool rotates faster than the intermediate- and low-pressure spools, as the high-pressure turbine is driven by superheated combustion gases straight out of the burners, while the high-pressure compressor has to spin very fast to compress air that has already been compressed and heated by the low- and intermediate-pressure compressors.

(aviation) One of the rotating assemblies of a gas turbine engine, composed of one or more turbine stages, a shaft, and one or more compressor or fan stages.

(computing) A temporary storage area for electronic mail, etc.


spool

en-verb

spool (third-person singular simple present spools, present participle spooling, simple past and past participle spooled)

spools (present singular third-person)
spooling (participle present)
spooled (participle past)
spooled (past)

(computing) To send files to a device or a program (a spooler or a daemon that puts them in a queue for processing at a later time).

lähettää jonoon

to send files to some device or program that puts them in a queue for later processing of some kind


spool

A small swimming pool that can be used also as a spa.


jackrabbit

any of several large North American hares of the genus Lepus


jackrabbit

jackrabbit (third-person singular simple present jackrabbits, present participle jackrabbiting, simple past and past participle jackrabbited)

jackrabbits (present singular third-person)
jackrabbiting (participle present)
jackrabbited (participle past)
jackrabbited (past)


witch

The noun is from Middle English wicche, from Old English wiċċe (“witch (female), sorceress”) and wiċċa (“witch (male), sorcerer, warlock”), deverbative from wiċċian (“to practice sorcery”), from Proto-Germanic *wikkōną (compare West Frisian wikje, wikke (“to foretell, warn”), German Low German wicken (“to soothsay”), Dutch wikken, wichelen (“to dowse, divine”)), from Proto-Indo-European *wik-néh₂-, derivation of *weyk- (“to consecrate; separate”); akin to Latin victima (“sacrificial victim”), Lithuanian viẽkas (“life-force”), Sanskrit विनक्ति (vinákti, “to set apart, separate out”). Possibly related to wicked; see that entry for more.
The verb is from the noun.

cog

One given to mischief, especially a woman or child.

Arnoglossus scapha, found near New Zealand.


crapper

From crap + -er, although possibly repopularized by barracks employing Thomas Crapper's plumbing fixtures used during the First World War. The occupational surname Crapper derives from a dialectal variant of cropper (“harvester of crops, farmer”).

(vulgar slang) A chamber pot or toilet, particularly (dated) a flush toilet by Thomas Crapper.

paskahuussi

coarse slang for a device or place to defecate — see also chamber pot, toilet, lavatory, outhouse


abend

If the programmer can determine the particular file that was being accessed and that caused the Abend, or was in core at the time of the Abend, the solution would be closer at hand.

1974 August 7, Harmon R. Feig, “Files Can Be Found Through Dump, Register Reviews”, in Computerworld, page 12:

(computing) The abnormal termination of a program.

(IEEE) Termination of a process prior to completion.


abend

en-verb

abend (third-person singular simple present abends, present participle abending, simple past and past participle abended)

abends (present singular third-person)
abending (participle present)
abended (participle past)
abended (past)

The nightly invoicing job abended at 3 a.m.


cyberspace

en-noun

cyberspace (countable and uncountable, plural cyberspaces)

Blend of cybernetics + space, equivalent to cyber- + space, coined by American-Canadian speculative fiction writer William Gibson in his 1982 short story collection Burning Chrome and popularized in his 1984 novel Neuromancer.

coin

A world of information accessed through the Internet.

Meanwhile, the pioneers of the computer-mediated communication networks collectively referred to as cyberspace are not willing to wait. Employing whatever tools they can find, they are constantly pushing the techno-cultural envelope. Life in cyberspace is often conducted in primitive, frontier conditions, but it is a life which, at its best, is more egalitarian than elitist, and more decentralized than hierarchical.

1993 March, Mitch Kapor, “Where Is the Digital Highway Really Heading?”, in Wired Magazine:

However, some have accused cyberspace of provoking a dangerous collapse in the old order of civilised society. The shift in the balance of power online has given rise to a more powerful concern: the rise of the uncivil web.

2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in The Guardian:

If, as we knew with increasing certainty, Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and others were contesting us in cyberspace, it was time to fight back.

2020 June 23, John Bolton, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 175:

“We call on all states, including China, to uphold their international commitments and obligations and to act responsibly in the international system, including in cyberspace,” according to a statement from NATO.

2021 July 19, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, David E. Sanger, quoting NATO, “U.S. Formally Accuses China of Hacking Microsoft”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(by extension, somewhat dated) The Internet as a whole.

I knew every chip in Bobby's simulator by heart; it looked like your workaday Ono-Sendai VII, the ‘Cyberspace Seven’, but I'd rebuilt it so many times that you'd have had a hard time finding a square millimetre of factory circuitry in all that silicon.

1982 July, William Gibson, “Burning Chrome”, in Omni, volume 4, number 10, page 72:

Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts… A graphic representation of data abstracted from banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding…

1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 51:

(science fiction) A three-dimensional representation of virtual space in a computer network.

կիբերտարածք

science fiction: three-dimensional representation of virtual space


skunk

Blend of skinhead + punk, influenced by the animal (Etymology 1).

In the early 1980s, certain ex-punks joined them, becoming 'skunks' – a hybrid subculture of skinheads and punks.

2006, Pam Nilan, Carles Feixa, Global Youth?: Hybrid Identities, Plural Worlds, page 192:

2011, Gerard DeGroot (quoting Brown), Seventies Unplugged
[…] mods, skins, suedes, smoothies, punks, skunks, rude boys, soul boys and headbangers […]

A member of a hybrid skinhead and punk subculture.


chortle

en-verb

chortle (third-person singular simple present chortles, present participle chortling, simple past and past participle chortled)

chortles (present singular third-person)
chortling (participle present)
chortled (participle past)
chortled (past)

Perhaps a blend of chuckle + snort. Coined by Lewis Carroll in his poem Jabberwocky, completed in 1855 but only introduced to the public in his 1871 novel Through the Looking-Glass.

The old fellow chortled as he recalled his youthful adventures.

'O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!' He chortled in his joy.

(intransitive) To laugh with a chortle or chortles.


wack

en-adj

wack (comparative wacker, superlative wackest)

wacker (comparative)
wackest (superlative)

Back-formation from wacky. Alternatively, possibly a blend of white + black, in the sense that it may appear black on the outside, but it's really white on the inside. Compare oreo.

Every record they ever made was straight-up wack.

Ya'll are so wack.

2003 September 15, Michael Chapman; Matthew Chapman, “Teen Girl Squad Issue #4”, in Homestar Runner, spoken by Strong Bad as Cheerleader (Matthew Chapman):

The next day, Phonte gets in, and I let him hear the song, and he goes, 'This dude is wack, but what’s up with that beat though?' And I said, 'It's ours.'

2011 May 20, 9th Wonder (quoted), Jaeki Cho, “9th Wonder Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records”, in Complex, archived from the original on 2022-11-16:

When TMZ asked Bieber whether he can listen to The Weeknd’s music, the pop superstar replied, "Hell no I can’t listen to a Weeknd song. That shit's wack."

