Momentous events, even tragic events, have a way of enriching our vocabularies even as they wreak havoc on our world. Ask any etymologist (no, not those guys outside chasing cicadas - the other ones) - interesting times bring interesting words. These past 12 months have produced a bumper crop of new dictionary entries.
yellowcake (n.)
1. The concentrated oxide of uranium formed in the milling of uranium ore.
2. A sham or counterfeit. We thought we’d found Hitler’s diary, but it was just yellowcake.
chalabi (v.)
1. To dupe an unusually trusting victim. He was so confident about his billiards skills, it was easy for me to chalabi him.
abughraib (adj.)
1. Tending to wantonly inflict pain and humiliation. Pay me the money, or I’ll go all abughraib on your ass.
sovereignty (n.)
1. Complete independence and self-government.
2. Semi-complete independence, assisted government, and massive occupation.
powellize (v.)
1. To be rendered helpless and ineffective. It was the seventh inning, and Johnson still had the Red Sox hitters completely powellized.
[NOTE: Hey, kids! It’s a busy day… Please offer your own in the comments box.]
Fanny Roborat
30 comments
Sara J
May 28, 2004 at 1:27 am
1technically speaking, entomologists *are* the guys chasing cicadas. You, sir, are an etymologist par excellence, whether you know it or not!
Mark
May 28, 2004 at 1:27 am
2Liberate (v.)
1. To set free, as from confinement or foreign control.
2. To not set free, or confine, and place under foreign control.
Exp: The prisoners were liberated until the pain made ‘em talk.
Sara J
May 28, 2004 at 1:37 am
3word update:
Gore (v)
formerly (ca. 2000): to behave in a timid, nerdish manner as if incapable of standing up to bullying or even mild criticism.
2004 revision: to epitomize strength and moral leadership; as “Kerry’s really Gore-ing Bush these days. For that matter, so is Gore.”
Bob
May 28, 2004 at 1:54 am
4daisy Cheney(n.)
A string of lies connected to each other but not to reality. We were having trouble justifying the war in Iraq until the VP pulled that daisy Cheney out of his butt.
Nat
May 28, 2004 at 2:53 am
5rumsfeld (n.) A facial expression combining aspects of both a sneer and a snarl, usually connoting supreme confidence and contempt.
“I moved my queen, and was sure I would soon have checkmate, but the rumsfeld he was trying to hide convinced me that if he had his way, I would soon be shocked and awed.”
chuck
May 28, 2004 at 7:54 am
6bushed (adj)
1. worn out and tired of something
2. worn out and tired of something
Stash
May 28, 2004 at 8:53 am
7freedom (n.)
1. The state of having independent choice without restriction.
2. The state of having independent choice within certain restrictions.
Example: “You have the freedom to choose any number between one and seven, but not five or two.”
Stash
May 28, 2004 at 8:56 am
8patriot (n.)
1. One whose love of his country guides his actions.
2. One whose love of America guides his actions.
adam
May 28, 2004 at 9:03 am
9Sara… right you are… I’m fixing it, as it my write.
Stash
May 28, 2004 at 9:41 am
10While you’re at it, Adam, you might put the “g” in “sovereignty.” Just flip it in there anywhere; it duzn’t madder.
Theophylact
May 28, 2004 at 10:52 am
11perle (n.) A gem of disinformation. May be baroque, cultivated, artificial, or all three.
tim
May 28, 2004 at 11:03 am
12wolfowitz (v.): To underestimate something even though one should have known the correct amount.
The aftermath of the war was a disaster because the Undersecretary of Defense wolfowitzed the amount of troops we would need.
or
When they asked the Undersecretary of Defense at the hearing how many American troops have died in Iraq, he wolfowitzed it and was off by a third.
rich
May 28, 2004 at 12:06 pm
13terrorist (n.)
1. (traditional) One who commits random acts of violence, intending to bring about abrupt change in a social order.
2. (modern) Any American citizen who criticizes, questions, or otherwise expresses any opinion contrary to the whim of the ruling party.
Kerry
May 28, 2004 at 12:08 pm
14Weapons of Mass Destruction - any weapon capable of wreaking destruction of mythical proportions and existing in the realm of rumor, falty intelligence and fallacious claims.
