Significant new words of the year 2015 have been published by Collins Dictionary, with ‘dadbod’, ‘manspreading’ and ‘transgender’ featuring prominently.
But with new ways of registering, downloading and streaming of your favourite series it’s not surprising that ‘binge-watch’ has been chosen as the Word of the Year for 2015.
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With new ways of registering, downloading and streaming of your favourite series it’s not surprising that ‘binge-watch’ has been chosen as the Word of the Year for 2015.
Dictionary compilers have seen a huge increase in its usage as a survey found that almost all of us conceded to « binge-watching » – watching more than the two nightly episodes of a series in one sitting.
The CollinsDictionary.com definition of the in-word: « To watch a large number of television programmes (especially all the shows from one series) in succession. »
Netflix or Watch Series, or Canal + digital video recorders make it easy for fans to watch what they want, when they want, for as long as they want. New kinds of internet-inspired series, such as House of Cards or Breaking Bad are being viewed entirely without the thrill of waiting for the weekly installments and then discussed and digested ad nauseam on the social media.
The new, controversial UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn inspired a term based on his far-left economic policies: Corbynomics.
A regime of « clean eating » refers to avoiding processed foods and eating a lot of raw, untreated and unrefined produce.
Male binge-watchers who do not adhere to this diet are likely to develop a « dadbod » – a chubby physique (with moobs thrown in for free).
Men and boys with ‘dadbod’ physiques seen ‘manspreading’ – sitting on public transport or planes with legs akimbo – are probably going to be shamed on social media.
« Shaming », often linked to body image problems on social media, has seen usage increase a lot since 2014 with instagram and snapchat.
Contemporary dating habits are also apparent in words noted by Collins this year, as a Tinder user may « swipe » someone hot, but if it does not work out they may dump the other half by « ghosting ».
« Transgender » is another popular word, albeit not so new, with the increased exposure of media people such as Caitlyn Jenner, erstwhile known as Bruce, the Kardashian Pater, the one with dodgy skirts and sweet transvestite from Transylvania makeup.
All the new words will definitely be consecrated in print in two years time, if they’re still there.
Here are a few words that have been invented in recent times and terms coined as there was no word describing a new fashion, object, actoion or feeling:
BONK: not heard before 1975, seen as a more acceptable word for sex, it reflects societies changing attitude towards sex. It’s a semantic shift. Links to other words could be; shag or bang.
BEEF: original meaning – meat from a cow but nowadays teenagers commonly use the term to describe a problem with another person as most insults become over used or clichéd after a while. Links to other words could be; stress, mood or issue.
BOOTYLICIOUS: describes a woman with a very curvy figure and a large pert bottom. Think Kim, Beyoncé and all surgically enhanced Brazilian Booty of the Year contestants.
CAMP: original meaning – pitch up a tent usually outdoors or on a campsite. Nowadays “camp” is a term often used in an endearing way to describe a homosexual man who is incredibly feminine in looks and attitude. Links to other words could be; queer, fruity or teapot.
HIPSTERS – fashion’s influence over language, the creation of a new style of trousers needs a new name. Nowadays, it’s young men with clean-shaven sides of the head, bushy on top and sporting a beard, how strange!
KICK ASS – Adjective Compounding Something that is really, really very cool. Invented as a slang word for an alternative to ‘good’ or ‘cool’ Links to: ‘cool’ ‘good’ ‘awesome’ ‘sweet’ ‘great’ ‘amazing’ ‘wicked’, an American word.
MINISKIRT – Neologism/Compounding- used to describe a very short skirt. It was necessary to describe the new fashion that came about in 1965 as there was no previous word to describe an item of clothing that simply didn’t exist, incredible as it may seem. Miniskirts were worn by young women back then, it’s a staple clothing item for the under 60’s nowadays, how very strange!
ROUTER – a piece of computer equipment that handles message transfers. First used in 2002 due to advancements in telecommunication technology.
And you thought we were routing back in the last century?
You must be well zoned! (Inattentive, daydreaming or drowsy.)