2017 January 23, Colin Stutz, “Justin Bieber Says He Can't Listen to The Weeknd's 'Wack' Music”, in Billboard:

"No, no, no," James said Wednesday (via ESPN). "That's wack. That's wack. Why? You got to earn your spot to be in the postseason. No consolation for finishing last. That's corny. That’s corny. That's wack. To play for what? What are they playing for?"

2018 March 21, Des Bieler, “'That's wack': LeBron James doesn't like idea of NBA postseason play-in tournament”, in Washington Post:

"He's so wack for that," Jeffryes said of Prescott. "As a black man you should want to speak out against police brutality and racial injustice. You have a black father. One day you will have black children."

2018 September 19, Chauncey Alcorn, “Dak Prescott takes heat from Dallas Nine protester after Cowboys game arrests: "He's so wack"”, in Mic:

While it's not clear what the offending post was that resulted in removal, it is evident that he's not happy about the decision. "I'm done with Instagram this shit is wack,' he wrote.

2018 October 3, Joe Price, “50 Cent Quits Instagram Over Post Being Taken Down: 'I'm Done'”, in Complex, archived from the original on 2022-11-16:

Or, just as likely: Bobby thinks that guy is wack and sucks at Fortnite, and he doesn't accept Ryland's friend request. Next game, he'll go for the shotgun.

2021 June 10, Cecilia D'Anastasio, “How Roblox Became a Playground for Virtual Fascists”, in Wired:

[…] but if there's somebody out there that's like, 'Oh, his music is wack,' what they're really saying is he's wack... But he's like, 'I don't give a fuck 'cause this isn't even really me.'

2022 July 20, Logic (quoted), Joshua Espinoza, “Logic Says 6ix9ine Is One of Many Rappers Who Put Up a Facade: 'That's Not Really Who They Are'”, in Complex, archived from the original on 2022-11-16:

(originally African-American Vernacular, slang) Annoyingly or disappointingly bad, in various senses; lousy, corny, cringy, uncool, messed up.


spim

en-noun

spim (usually uncountable, plural spims)

(telephony) Unsolicited messages sent to cellular phones.


smog

en-verb

smog (third-person singular simple present smogs, present participle smogging, simple past and past participle smogged)

smogs (present singular third-person)
smogging (participle present)
smogged (participle past)
smogged (past)

If the car is more than five years old, you'll have to have it smogged before you can register it.

(informal) To get a smog check; to check a vehicle or have it checked for emissions.


tigon

Tigons, ligers and a zeedonk have also been created by miscegenating mammals.

1985, Hartson & Dawson, The Ultimate Irrelevant Encyclopedia, page 66:

A cross between a male tiger and a lioness.


aquarium

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂ékʷeh₂
Latin aqua
Latin -ārius
Latin aquārius
Latin aquāriumbor.
English aquarium
Borrowed from Latin aquārium, neuter of aquārius (“of or pertaining to water”), from aqua + -arium. Doublet of ewer; see also Aquarius. Also claimed to be coined by English naturalist Philip Henry Gosse, as a blend of aquatic + vivarium.

coined

A tank, often made of glass, for keeping live fish or other aquatic animals.


retrosexual

Blend of retro + metrosexual. Apparently coined in the early 2000s by blogger Grau Magus.

It's been so long I've become a retrosexual.

(humorous) One who has not had sex in a very long time.


liger

An animal born to a male lion and a tigress.


Oxbridge

On the previous night he had taken the manuscript out of a long neglected chest, containing old shooting jackets, old Oxbridge scribbling books, his old surplice, and battered cap and gown, and other memorials of youth, school, and home.

1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter III, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume II, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:

"Of course she is clever," said Mrs. Pope. "Or we shouldn't have sent her to Oxbridge. There she's doing quite well—quite well. Everyone says so. I don't know, of course, if Mr. Magnet will let her finish there."

1912, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, Marriage, London: Macmillan and Co., Limited […], →OCLC, book the first (Marjorie Marries), page 152:

In another, he says: “Why has the BBC allowed the format of this programme to treat all other universities in the UK apart from Oxbridge as second class?”

2023 March 26, Matthew Weaver, “BBC rejects charge of elitist Oxbridge bias in University Challenge”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(UK, education) The University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge collectively.


apatheist

(religion) A person who does not care about the existence of a God or gods; a supporter of apatheism.


klavern

“I read a story about the klan in a national magazine. I decided, just for kicks, to see if I could obtain membership. Well, I got my membership card. And I was also appointed ‘Great Titan’ to organize and set up a klavern [local unit] here in Idaho.”

1965 February 25, Paul L. Bellesen, quotee, “The Klan's Man in Idaho A Card-Carrying Negro”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:


gradation

en-noun

gradation (countable and uncountable, plural gradations)

/ɡɹəˈdeɪʃən/

/ɡɹəˈdeɪʃən/

/ˌɡɹeɪˈdeɪʃən/

Borrowed from French gradation. By surface analysis, Blend of grade + -ation.

A decade ago, the British department-store chain John Lewis built itself a long warehouse, painted in gradations of sky blue.

2019 November 21, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in The Guardian:

A passing by small degrees from one tone or shade, as of color, to another.

градация

a passing by small degrees from one tone or shade, as of color, to another


Velcro

Blend of French velours (“velvet”) + French crochet (“hook”)

blend

A fastener consisting of two strips of fabric, one covered with minute fiber hooks and the other with tiny fiber loops, which stick strongly together but can be pulled apart.


Velcro

en-verb

Velcro (third-person singular simple present Velcros, present participle Velcroing, simple past and past participle Velcroed)

Velcros (present singular third-person)
Velcroing (participle present)
Velcroed (participle past)
Velcroed (past)

He was standing on a chair Velcroing red balloons to himself.

1988, Tom Leopold, Almost Like Being Here, Dutton, →ISBN, page 8:

He had a seat in a leather recliner and hit the remote, which he had Velcroed to the chair.

2000, George P. Pelecanos, Shame the Devil, Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 58:

Toasters and microwaves were Velcroed to kitchen counters. Televisions and VCRs were Velcroed to their stands.

2008, Sean Murphy, The Time of New Weather, →ISBN, page 8:

Two officers stormed into I-tier, still Velcroing their flak jackets.

2008, Jodi Picoult, Change of Heart, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 28:


Luganda

/luːˈɡɑːndə/

Then it dawned on her. He did not know any Luganda. All along he had not understood a word she had said.

2020, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, The First Woman, Oneworld Publications, page 48:

A Bantu language spoken mostly in Uganda.


stodgy

en-adj

stodgy (comparative stodgier or more stodgy, superlative stodgiest or most stodgy)

stodgier (comparative)
more stodgy (comparative)
stodgiest (superlative)
most stodgy (superlative)

Unknown, but possibly from stodge (“to stuff”), from stog, or a blend of stuffy + podgy.


tweenager

Blend of 'tween + teenager. Attested as early as the 1950s, but popularized in the late 20th or early 21st century.

Your eight to twelve year old is in the gray area between early childhood and the teen years. He is a child in the middle—a “tweenager.”

1994, Mary Manz Simon, How to Parent Your “Tweenager”, page 6:

A young person who is not yet a teenager (being less than thirteen years old), but starting to act like one: generally eight to twelve years old.


