WOTY a Way to Start the Year!
On Jan. 6, the American Dialect Society, or ADS, will announce its selections for 2005's "Words of the Year" (or as I call them, WOTYs), defined as "words or phrases that best reflect the language and preoccupations of the year gone by."
There'll be several organizations making WOTY announcements in the coming weeks, but I think ADS's is the most deserving of respect. I think they're bolder than the rest. Take ADS's newsletter, or more specifically, the acronym that the newsletter's name makes—an acronym beloved by sophomoric columnists worldwide. ADS freely and boldly sprinkles the acronym all over its Website, but this is one sophomoric columnist who will let you figure it out on your own: Newsletter of the American Dialect Society.
The Society's moxie shows in other ways too. They're quite willing to publicize words that tweak powerful people. In 1990, the first year ADS publicly awarded WOTYs, the number one WOTY was "bushlips," a word meaning insincere political rhetoric. And in 1998, a WOTY went to a whole family of words that evolved from "Monica" and "Lewinsky." I don't know about you, but I think that shows a fair amount of (acronym of the Newsletter of the American Dialect Society).
Other interesting WOTYs from years past:
2002 - Most Outrageous: "neuticles," fake (acronym of the Newsletter of the American Dialect Society) for neutered pets.
'98 - Most Original: "multislacking," playing at the computer when one should be working.
'97 - Most Original: "prairie dogging," popping one's head above an office cubicle for the sake of curiosity.
'97 - Most Unnecessary: "heaven-o," as a replacement for "hello." (Has anyone out there ever been greeted with "heaven-o"? Maybe the word's inventor should've aimed lower, like start with "heck-o"?)
'95 - Most Unnecessary: "Vanna White shrimp," large shrimp for the restaurant market. (Okay, this one goes waaaaaay over my head. . . somebody tell me, why Vanna White? What the heaven does that even mean?)
Now let's play a little game that will test both your linguistic knowledge and whether you've thoroughly read my columns over the past year.
Here's a collection of words and definitions. Some are actual nominees for '05 WOTYs. The rest were just fabricated by yours truly. E-mail me your guesses as to which are which. If you get them all right, you'll win a highly collectible item from my personal collection of items—a partially completed "Fiendish"-level Sudoku puzzle.
> Whale Tail - The part of a thong or G-string underwear that some people pull way up over the waistband of pants, shorts, or a skirt. Assuming they're wearing pants, shorts or a skirt.
> Bumper nuts - Fake (acronym of the Newsletter of the American Dialect Society) hung from the rear end of a vehicle
> Nincompetence - Ludicrously poor video gaming skills, particularly with games made by Nintendo.
> Dogone Thong Filter - Pants worn by a dog to control flatulence.Momery Card - Though it sounds like a piece of computer gadgetry, it's actually a to-do list prepared by mothers so that fathers won't forget the chores/errands they're supposed to do.
> Flee-ancee - Runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks.
> Holy Day of Ale-bligation - A reference to the St. Patrick's Day tradition of consuming substantial amounts of beer.
> Muffin Top - The bulge of flesh hanging over the top of low rider jeans. Beware if the low riders are riding so low that you also see the Whale Tail of a Dogone Thong Filter.
> Old Drool - The annoying tendency of sports fans who have aged well beyond their "cool" years to constantly praise the athletes of days long gone as "old school." Used jock-ularly by young persons
> Crotchfruit - A child or children. Use humorously by parents, but with grim, dead seriousness by people who yearn for places where children are not allowed.
> Jump the Couch - To act in a strange or manic manner; picture Tom Cruise bouncing on Oprah's sofa (which, as an aside, is fun to say over and over again really fast—Oprah'ssofa! Oprah'ssofa! Oprah'ssofa!).
> Thiol Master - A chemical that dilutes or removes offensive smelling compounds called thiols from wines.
> Sudoktive - Describes the hypnotic effect of the number-puzzle game known as Sudoku.
Again, I can't take credit for creating all of the words on this list. As much as I'd like to, even I don't have the (acronym of the Newsletter of the American Dialect Society) for that.
