Sunday, January 08, 2006

Words - 2005

In its 16th annual words of the year vote, the American Dialect Society voted truthiness as the word of the year. First heard on the Colbert Report, a satirical mock news show on the Comedy Channel, truthiness  refers to the quality of stating concepts or facts one wishes or believes to be true, rather than concepts or facts known to be true. As Stephen Colbert put it, “I don't trust books. They're all fact, no heart.”

Other interesting words:

Most Creative

  • whale tail: the appearance of thong or g-string underwear above of pants, shorts, or a skirt. Also known as a longhorn.
  • pinosaur: a very old Wollemi pine tree near Australia’s Blue Mountain.
  • muffin top: the bulge of flesh hanging over the top of low-rider jeans.
  • flee-anc?e: runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks.

Most Outrageous

  • crotchfruit: a child; children. Perhaps inspired by the expression the fruit of one’s loins, this term began among proponents of child-free public spaces, but has since spread to parents who use it jocularly.
  • Whizzinator: a trademarked urinating device using a realistic prosthetic penis and synthetic urine in order to pass a drug test.
  • Bumper Nutz: fake testicles hung from the rear end of a vehicle.
  • Ex-Lax option: nuclear option; immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq. 
  • intelligent design n. the theory that life is could only have been created by a sentient.

Others

  • jump the couch: to exhibit strange or frenetic behavior. Inspired by the couchbouncing antics of Tom Cruise on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show in May. It derives from an earlier term, jump the shark, meaning to (irretrievably) diminish in quality; to outlast public interest or popular support.
  • TomKat: the celebrity couple of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. 1
  • Cruisazy: crazy in the manner of Tom Cruise. 5
  • Cyber Monday: the Monday after Thanksgiving, purported to be the day that most online shopping takes place. 10
  • Brangelina: the celebrity couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

Here’s the complete list.

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