Amerindian

Amerindian (comparative more Amerindian, superlative most Amerindian)

more Amerindian (comparative)
most Amerindian (superlative)

/ˌæməˈɹɪndɪən/

/ˌæməɹˈɪndiən/

Blend of American + Indian, attested since about 1900.

The Book of Mormon as Amerindian Apocalypse


Amerindian

/ˌæməˈɹɪndɪən/

/ˌæməɹˈɪndiən/

The Amerindians of South America; female Amerindians in Early Modern Spanish theater.


genotype

/ˈdʒɛnəʊˌtaɪp/

/ˈd͡ʒɛnəˌtaɪp/

(taxonomy, obsolete) The type species of a genus; generitype.


trimaran

A type of boat with three parallel hulls.


orbifold

Blend of orbit + manifold. Named by William Thurston.

(topology) A topological space in which every small enough neighborhood is homeomorphic to a quotient of real space by the action of a finite group.


flexitarian

flexitarian (comparative more flexitarian, superlative most flexitarian)

more flexitarian (comparative)
most flexitarian (superlative)

(of food, a diet, etc.) Being what a flexitarian might eat.


gook

en-noun

gook (countable and uncountable, plural gooks)

Possible blend of goop + gunk, or related to gobbledygook.

"Roost No More" was a yellow gook that Joe's people would spread around, for a fee, on the ledges of houses and commercial buildings plagued by pigeons.

1983, Len O'Connor, A Reporter in Sweet Chicago, →ISBN, page 351:


trill

en-verb

trill (third-person singular simple present trills, present participle trilling, simple past and past participle trilled)

trills (present singular third-person)
trilling (participle present)
trilled (participle past)
trilled (past)

From Middle English trillen, from Italian trillo, trillare. Compare German trillern, Norwegian trille, Swedish trilla.

to trill a note, or the letter r

The sober-suited songstress trills her lay.

a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Summer”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC:

(transitive) To impart the quality of a trill to; to utter as, or with, a trill.


scanlator

Blend of scan + translator or scanlate + -or

One who scanlates; a person who carries out scanlation.


scanlation

en-noun

scanlation (countable and uncountable, plural scanlations)

(comics, chiefly manga) The process of scanning and translating foreign-language comics (especially Japanese manga or Korean manhwa) into the translator's language, for free distribution over the Internet.

(comics) A comic that has been scanned, translated, and with translation overlaid onto the original text to produce a second-language version of the comic; a scanlated comic.


guesstimate

I'm not sure how many people were at the festival. My best guesstimate is 50,000.

(informal) An estimate that is hardly any better than a guess, often because it is based on insufficient or unreliable data.

粗略估計

estimate based on insufficient or unreliable data


ROFLMAO

(Internet slang) Initialism of rolling on the floor laughing my ass (or arse) off; used to indicate great amusement.


brand spanking new

Apparently a blend of brand new + spanking new, with spanking coming to serve as an intensifier.

(informal) Utterly new, as new as possible.


stan

Dido (singer)
Eminem
Stan (song)
The Marshall Mathers LP

From Stan (“Stanley”), after the song Stan by Eminem (2000), a fictitious account of the rapper's encounter with an overly obsessive fan named Stan. Sometimes assumed to be a blend of stalker + fan, but perhaps simply chosen for the rhyme.

IU stan

K-pop stan

Dream stan

I know the in-depth detailed life of a stan because I am one. I'm one of those Lady Gaga fans, […]

2011 October 11, Vanessa Spates, “Whether in Britney's Army or Rihanna's Navy, stans need to surrender to sanity”, in The Lantern, volume 132, number 16, Ohio State University, page 9A:

I am the biggest stan for Selena because she is my queen. She made Disney interesting and I have always watched her.

2013 March 17, “Selena Gomez: She Is My Queen”, in Sunday Tribune, South Africa:

Incidents have occurred with stans showing up to pop stars' residences, as has happened with Madonna, Taylor Swift and others.

2013 December 5, Jake Folsom, “Stans take dedication to extreme heights online, in real life”, in Washington Square News, volume 41, number 104, page 11:

K-pop stans have been getting increasingly involved in American politics in recent months. After the Trump campaign solicited messages for the president’s birthday on June 8, K-pop stans submitted a stream of prank messages.

2020 June 21, “TikTok Teens and K-Pop Stans Say They Sank Trump Rally”, in The New York Times:

“Stans will literally go to any extent to defend anyone,” he said of Mr. Depp’s supporters, adding: “Amber Heard, she has not got that fan base.”

2022 April 29, Ezra Marcus, “Johnny Depp Case Brings Stan Culture Into the Courtroom”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(Internet slang, sometimes derogatory) An extremely obsessive fan of a person, group, character, or creative work, particularly one whose fixation is unhealthy or intrusive.


stan

en-verb

stan (third-person singular simple present stans, present participle stanning, simple past and past participle stanned)

stans (present singular third-person)
stanning (participle present)
stanned (participle past)
stanned (past)

We stan a queen.

For quotations using this term, see Citations:stan.

(slang, transitive, intransitive) To act as a stan (for); to be an obsessive fan (of).


blazar

Blend of B + L + Lac + quasar. Coined by astronomer Edward Spiegel in 1978 from BL Lac object and quasar, punning blazing from its optical presentation compared to usual quasars. Analyzable as blaze + -ar.

coin

supermassive black hole
supermassive black hole

(astronomy) A very compact quasar, associated with a supermassive black hole at the center of an active galaxy.

blasaari

astronomy: a very compact quasar, associated with a supermassive black hole


sheeple

War protesters . . . did appear along Mr. Rumsfeld's path carrying signs saying "Bush is a Liar" and "Wake Up, Sheeple".

2005 September 11, Glen Justice, John Files, “Commemoration or Promotion? Walk Highlights Iraq Divide”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-08-21:

[F]ormer MP Garth Turner’s new book . . . is entitled Sheeple, a term apparently applied to people who often take on the characteristics—curly white hair covering most of the body, fondness for grazing, tendency to do as told—of sheep.

2009 August 27, Aaron Wherry, “The Commons: You bore us, Mr. Ignatieff”, in Macleans, Canada, retrieved 2014-08-21:

Harmless vapour trails left by planes? That's what they want you to think, sheeple.

2010 August 20, Richard Adams, “The American far-right's top 10 paranoid conspiracy theories (photo caption)”, in Guardian, UK, retrieved 2014-08-21:

He'll take himself down.
Yeah, history always proves that, right? Just wait for justice, you sheeple…

2016, Life Is Strange, spoken by Luke (Nik Shriner), Square Enix, via Dontnod Entertainment:

Being a sheeple isn't always dangerous. A lot of the time it can just make a person look foolish, more than anything.

Kaitlyn S. C. Hatch, Wise at Any Age (page 10)

I think it's the HYDRA, the group of whatevers that rule the world, those elitists that laugh at us, joke about their environmentalist sheeples doing their bidding while they sip the best wine on the planet, ride around in private jets, […]

2011, Carol Ann Lindsay, The Planet of Comet Sense, page 55:

(derogatory, slang) People who unquestioningly accept as true whatever their political leaders say or who adopt popular opinion as their own without scrutiny.


acupressure

en-noun

acupressure (countable and uncountable, plural acupressures)

Blend of acupuncture + pressure. By surface analysis, acu- + pressure.

alternative medicine
alternative medicine

(uncountable) An alternative medicine technique, derived from acupuncture, in which physical pressure is applied to acupoints.