Oh, WOTY I wouldn't give for an e-mail from you! TakeFiveT5@yahoo.com
There'll be several organizations making WOTY announcements in the coming weeks, but I think ADS's is the most deserving of respect. I think they're bolder than the rest. Take ADS's newsletter, or more specifically, the acronym that the newsletter's name makes—an acronym beloved by sophomoric columnists worldwide. ADS freely and boldly sprinkles the acronym all over its Website, but this is one sophomoric columnist who will let you figure it out on your own: Newsletter of the American Dialect Society.
The Society's moxie shows in other ways too. They're quite willing to publicize words that tweak powerful people. In 1990, the first year ADS publicly awarded WOTYs, the number one WOTY was "bushlips," a word meaning insincere political rhetoric. And in 1998, a WOTY went to a whole family of words that evolved from "Monica" and "Lewinsky." I don't know about you, but I think that shows a fair amount of (acronym of the Newsletter of the American Dialect Society).
Other interesting WOTYs from years past:
2002 - Most Outrageous: "neuticles," fake (acronym of the Newsletter of the American Dialect Society) for neutered pets.
'98 - Most Original: "multislacking," playing at the computer when one should be working.
'97 - Most Original: "prairie dogging," popping one's head above an office cubicle for the sake of curiosity.
'97 - Most Unnecessary: "heaven-o," as a replacement for "hello." (Has anyone out there ever been greeted with "heaven-o"? Maybe the word's inventor should've aimed lower, like start with "heck-o"?)
'95 - Most Unnecessary: "Vanna White shrimp," large shrimp for the restaurant market. (Okay, this one goes waaaaaay over my head. . . somebody tell me, why Vanna White? What the heaven does that even mean?)
Now let's play a little game that will test both your linguistic knowledge and whether you've thoroughly read my columns over the past year.
Here's a collection of words and definitions. Some are actual nominees for '05 WOTYs. The rest were just fabricated by yours truly. E-mail me your guesses as to which are which. If you get them all right, you'll win a highly collectible item from my personal collection of items—a partially completed "Fiendish"-level Sudoku puzzle.
> Whale Tail - The part of a thong or G-string underwear that some people pull way up over the waistband of pants, shorts, or a skirt. Assuming they're wearing pants, shorts or a skirt.
> Bumper nuts - Fake (acronym of the Newsletter of the American Dialect Society) hung from the rear end of a vehicle
> Nincompetence - Ludicrously poor video gaming skills, particularly with games made by Nintendo.
> Dogone Thong Filter - Pants worn by a dog to control flatulence.Momery Card - Though it sounds like a piece of computer gadgetry, it's actually a to-do list prepared by mothers so that fathers won't forget the chores/errands they're supposed to do.
> Flee-ancee - Runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks.
> Holy Day of Ale-bligation - A reference to the St. Patrick's Day tradition of consuming substantial amounts of beer.
> Muffin Top - The bulge of flesh hanging over the top of low rider jeans. Beware if the low riders are riding so low that you also see the Whale Tail of a Dogone Thong Filter.
> Old Drool - The annoying tendency of sports fans who have aged well beyond their "cool" years to constantly praise the athletes of days long gone as "old school." Used jock-ularly by young persons
> Crotchfruit - A child or children. Use humorously by parents, but with grim, dead seriousness by people who yearn for places where children are not allowed.
> Jump the Couch - To act in a strange or manic manner; picture Tom Cruise bouncing on Oprah's sofa (which, as an aside, is fun to say over and over again really fast—Oprah'ssofa! Oprah'ssofa! Oprah'ssofa!).
> Thiol Master - A chemical that dilutes or removes offensive smelling compounds called thiols from wines.
> Sudoktive - Describes the hypnotic effect of the number-puzzle game known as Sudoku.
Again, I can't take credit for creating all of the words on this list. As much as I'd like to, even I don't have the (acronym of the Newsletter of the American Dialect Society) for that.
# # #
Oh, WOTY I wouldn't give for an e-mail from you! TakeFiveT5@yahoo.com
posted by Don Stuart at 2:33 PM
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