Dictionary
The January-February AARP Bulletin (www.aarp.org/bulletin) published 50 of the many new words or phrases that have gone from being part of popular "slang" to becoming actual words in English dictionaries. Some of the more interesting ones included:
Bromance n. Close platonic male friendship.
Buzzkill n. Person or thing that has a depressing effect.
Cougar n. Older woman who dates younger men.
Exit strategy n. Planned means of extricating oneself from a situation.
Frenemy n. Friend with whom one has frequent conflict.
Pimp v. To make something more showy or impressive.
Friend v. To add to a list of personal associates on a website.
Unfriend v. To remove from a list of personal associates on a website.
Staycation n. Vacation spent at home.
Green-collar adj. Of or relating to workers in the environmentalist business sector.
Some of these words may be recognized by the dictionary, but not by my spell-checker!
Some of these words used to be nouns-and we understood them that way-but now they are verbs and have us baffled!
This got me wondering about the words in your personal dictionary. Which ones have you added, stopped using or given an entirely new meanings? Let's look at a few:
Relax v. Something people are always telling you to do. And if you actually did, it would give you the energy to do some other things.
Help n. That thing that people are always offering you, but you say,
"No thanks, I got it."
Date night n. An event to recharge an important relationship in your life.
Dust bunnies n. Adorable little creatures that reside in your corners and under your bed very happily, not needing anything from you until company comes over.
Happiness v/n. An active state of being, a choice, a state of mind, a goal, the end product of a fulfilling day.
Friends n. Those people you used to see that helped you: solve problems, made you laugh 'til you cried, shared a personal history with you, gave you a sense of self, and gave you permission to let loose.
Take out adj/v/n. Yummy food that comes in many varieties – some of which gets delivered to your door - and makes meal time much easier for you and the kids.
No v. The smallest word in the dictionary but one of the most important. Variations include: "No thanks," "No, not right now," "No, but thanks for thinking of me."
Send me a few words from "your dictionary!" I'll post them on the Thriving in Chaos Website and lobby Webster's to include them in 2012.
Have a Great adj. day!
Tracy
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Tracy Knofla
High Impact Training
PS. Feel free to share this with your friends and colleagues