指壓

alternative medicine technique in which physical pressure is applied to acupoints

The warm needles of water acted like tiny acupressures on his face.

2001, Sherwood Smith, Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict--Auger's Teacher:

(countable) An act or instance of applying an acupressure technique.

akupainanta

an act or instance of applying an acupressure technique

(dated) A mode of arresting hemorrhage resulting from wounds or surgical operations, by passing under the divided vessel a needle, the ends of which are left exposed externally on the cutaneous surface.


interweb

interweb (plural interwebs or interwebz)

Blend of Internet + web (“World Wide Web”). The first use of this phrase is disputed.

blend

"Web Hopper" is an interweb site that enables you to visualize your Web hopping and that of other Net users.

1997, Christian Schenck, Christine Schopf, editors, Cyberarts, →ISBN, page 70:

Basically anyone who wants to get a license for nefarious purposes, nefarious or at the very least […] unsactioned, they now get to shop around. […] With the interwebs, it's gonna be pretty easy to tell which states […] are the best shopping locations.

2007 March 26, Phil Libin, Jon Udell (interviewer), “Jon Udell's Interviews With Innovators: Phil Libin”, in IT Conversations, GigaVox Media, archived from the original on 2013-07-29:

They said I was a fucking psycho / But look at me now, all up in the interweb, world wide

2010, “Enter The Ninja”, performed by Die Antwoord:

Very little exists in the annals of the interwebs about Tostitos Hint of Lime. Many nights I’ve sucked down crusty mossed fingertips and typed away in a green-out (like a blackout, but from eating too much Tostitos Hint of Lime), searching for a like-minded fanclub, historical taxonomy, or even a press release.

2022 April 20, Mariella Rudi, “Tostitos Hint of Lime has zero lime – but it’s still the perfect chip”, in The Guardian:

(Internet slang, humorous, often in the plural) The Internet.


geep

A sheep–goat hybrid, an animal with DNA from a goat and from a sheep, whether produced artificially or by natural intermating.


conlang

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-conlang.wav

The noun is a blend of constructed + language, while the verb is derived from the noun. By surface analysis, con- (“constructed”) + lang (“language”).

surf

The Klingon language is a conlang created for use in the Star Trek franchise.

You might be familiar with more a priori conlangs than you think: The Klingon language from the television series "Star Trek," the Na'vi language from the movie "Avatar," and the Dothraki language from the television series "Game of Thrones" are all examples of a priori languages.

2012 October 31, Laura Wright, “UT Language Creation Society invites students to learn origins of newer languages”, in The Daily Texan, Austin, Tex.: Texas Student Media, University of Texas at Austin, published 8 April 2013, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-08-14:

constructed language
constructed language#English

(linguistics, colloquial) Alternative form of constructed language (“a human language consciously devised by an individual or a small group, as opposed to having naturally evolved as a natural language”)


mecomtronics

Earliest 1975. Blend of mechanics + computers + telecommunications + electronics.

blend

[…] Mecomtronics Technology […]

1975, Engineers Joint Council Engineering Manpower Commission, American Association of Engineering Societies Engineering Manpower Commission, Engineering and Technology Enrollments, page 423:

2005. Fern A. Oram. Peterson's Two-Year Colleges, page 528,
Degree and certificate programs are offered in […] mechanical manufacturing technology, mecomtronics engineering technology, medical laboratory technology […]

(engineering, rare, nonstandard) The combined disciplines of mechanics, computers, telecommunications and electronics; robotics.


thermistor

(electronics) A resistor whose resistance varies rapidly and predictably with temperature and as a result can be used to measure temperature.


beep

Blend of big + jeep. From being bigger versions of the general purpose superlight truck, the Willys MB "Jeep"

(US, military, slang, dated, World War II) Especially, the Dodge WC series U.S. Army WWII military trucks, in 1/2-ton 3/4-ton 1-ton variants


homeboy

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-homeboy.wav

20th century United States African-American urban slang. Originated from travelers to metropolitan areas derived from American English as a blend of hometown + boy. However, modern use is mostly by African-Americans and Latinos in the United States.

(colloquial, African-American Vernacular) A close friend or fellow member of a youth gang.


sysop

(computing, Internet) A system operator, especially someone who administers an online communications system or bulletin board.


flustrated

en-adj

flustrated (comparative more flustrated, superlative most flustrated)

more flustrated (comparative)
most flustrated (superlative)

Frustrated to the point of being flustered, or vice versa.


puck

→ Danish: puck

→ German: Puck

→ Swedish: puck

From or influenced by Irish poc (“stroke in hurling, bag”). Compare poke (1861).

(computing) A pointing device with a crosshair.


automagic

Blend of automatic + magic; from the principle (often called Clarke's third law) that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

A process carried out automatically in such a clever way that the result appears to be magic.


Olyroos

(soccer) The Australian Olympic soccer team.


noodle

en-verb

noodle (third-person singular simple present noodles, present participle noodling, simple past and past participle noodled)

noodles (present singular third-person)
noodling (participle present)
noodled (participle past)
noodled (past)

The origin of the verb is uncertain; it is possibly derived:
* from noodle (“to hum or sing (a tune) at a low pitch or volume”) (Shetland) (see etymology 3); or
* from German nudeln (“to make music or sing listlessly; to make music or sing at a low pitch or volume, or in an improvisatory manner”) (Leipzig), apparently from Nudel (“piece of pasta, noodle”) (see etymology 1) + -n (a variant of -en (suffix forming the infinitives of verbs)).
The word was probably also influenced by doodle (“to draw or scribble aimlessly”, verb).
The noun is probably derived from the verb, though the verb is first attested later. The noun was probably also influenced by doodle (“small mindless sketch”, noun).

der

Often followed by about or around: to mess around, to play.


electrocutioner

/ɪˌlɛktɹəˈkjuʃənɚ/

/ɪˌlɛktɹəˈkjuːʃənə/

Blend of electrocution + executioner, or electrocution + -er

U.S. Supreme Court: STATE OF LA. EX REL. FRANCIS v. RESWEBER, 329 U.S. 459 (1947) 329 U.S. 459 STATE OF LOUISIANA ex rel. FRANCIS v. RESWEBER, sheriff, et al. No. 142.
'Then the electrocutioner turned on the switch and when he did Willie Francis' lips puffed out and he groaned and jumped so that the chair came off the floor. Apparently the switch was turned on twice and then the condemned man yelled: 'Take it off. Let me breath." Affidavit of official witness Harold Resweber, dated May 23, 1946.