Not to be confused with “conventional” weapons such as cruise missiles, Abrams tank, cluster bombs, bunker busters, A10 wart hog attack planes, cobra gunships, etc. plus 135,000 highly trained military personnel, also capable of wreaking destruction of near mythical proportions but existing in reality.
Mothis
May 28, 2004 at 12:22 pm
15Bush(n)
President with lowest IQ sorce(91) since they started counting.
bellatrys
May 28, 2004 at 12:24 pm
16nader
1) v. from 2000 - to bushwhack, sabotage.
Miller really nadered her employers, didn’t she?
2) n. from 2004 - someone with an exaggerated sense of self-importance and relevance.
That William Safire, he is such a nader these days.
ralph
May 28, 2004 at 2:04 pm
17plame v.
1) To inflict gratuitous harm to an innocent bystander. She was just standing there waiting for a bus when three thugs in wing tips and grey suits plamed her.
kristin
May 28, 2004 at 2:40 pm
18badapple (v)
1. to marginalize (esp. a problem)
ex. The fire threatened the whole neighborhood, but we were able to badapple it to the west end.
badapple (n)
one who is blamed for wrongdoing (see also: scapegoat)
markg
May 28, 2004 at 4:56 pm
19Preempt
1. to create. Bush’s Middle East policy is designed to preempt terrorism.
Bold
1. stupid. Neocons have a bold plan to remake the Middle East.
Dubya
May 28, 2004 at 8:28 pm
20patriot(n)
3. One who believes everything their government says.
4. One who will do anything for their government in return for the promise of a tax break (no matter how small) next year.
patriotism (n)
love or devotion for ones country and the belief that it can do no wrong in spite of evidence to the contrary.
Yes folks we got ya’ all figured out (GOP)
Anonymous
May 29, 2004 at 12:35 am
21Conservative
Moderate; cautious: a conservative estimate
Neo
New and abnormal: neoplasm
Neo-Conservative; uncautious abnormal: We need to kick the dog because the cat peed on the rug. We need to invade Iraq because Osama attacked us.
Rusty
May 29, 2004 at 10:18 am
22Work Ethic (n.)
1. Being paid $400,000 per year to vacation 75% of the time.
I wish I could find a job where I could express some work ethic!
Leslie
May 29, 2004 at 6:30 pm
23Adam, you might want to correct the spelling of sovereignty, too, as Sara suggested. There’s a g in there, and the i and e are backwards. Other than that, it’s just fine!
adam
May 29, 2004 at 8:35 pm
24Dagnabbit! That’ss teach me to post on the run.
From now on, no missspellings.
Dee
May 29, 2004 at 9:34 pm
25felber (v.) to make well-publicized and widely disseminated errors in grammar, spelling, syntax or pronunciation
Usage: Boy, Bush really felbered “Abu Ghraib” the other night, didn’t he?
Key
May 30, 2004 at 5:33 pm
26Nicely put, Dee, wish I’d thought of that.
Beth
May 30, 2004 at 10:00 pm
27abughraib (n.)
2. Activities which mirror the wrongdoings one is opposing. Cursing out your children for using bad language is a real abughraib.
abughraib (v.)
1. To undermine a campaign against wrongdoings by engaging in similar activities oneself. The politician abughraibed his anti-corruption campaign by accepting massive donations from special interests.
Mo
May 31, 2004 at 3:47 pm
28democracy (n.): a gift you give to someone by scrificing other people’s lives, then take away when the person you gave it to doesn’t do what you want them to.
Example: The U.S. took back the democracy it gave to Iraq when the ruling council elected the wrong guy President.
tess
June 1, 2004 at 1:39 pm
29dubya (n): a person who is given a position of power through friends or relatives and is incompetant.
example: Jones is such a dubya — he can’t even put on loafers without asking someone to tie his shoelaces, but now he’s vice president of operations because his daddy’s a shareholder.
lisa*
June 3, 2004 at 11:23 pm
30Bushwellian
the use of words to say the either the exact opposite of
what was said or nothing at all
examples:
1) Calling the militias Local Defense Forces is Bushwellian
2) Vice President Cheney