While we're on the subject of credit crunch-themed neologisms, here's another one I made up:Faginomics (ˈfā-gən-ˈnä-miks), noun
Controversial economic recovery strategy designed to alleviate the self-inflicted hardships of the rich and powerful few by surreptitiously removing money from everyone else's pockets.
As I've mentioned elsewhere (and even elsethere), I'm into neologisms in a big way. When I get bored, I make up a new word. Last week I wasn't bored, but someone invited me to make up a new word all the same. That's never happened before.The author Laura Lee invited me to take part in a neologism contest on her blog. She's written a book called Schadenfreude, Baby! and as 'schadenfreude' is one of my all-time favourite German words, I thought I'd give it a go. Schadenfreude, in case you don't already know, is usually defined as deriving pleasure from the misfortune of others. See, I told you it was a great word. Once you know what it means you'll wonder how you ever got by without it. According to Laura:'The kind of Schadenfreude many of us have been feeling in the wake of the financial crisis has a different quality and character than the celebrity downfall gazing of a year ago. It's darker, blacker and angrier. Over at Psych Central John Grohol is talking about his emotions: "I find a strange melancholic amusement to learn that many of these investment banks’ CEOs and boards of directors — people being paid millions of dollars every year to purportedly know what their own companies are doing and how they make money — didn’t have a clue as to how deep their companies were into questionable financial practices."
'I'm looking for suggestions for a new word that encapsulates this "melancholic amusement"- Schadenfreude tinged with a touch of sadness and foreboding.'
The word I came up with to describe this strange mix of emotions was:SADENFREUDE, noun
An emotion that combines joy in another's misfortune tempered only by the overriding sense that the misfortune is going to have some serious and sad consequences.
See what I did there? I created a new word by amputating two letters from a preexisting one. Nifty, eh?Believe it or not, I won the contest.Thanks for the good news, Laura. I look forward to reading your book.
As I've mentioned elsewhere, I'm into neologisms in a big way. When I get bored, I make up new words. I got bored this week, so I made up a new word. If you want it you can have it.
VEXICON (vek-sə-kän), noun,
A collection of words, phrases and expressions that I find deeply annoying.
Generation X-Wing noun A generation of people born between the mid 1960s and the mid 1970s who's childhood and adult life can be characterised by a fanatical devotion to George Lucas' original Star Wars Trilogy.
Disillucased adj An extreme, specific form of mid-life crisis common amongst members of Generation X-Wing [see above]. Characteristics of this psychological disorder include an overwhelming sense of betrayal, regrets for wasting so much of one's youth watching low-grade space opera and a firmly-held conviction that - whatever anyone else might say - "Han shot first". First identified in 1997, cases of Disillucasism reached epidemic proportions in the weeks following the theatrical release of The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones.
I'm into neologisms in a big way. When I get bored, I make up new words. I got bored today, so I made up a new word. You can have it if you like.This may become a regular feature. Consider yourself warned.Q. If suicide is the pre-meditated murder of one's self and homocide the pre-meditated murder of another person, what do you call the pre-meditated murder of a football team? A. "Fivecide."
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