Smiling as I throw the switch that takes away their breath
I see life as an interruption to the tune of death

1978, The Residents (lyrics and music), “The Electrocutioner”, in Duck Stab/Buster & Glen, performed by Monica Ganas and Snakefinger:

an executioner who carries out an execution by means of electricity.


downstroy

en-verb

downstroy (third-person singular simple present downstroys, present participle downstroying, simple past and past participle downstroyed)

downstroys (present singular third-person)
downstroying (participle present)
downstroyed (participle past)
downstroyed (past)

Blend of down + destroy. Compare downpressor.


downpressor

Blend of down + oppressor, with down replacing op (which is how up sounds in Jamaican patois).


toccer

A sport in which two teams of eight players contend to get a ball resembling a tennis ball into the other team's goal, defended by a player with a racquet.


chillax

chillax (third-person singular simple present chillaxes, present participle chillaxing, simple past and past participle chillaxed)

chillaxes (present singular third-person)
chillaxing (participle present)
chillaxed (participle past)
chillaxed (past)

Chillax dude, or they're gonna know you're tripping.


bogan

Unknown. First appeared in Australia in the 1980s. Possibly in reference to supposedly unsophisticated people from remote outback places such as the Bogan River or Bogan Gate (cf. dubbo from Dubbo).

Bogans were Lockie's least favorite kind of people.

1999, Tim Winton, Lockie Leonard, Scumbuster, page 6:

The Reservoir I grew up in was populated by menacing, toothless Torana-driving bogans, crushed menthol-smoking pensioners and toddlers who swore.

2009, Catherine Deveny, Free to a Good Home, page 47:

(Australia, New Zealand, slang, derogatory stereotype) An unsophisticated person from a working class background.

(New Zealand, slang, derogatory, ethnic slur) An Anglo-Celtic member of a lower socioeconomic group, stereotypically classified as wearing black jumpers or black concert T-shirts.

westy

Australia (esp. Sydney), NZ (esp. Auckland)

(New Zealand, slang, derogatory) A petrolhead.


bogan

Unknown. Perhaps a conflation of logan (from pokelogan) + bog.

blend

from <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">pokelogan</i>

All around the shores of the narrow bogan crowded the beasts, watching with wide, fascinated eyes the flight and fall of these disastrous missiles.

2001, Charles G. D. Roberts, Seán Virgo, Kindred of the Wild, page 130:

(Canada) Any narrow water or creek, particularly a tranquil backwater.

Negative Stereotypes: Indians, natives, bogans, nates, […]

2013, Feathers of Hope: A First Nations Youth Action Plan, archived from the original on 2016-04-24, page 68:

Greg Quachegan, a teacher at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School, was walking with his young daughters when someone yelled, “Bogans,” at them. He has no idea what it means, but it’s a slur aboriginal people hear often.

2015 December 8, Tanya Talaga, “One rape. A hate crime. Thunder Bay's simmering divides come to light”, in Toronto Star:

"There's young men, on the weekends, they will throw beer bottles at you and yell out 'bogan' or 'squaw' or 'whore,'" said Deanne Hupfield, who grew up in Thunder Bay.

2017 February 7, Lenard Monkman, “Indigenous people say racism-tainted drive-by violence all too common”, in CBC News:

Is that the same blue truck that is throwing rocks out the passenger window and screaming at natives calling them bogans walking on the street?

2017 June 1, “Evidence from First Nation student who survived Thunder Bay river attack resurfaces following eye-witness claim”, in National News:

(Canada, North Western Ontario, slang, derogatory, offensive) An indigenous person.


ginormous

en-adj

ginormous (comparative more ginormous, superlative most ginormous)

more ginormous (comparative)
most ginormous (superlative)

Blend of gigantic + enormous, originally 1940s military slang.

This is Jazz, a ginormous weird looking planet just showed up in the suburbs of Cybertron.

1986, Ron Friedman, The Transformers: The Movie, spoken by Jazz:

Walt Disney World is ginormous. Even after you’re on the property, you have to drive about fifteen minutes to get to different places.

1999, Gabrielle Charbonnet, Adventure at Walt Disney World: A Disney Girls Super Special, Disney Press, →ISBN, page 20:

“Neutron stars are as mysterious as they are fascinating. These city-sized objects are essentially ginormous atomic nuclei.”

2019, Green Bank Observatory, Most massive neutron star ever detected, almost too massive to exist:


smash

en-noun

smash (countable and uncountable, plural smashes)

→ Czech: smeč

→ Serbo-Croatian: smeč

→ Turkish: smaç

From a blend of smack + mash. Compare Swedish smask (“to smack with the lips”), dialectal Swedish smaska (“to smack, kiss”), Danish smaske (“to smack with the lips”), Low German smaksen (“to smack with the lips, kiss”).

cog

The driver and two passengers were badly injured in the smash.

(UK, Ireland, colloquial) A traffic collision.


smash

en-verb

smash (third-person singular simple present smashes, present participle smashing, simple past and past participle smashed)

smashes (present singular third-person)
smashing (participle present)
smashed (participle past)
smashed (past)

→ Catalan: esmaixar

I slowly smashed the modeling clay flat with the palm of my hand.

Using a fork, smash the avocado with all the remaining ingredients.

2016, Doreen Virtue, Jenny Ross, Veggie Mama, page 154:

(transitive, US) To deform through continuous pressure.

(UK, Ireland, slang, obsolete) To pass counterfeit money.


cruck

Perhaps from a dialectal variant of crutch or crook.

1952: To construct such a house, it is necessary to select an oak with a branch growing out at an angle of about 45°; the upper part of the tree, above the fork, having been cut off, the trunk and branch are roughly squared and divided in half . If the two halves are then placed opposite one another, with the branch ends pegged together, they constitute what was usually known as a 'cruck' or, more correctly, 'a pair of crucks'. — L.F. Salzman, Building in England, p. 195.

Historic England explained the listing: "The station's unique design employs a high level of sophistication and innovation through its use of conoid shells supported on a cruck-like frame, which not only create a dramatic aesthetic form, but endow the building with a light and spacious interior."

2023 March 22, Philip Haigh, “Five configuration stages to boost Manchester rail capacity”, in RAIL, number 979, page 31:

(architecture) A sturdy timber with a curve or angle used for primary framing of a timber house, usually used in pairs.


cruck

cruck (third-person singular simple present crucks, present participle crucking, simple past and past participle crucked)

crucks (present singular third-person)
crucking (participle present)
crucked (participle past)
crucked (past)


cruck

It was a car/truck. The cab had two seats like a car and the back had a flat cut out for cargo like a truck. People used to call it a 'Cruck'.

2010, Michael Thoreau, Oh Brother, Why?:

It was a half car, half truck. I christened it the “Cruck”.

A vehicle that has features of both a car and a truck.


cultivar

Blend of cultivated + variety or cultigen + variety. Coined by American botanist Liberty Hyde Bailey in 1923.

A cultivated (not necessarily botanical) variety of a plant species or hybrid of two species.


heck

heck (third-person singular simple present hecks, present participle hecking, simple past and past participle hecked)

hecks (present singular third-person)
hecking (participle present)
hecked (participle past)
hecked (past)

Blend of to heck (“destroyed, messed up”) + fuck, possibly supported by feck.


nutter

From Middle English nutter, notere, equivalent to nut + -er.

That bird who's hanging' out with you is mad like cat piss / Like bread and jam, or a knife going with butter / Face it son, your missus is a nutter!

