Word Up

In one of those wet saturday tidy up and move-around sessions in the house I came across, after some absence, my Webster's Dictionary, published in 1866 and acquired by accident at an auction sale a couple of decades ago.

By accident I do not mean that I put my hand up when I should not have but that the box of miscellaneous items that I was after, intentionally, had the weighty, dusty and bedraggled edition stowed away at the bottom underneath some comics, trinkets and, frankly, a lot of junk, but what do you expect for £1.50.

I rippled the familiar, brown, musty and faded pages, picking out a few at random and poring over the tightly packed type set words and their definitions.

This simple act made me realise that a good proportion of the words from that era have just disappeared from the English language and also from that deep brain consciousness that brings them hurtling back to the surface at such times as doing a crossword, taking part in a quiz or watching University Challenge and trying to answer at least one question.

The beauty of language is that it is a dynamic and inventive thing and those olde worlde words and phrases that drop off the radar are quickly replaced with new ones, first heard on the street or cobbled together from popular culture and influences.

Two Institutions, trusted with the stewardship of the English Language, the Oxford English Dictionary and Collins regularly review potential entries for their illustrious publications with the former finding this necessary every quarter and Collins annually.

So what is the content and tone of the most recent additions to the language?

The fact that Brexit is the most commonly used is a reflection of the impact that the Referendum on EU Membership had on the nation. It has also spawned many other uses of "Bre" as a prefix, including for those who voted to remain- Bregret.

Over about the same period of time the word, Trumpism has emerged to mean, in my interpretation, making statements off the top of your head for maximum controversy but with little thought as to what you are actually saying. That particular word, I predict, will dominate the linguistic stage for years to come.

As one President prepares for Office, the current incumbent is saying his farewells and no one more than Obama has perfected the "Mic-Drop" or theatrical gesture to signify the end of something.

Internet Trolls have been prominent for all of the worst reasons but the contribution of social media to creating new words and phrases cannot be overlooked. Take "Throw Shade" which alludes to a subtle or non-verbal put down or insult to someone. "Non-apology" is something we are all familiar with from politicians,celebrities and captains of industry,  It sounds like an apology but with no acceptance of responsibility or regret for upset, incompetence or offence.

Other on-line acknowledgements go to "Sharenting" where parents use Facebook, Instagram and other social media to display what their children are doing and "Clicktivism" where support is shown for a political or social cause by a person only through the internet, shunning the picket line or populist march.

There are a few cobbled and crudely welded together examples, Freemium being where a company offers a business plan, gratis and for nothing but then tries to upscale services on a fee charging basis.

Text originating abbreviations also figure with the most popular including YOLO (You only live once)and JOMO (joy of missing out).

Slang was once excluded from authoritative dictionaries and reference works but is a valuable source of new words. Moobs or man boobs has emerged as a front runner in this category ,Squee which apparently is a high pitched noise emanating from a musical instrument or an animal and 'merica which refers to stereotypes of the United States.

Those amongst the population who have officially recorded their belief as Jedi will be thrilled to see that Yoda, the little green figure in Star Wars, is now a proper descriptive term for a wise and perceptive person.

The reported, growing tension between my age group, the Baby Boomers and the Millenials on such issues as the housing ladder, pensions, global warming and many other socio-political and environmental issues is being defused a bit by the emergence of the phrase "Snowflake Generation" referring to those following on from the Millenials and seen to be less resilient and easy to take offence at things said.

Back to the Brexit and Trump results there seems to be a reaction to the liberal elite in respective British and American society. The phrase "Westminster Bubble" is an illustration of this.

Two of my favourites from the new additions are Uberisation which requires no explanation in a globalised world and Hygge (pronounced Hoo-Gah). This now very trendy word is attributed to the Danish but is in fact an old Norse word to describe a cosy and convivial atmosphere.

In this pressurised world everyone is looking for Hygge.

To me, it has the exact pronunciation of someone being violently sick.