Word of the Year 2006
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Well don't I feel dumb. I've always read it as "porned" (why not "pawned" I'm not sure).
Fortunately I don't move in the kind of company where such things are ever said aloud.
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I guess it doesn't really count for 2006, but one word that's acquired impressive new meaning over the last couple of years is 'orewa'.
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I'll make a supernacular toast to that.
is that like, vogels with a great alphabet soup on it?
but in all seriousness, i'm amazed i wrote a PhD without ever actually reading or using teh words,
lexiphanic
thoroughgoing
peripatetic
or Gammy. -
Well if we're going to be like that I'm a big fan of 'obfuscatory'. It's word that is what it means. Kind of the semantic equivalent of onomatopoeia.
And guess which spelling I just had to look up.
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It's pretty geeky 'round here and pwned is always pronounced p-own-d,
Ditto for our also-fairly-geeky workplace.
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I really like 'opisthenar'. I dunno why we need a specific word for the back of your hand or why it should be that, but the look on people's faces when you say, "It's okay, I know this place like my opisthenar" could well be the reason.
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Sesquipedalian perhaps?
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i got one of those lion red bottle caps that told me the scientific name for my pinkie finger is a "wanus"
sounds wrong
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'Schadenfreude' - it's the word and ethos of the year.
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"Peripatetic" is one of those wonderful words like "defenestration" that restores grandeur to entirely ordinary activities.
I had no clue what peripatetic meant until I read some background on Aristotle-he and his students would often wander about outside Athens, hence the name of his lyceum: the Peripatetic School.
Perhaps said All Black was implying he too grappled with the mysteries of the universe?
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Yes, Starkpiss seems a name truer to the qualities of the drink in question. Deborah might get Pead off though.
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I learnt of peripatetic by way of the Peripatus, which would receive my vote as Insect of the Year, were there such a thing (scroll down to the mother with her babies and tell me that isn't the cutest thing you've ever seen).
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I nominate excellent when used thusly:
"This topic has generated an excellent group of suggestions."
"The supermarket has an excellent range of wines."It's another case of a superlative being devalued, cos you can replace it with "quite good" and the meaning stays the same.
And I'm also nominating passion which should have been retired about two years ago, but people love it so much, so surely it's worthy of some lifetime achievement award.
It's often seen as a desireable skill listed in job ads:
"You must have a tertiary qualification, a proven sales record and a passion for customers."
And it is often used by people to describe people or things they feel they have to justify their feelings for:
"I'm very passionate about my partner."
"I have a real passion for netball.I feel very passionate about my excellent nominated words.
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...did I mention I'm still having nightmares about that "Should 'anal retentive' have a hyphen?" thing? :(
OED says anal-retentive gets a hyphen when used as an adjective ("The anal-retentive blogger", "The blogger is anal retentive"
But anal retention and anal retentiveness (both nouns) don't.
Hmm... I suspect there may be some comedic aptness lurking in this post.
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It's another case of a superlative being devalued, cos you can replace it with "quite good" and the meaning stays the same.
I've just been writing on cricket and reminded of how much I love the way words change their meaning when applied to that game. For instance:
average - bad
decidedly average - bloody appalling
poor - abysmalYou have to love a game, too, that gives us the word 'nurdle' and produces potential sentences like "Pietersen has spanked Warne through the covers".
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"110%"
It's what all athletes give these days.
Actually, are numbers and symbols allowed? hang on.
One hundred and ten percent.
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You have to love a game, too, that gives us the word 'nurdle' and produces potential sentences like "Pietersen has spanked Warne through the covers".
or "caught behind", or "taken down the legside". giggle giggle.
"The ball dropped at his feet".
"He's put it straight down long ons throat".
or from Kerry O'Keefe. "he's bowls a lot of Rock Hudson delivieries". "They look straight but they aren't".
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Brash seemed to start every sentence in 2006 with frankly
so quite frankly I'm going to nominate 'frankly' :)"cancerous" - is slightly more powerful though!
Hey, how about: "unbundled"
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I am not sure about a word for 2006, I agree with many here, but I would like to nominate the word for 2007 already
aspiration/s
aspirational -
I had no clue what peripatetic
If I hadn't looked it up, I'd have guessed it meant a state of constant hard-on...
but that must be something else :)
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I'd have guessed it meant a state of constant hard-on...
That would be Priapic.
For all those who have watched any kind of "reality" TV I nominate the word 'Journey'. Yes that's right, I'm talking to you, all you contestants on Idol, Rockstar, Top Model, Survivor, Downsize Me, et al.
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Extreme.
The other day I was wandering along K Road at lunchtime when a perky young person thrust a tube of toothpaste at me. It was EXTREME toothpaste apparently.
I expect extreme toothpaste to abrade your teeth away leaving bloody pulpy gums, but the significant feature of this toothpaste was a mild orange flavour.
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Autochthonous.
Sounds right wingish; is handsomely liberal; should be used more.
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this is probably left field, but what about 'hyperlink'.
has anyone noticed that you can't underline words in documents these days because people complain about broken hyperlinks? everything has to be bold or italic
but on topic, stupidest word of the year, "eradicator".
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Well if we really want to be anally retentive:
OED says anal-retentive gets a hyphen when used as an adjective ("The anal-retentive blogger", "The blogger is anal retentive"
Both these examples are actually adjectives, but only the first needs a hyphen. The difference is whether the adjective is acting as a modifier of a following noun or not. If the words precede the noun, you use a hyphen.
the anal-retentive blogger
the high-profile artist
the well-deserved promotionbut not if they follow them:
the blogger is anal retentive
the artist is high profile
the promotion is well deservedfun fun fun...
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