2005, “Your Missus Is A Nutter”, performed by Goldie Lookin Chain:

When I asked Mr Robinson why he'd made his own attempts, he said, 'It gets to be a bug. And I suppose I'm a nutter.'

2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 268:

(UK, Ireland, sometimes derogatory, informal) An eccentric, insane, crazy or reckless person.

kaheli

an eccentric, insane, crazy or reckless person


nutter

Nut Butter (Table Nutter) is also recommended.

1907, Reuben Swinburne Clymer, The International System of Direct Medication, page 223:

Among the miscellaneous articles examined, 27 samples of vegetable fat resembling lard were purchased for analysis under the various names of nut lard, nut butter, nutter, palmine, &c. These were passed as genuine.

1910, Great Britain. Local Government Board, Annual Report, number 39, page xci:


forex

en-noun

forex (countable and uncountable, plural forexes)

If the results of talks with a number of American bankers in Europe reporting on the new scale (post Herstatt) of their forex dealings, plus what they say of their European colleagues and what "reliable sources" in London project, go into a pocket electronic calculator the display lights up with figures which indicate that forex staffs in European banks now have at least three quarters of every day free for whittling or reading the classified ads.

1974, Bankers Monthly, Northbrook, Ill.: Hanover Publishers, →OCLC, page 199, column 1:

The number of forexes has increased steadily and 41 had been licensed by December, 1990, of which 33 were active.

1992, Uganda: Industrial Revitalization and Reorientation, [Vienna]: United Nations Industrial Development Organization, →OCLC, page 10:

The set-and-forget trader is playing fundamental direction and is seeking very large moves of 150 to 300 pips. This trader doesn't want to sit and watch the screen but play the longer moves and forces behind forex.

2015, Abe Cofnas, “Trading Styles and Strategies”, in The Forex Trading Course: A Self-study Guide to Becoming a Successful Currency Trader, 2nd edition, Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, part II (Timing the Trade with Technical Analysis), page 157:

foreign exchange
foreign exchange#English


alcopop

alcopop (usually uncountable, plural alcopops)

Blend of alcohol + pop (“sweetened carbonated drink”).

blend

However, the media soon went too far in playing the story up, claiming that underage drinkers drank only alcopop (actually they preferred cheap cider).

1999, Stanton Peel, Marcus Grant, editors, Alcohol and Pleasure: a health perspective:

The breweries began to develop alcopops with names and advertising drawn from drug culture.

2003 January 23, Dave Haslam, London Review of Books:

Over on cheap flights from Prestwick and Stansted, these boys were often to be found floating trouserless in the Liffey at dawn, or staggering up Grafton Street, their T-shirts clinging to them with alcopops and spilled Sambuca.

2004 June 3, Andrew O'Hagan, London Review of Books:

(British, Ireland, Australia) An alcoholic drink that looks and tastes like a soft drink.


automagical

en-adj

automagical (comparative more automagical, superlative most automagical)

more automagical (comparative)
most automagical (superlative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-automagical.wav

/ˈɑtoʊˈmæd͡ʒɪkəl/

Throughout this text we will emphasize the employment of a systems approach to the practice of analysis and design. In it we attempt to present this portion of the software lifecycle as a discipline rather than an "automagical" (automated magic) process.

1987, Lawrence J. Peters, Advanced Structured Analysis and Design, Prentice-Hall, →ISBN, page 2:

"How're we paying you, actually?" I asked.
 "Certain automagical manipulations."

1993, Colin Harrison, Bodies Electric: A Novel, Crown Publishers, →ISBN, page 186:

It is hoped that, over time, new e-mail list management tools will become available for users which can "automagically" determine who and how to do these…

1994, Daniel P. Dern, The Internet Guide for New Users, McGraw-Hill, →ISBN, page 490:

In the more florid cases, where the diagnosis is unmistakeable, several anatomical studies (especially with automagical computerized devices, such as positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging) have shown clear though subtle differences in the brains of schizophrenic patients…

1995, István Raskó, C. Stephen Downes, Genes in Medicine: Molecular Biology and Human Genetic Disorders, Springer, →ISBN, page 277:

These result [sic] indicate that the more complex the system, and the less the human feels aware of how the system is operating (i.e. to what degree it seems ‘automagical’) the less effective the operator becomes in correctly identifying problematic situations and taking the necessary corrective action.

2006, Stefan Axelsson, David Sands, Understanding Intrusion Detection Through Visualization, Springer, →ISBN, page 6:

(computing, technology, informal) Automatic, but with an apparent element of magic. Commonly referring to complex technical processes hidden from the view of users or operators, resulting in technology that "just works".

automagisch

automatic, but with an apparent element of magic


mimophant

Blend of mimosa + elephant, coined by Arthur Koestler in 1972.

Sunday, 16th June [1985]...Nico has invented a portmanteau word which applies to people like Garrett and Derek Hill, who are keenly sensitive about their own feelings while treading on the toes of others. It is ‘mimophant’. The mimosa is reputed to curl up when touched; the elephant - well!

2003, James Lees-Milne, Beneath A Waning Moon; Diaries, 1985–1987, page 31:

In Rejkjavik to cover the match, the novelist Arthur Koestler famously coined the neologism "mimophant" to describe Fischer. "A mimophant is a hybrid species: a cross between a mimosa and an elephant. A member of this species is sensitive like a mimosa where his own feelings are concerned and thick-skinned like an elephant trampling over the feelings of others."

2004, David Edmonds, John Eidinow, Bobby Fischer Goes To War, page 24:

(uncommon) A person with extreme social self-centered double standards, especially about personal feelings.


tray

(LGBT slang) A gay trans person, particularly a man (a man who is both transgender and gay)


bionic

bionic (comparative more bionic, superlative most bionic)

more bionic (comparative)
most bionic (superlative)

The Bionic Woman
The Six Million Dollar Man

Blend of bio- + electronic. The superhuman sense is attributed to the TV shows The Six Million Dollar Man (1973–1978) and The Bionic Woman (1976–1978).

(of a biological organism) Having been enhanced by electronic or mechanical parts; cyborg.

Now baby, don't you know that our rhymes are so bionic / Don't listen too hard, don't be supersonic

1988, “Supersonic”, performed by J. J. Fad:

Entering womanhood is awesome, but the learning, growing, and obstacle facing are not going to stop. As you grow into womanhood, it's going to seem as if the world wants you to be bionic—be stronger, faster, and smarter.

2007, Yasmin Shiraz, The Blueprint for My Girls: How to Build a Life Full of Courage, ...:

But to hear the presidential physician tell it, Trump is bionic. In a news conference, Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson hailed Trump's health as "excellent" eight times.

2018 January 21, Virginia Heffernan, “Trump's jargon is infectious”, in Los Angeles Times:

Before leaving the factory, May met Delma Käthner, a local woman, who told her she was “bionic”. / “She’s coped with so much,” Käthner said. “She has a terrible job. Just look at the way her shoulders are hunched. She has the whole weight of Brexit on her.”

2018 July 20, Lisa O'Carroll, “Ireland open to new proposal on Brexit border”, in The Guardian:


confuzzle

en-verb

confuzzle (third-person singular simple present confuzzles, present participle confuzzling, simple past and past participle confuzzled)

confuzzles (present singular third-person)
confuzzling (participle present)
confuzzled (participle past)
confuzzled (past)

Blend of confuse + puzzle. Compare befuzzle.

(transitive, slang, childish) To confuse or puzzle.


cyborg

cyborg (third-person singular simple present cyborgs, present participle cyborging, simple past and past participle cyborged)

cyborgs (present singular third-person)
cyborging (participle present)
cyborged (participle past)
cyborged (past)

Blend of cybernetic + organism. Coined by Austrian neuroscientist Manfred Clynes in 1960.

coinage

(science fiction) To convert (something) into a cyborg.


flounder

From Middle English flowndre, from Anglo-Norman floundre, from Old Northern French flondre, from Old Norse flyðra, from Proto-Germanic *flunþrijǭ. Cognate with Danish flynder, German Flunder, Swedish flundra.

(Canada, US) Any of various flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae or Bothidae.


fugly

(slang, vulgar) An extremely ugly person.


natlang

Blend of natural + language, by analogy with conlang.

Proto-Indo-European was a natlang that can only be reconstructed with the help of its attested daughter languages.

In the case of natlang some redundancy is set to avoid this, namely the "f-" or "few" opposes the "n-" of "none", but also "-ew" of "few" opposes "-one" of "none", so that, if ever one phonem is not well understood, the other ones are there to save the day.

2012 June 19, Escape Landsome, “Are Natlang the best case for entropy in communication ?”, in lojban@googlegroups.com (Usenet):

I don't think so, mainly because, being NATlangs, they weren't designed at all.

2012 June 19, Jonathan Jones, “Are Natlang the best case for entropy in communication ?”, in lojban@googlegroups.com (Usenet):

Don't expect me to waste my time learning a con-auxlang full of irregularities which I can already more or less understand and which won't gain me any access to other areas outside my own Romance area. I'll much rather use that time in learning the irregularities of a real natlang like, say, Arabic or Hindi, which will gain me access to the Arab and Indian areas, something which Interlingua won't do.

2003 December 11, Javier BF, “Poll on Natlangs”, in alt.lang.artificial (Usenet):

is it true or not true that anything that can be said in mathematical notation, however advanced it may be, must at some point or another ALSO be sayable in ordinary natlang words?

1999 September 16, Alexander Gross, “Limitations of Computers as Translation Tools”, in comp.ai.nat-lang (Usenet):

Regionalism is not a characteristic feature of natlangs, at least not in modern societies. People move around so much nowadays, that the effort is to conserve the differences rather than to conserve the similarities between different people's speech.

1997 March 31, Tiro Typeworks, “Conlang to Natlang”, in sci.lang@googlegroups.com (Usenet):

natural language processing
natural language processing

(informal, conlanging, natural language processing) a natural language, one that arose without intentional design.


shag

Blend of shower (“bridal shower”) + stag (“bachelor party”).

blend

(Northwestern Ontario) A fundraising dance in honour of a couple engaged to be married.


hir

head

hir (third-person singular, gender-neutral, objective case, reflexive hirself)

en-pron

But once the disorientation had passed, hir forced hirself back to full consciousness--and worked quickly to establish hir position, and Ruskin's.

1988, Jeffrey Carver, From a Changeling Star, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN, →OL, page 232:

I don't know what Scratch looks like in the real world, I met hir online.

1996 June, Caitlin Sullivan with Bornstein, Kate, Nearly Roadkill: an Infobahn erotic adventure, New York: Serpent's Tail, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OL, LCC PS3569.U3449 N43 1996, page 10:

Words like "freak" became attached to hir name, and I don't believe "brave" was ever a word the media associated with hir.

1997 December 18, Kate Bornstein, My Gender Workbook: How to Become a Real Man, a Real Woman, the Real You, or Something Else Entirely, London, New York: Routledge, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OL, LCC HQ1075.B69 1998, page 130:

T'Pau leveled a gaze at hir. "You are male and female ... and neither. 'It' is the proper word. We have no use for semantic games on Vulcan."

2000 August 29, Peter David, Renaissance (Star Trek New Frontier: Excalibur #10), Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OL, page 137:

(nonstandard) Them (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular object pronoun, coordinate with him and her.


dykon

LESBIAN ICONS AND REAL LESBIAN ICONS
If Madonna is the first among equals, the major female icon of the moment, she now has competition for dykon status in k. d. lang, who to many lesbians represents their very own 'real life' lesbian hera.

1994, Diane Hamer, Belinda Budge, The Good, the Bad and the Gorgeous, page 36:

[…] Singer-songwriter Hawkins has become a '90s dykon, due to her free-spirited sensuality […]

1998, Raymond Murray, Images in the Dark: An Encyclopedia of Gay and Lesbian Film, page 599:

Deneuve was more articulate when she said of her own dykon status, "The Hunger has a very strong image of beautiful women, so perhaps it is true. […] Yes, I showed you can be beautiful and be a lesbian."

1999, Ellis Hanson, Michael Moon, Michele Aina Barale, Out Takes: Essays on Queer Theory and Film, page 190:

She [the television presenter Kirstie Allsopp] says the screen Kirstie – who is now something of a dykon thanks to her bossiness, her spike heels, her 'luscious dark hair' – is pretty close to the real thing, 'just more domineering'.

2004 September 5, The Observer Magazine, page 17:

(informal) A celebrity, especially a woman (often a lesbian), who is much admired by lesbians.


doff

en-verb

doff (third-person singular simple present doffs, present participle doffing, simple past and past participle doffed)

doffs (present singular third-person)
doffing (participle present)
doffed (participle past)
doffed (past)

From Middle English doffen (“take off”), contraction of Old English dōn of. Equivalent to a blend of do + off. Compare don, dup, dout, gauf.

And made us doff our easy robes of peace.

c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

[A]t night, or in the rain, / He dons a surcoat which he doffs at morn: […]

1867, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The Adirondacs. A Journal. Dedicated to My Fellow-travellers in August, 1858.”, in May-Day and Other Pieces, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 47:

She had doffed the shirt and Bermuda-shorts which she had been wearing and was now dressed for her journey home.

1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter VII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

(clothing) To remove or take off (something such as clothing).

свалям

to remove or take off (something such as clothing)


chug

Onomatopoeic, in imitation of a working steam engine. The racial slur sense derives from the stereotype of Native Americans chugging alcohol.

(derogatory, ethnic slur) A person of Native American descent.


chug

chug (third-person singular simple present chugs, present participle chugging, simple past and past participle chugged)

chugs (present singular third-person)
chugging (participle present)
chugged (participle past)
chugged (past)

I got chugged in the town centre today.

(transitive, UK slang, derogatory) To solicit charitable donations on the street, particularly in a persistent manner.


jagger

/ˈd͡ʒæɡə(ɹ)/

A jagging iron used for crimping pies, cakes, etc.

I don't know if you've ever gotten close to a jagger bush, but those stickers can be pretty mean.

2011, Larry Enright, A King in a Court of Fools:

2011- , Chris Preksta, Curt Wootton, Pittsburgh Dad: Everything Your Dad Has Said to You
How about we play The Store is a jagger bush and you don't touch nothing.


jounce

jounce (third-person singular simple present jounces, present participle jouncing, simple past and past participle jounced)

jounces (present singular third-person)
jouncing (participle present)
jounced (participle past)
jounced (past)

Unknown, possibly a portmanteau / Blend of jolt + bounce.

Send these nice, white, clean shipping cases of honey to a commission man, without any instruction whatever, and he will have the genius and liberality to slap them upon a dray, jounce them to his store, rub them around and over an old, dirty floor, sell a part of it for less than you expected, fail to pay for it until he sells the other part, which he will do after six months or a year, then he will remit, provided the debt has not yet got so old that it is outlawed or he does not "bust up" in business in the mean time.

So now, stimulated by some further experience with that world which does not care a tinker's damn whether a verb agrees with its subject in number and person or not, she permitted the taxicab to jounce her smile out of all semblance to anything calmly superior and into a very unschoolmarmish grin.

1921, Harvey Wickham, “Introducing the Garden of Eden”, in The Clue of the Primrose Petal, New York, N.Y.: Edward J. Clode, page 9:

She felt herself swooping, then she was lying on the bed beside Gowan, on her back, jouncing to the dying chatter of the shucks.

1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Library of America, published 1985, page 51:

The bed jounced when Mannie sat down on it where the medic had been sitting.

1971, Ursula K. Le Guin, The Lathe of America:

(transitive, intransitive) To jolt; to shake, especially by rough riding or by driving over obstructions.


jounce

1966, Kathryn R. Schoonmaker vs. The State of New York, Claim No. 41795, State of New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department
Well, I remember we were bouncing around, the car was tilting back and forth, and it seems like it was bouncing after we made this big jounce and went up over the driveway, it was bouncing and tilting back and forth.

When the drive axles have inner and outer joints, rear wheel camber change is minimized during wheel jounce and rebound.

2010, Don Knowles, Today's Technician: Automotive Suspension & Steering:

(physics) The fourth derivative of the position vector with respect to time; the time derivative of jerk.


joggle

joggle (third-person singular simple present joggles, present participle joggling, simple past and past participle joggled)

joggles (present singular third-person)
joggling (participle present)
joggled (participle past)
joggled (past)

From jog (verb) + -le (frequentative suffix).

Little Elephant sighed because he felt ready to burst and he didn't see how he could eat any pudding, and he'd been waiting all day for that pudding. So he got up and trotted around the table ten times to joggle down his turkey. He must make room for the Christmas pudding!

1938, Heluiz Chandler Washburne, Little Elephant's Christmas:

(transitive) To shake slightly; to push suddenly but slightly, so as to cause to shake or totter; to jostle; to jog.

(intransitive) To shake or totter; to slip out of place.


joggle

From jog (noun) + -le (diminutive ending).

(engineering) A step formed in material by two adjacent reverse bends.

(architecture) A notch or tooth in the joining surface of any piece of building material to prevent slipping.


joggle

The struts of a roof are joggled into the truss posts.

1842, Joseph Gwilt, Encyclopaedia of Architecture:

(architecture, transitive) To join by means of joggles, so as to prevent sliding apart; sometimes, loosely, to dowel.


niacin

in 1942 derived from nicotinic + acid + vitamin, chosen to dissociate it from nicotine, to avoid the perception that vitamins or niacin-rich food contains nicotine, or that cigarettes contain vitamins.

Mixing the alkali into the recipe in the right way chemically releases the otherwise unavailable niacin in the corn, which stops pellagra in its tracks, and allowed corn-based agricultural populations to grow and spread.

2016, Joseph Henrich, chapter 7, in The Secret of Our Success […] , Princeton: Princeton University Press, →ISBN:

(organic chemistry, biochemistry) A water-soluble vitamin, a component of vitamin B complex, found in meat, yeast, and dairy products; it is essential to metabolism.

E375 when used as a colour retention agent


quasar

Blend of quasi- + stellar, from quasi-stellar radio source. Coined by American astrophysicist Hong-Yee Chiu in 1964 in an article in Physics Today. Analyzable as quasi- + -ar.

coin

(astronomy) An extragalactic object, starlike in appearance, that is among the most luminous and (putatively) the most distant objects in the universe.


shim

Unknown; from Kent. Originally a piece of iron attached to a plow; sense of “thin piece of wood” from 1723, sense of “thin piece of material used for alignment or support” from 1860.

Shims intercept Win32 API calls from legacy applications, as defined by system administrators, and then modify the call before passing the code to Windows for execution.

2010, Russell Smith, Least Privilege Security for Windows 7, Vista and XP:

(computing) A small library that transparently intercepts and modifies calls to an API, usually for compatibility purposes.

A small metal device used to pick open a lock.


shim

en-verb

shim (third-person singular simple present shims, present participle shimming, simple past and past participle shimmed)

shims (present singular third-person)
shimming (participle present)
shimmed (participle past)
shimmed (past)

(computing, transitive) To intercept and modify calls to (an API), usually for compatibility purposes.


sial

Coined by Eduard Suess in 1909, in Das Antlitz der Erde, as a blend of translingual Si (silicon) + Al (aluminum).

ref

Eduard Suess (1909) “Vierter Theil, Vierundzwanzigster Abschnitt: Die Tiefen”, in Das Antlitz der Erde (in German), volume 3.2, Wien: F. Tempsky, →OCLC, page 626:
Wir nehmen ferner drei Zonen oder Hüllen als maassgebend für die Beschaffenheit der Erde an, u. zw. die Barysphäre oder das Nife (Ni-Fe), ferner Sima (Si-Mg) und Sial (Si-Al). Diese Theilung unterscheidet sich von der Classification, die von hervorragenden americanischen Petrographen vorgeschlagen wurde, durch die Abtrennung der metallischen Barysphäre (Nife).
We further assume the existence of three zones or envelopes as determining the structure of the earth, namely, the barysphere or the Nife (Ni-Fe), Sima (Si-Mg), and Sial (Si-Al). This division differs from the classification which has been proposed by distinguished American petrographers, in the separation of the metallic barysphere (Nife).

(geology) The rocks rich in silicon and aluminum that form the upper layer of the earth's crust, which lies beneath all continental landmasses.


wangle

en-verb

wangle (third-person singular simple present wangles, present participle wangling, simple past and past participle wangled)

wangles (present singular third-person)
wangling (participle present)
wangled (participle past)
wangled (past)

Blend of wag + dangle, first attested 1810–1820. Alternatively, from an alteration of waggle or wankle.

“My dear old lad,” he said, briskly, “this must be remedied! Oh, positively! This must be remedied at once! I suppose my things wouldn’t fit you? No. Well, I tell you what. We’ll wangle something from my father-in-law.

1920 March – 1921 February, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVIII, in Indiscretions of Archie, New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, publishers […], published 1921, →OCLC:

After graduation, she was hired by United Press International, which on one memorable occasion sent her to cover a show by Elvis Presley in Detroit. She wangled an invitation to the singer’s hotel room, where one thing led to another.

2022 November 1, William Grimes, “Gael Greene, Who Shook Up Restaurant Reviewing, Dies at 88”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(transitive) To obtain through deceitful or manipulative methods.

изкрънквам

obtain through manipulative of deceitful methods

(intransitive) To achieve through contrivance or cajolery.