AS SEEN ON TV
And the Word was made Fresh
Need a break from work but broke? Try having a STAYCATION which Webster published in its 2009 list of new words. A staycation is basically a vacation at home, better than spending time with FRENEMIES who are not your real friends anyway.
Webster says there are a lot of things you can do at home like watching WEBISODES of old TV programs on the internet, or completing that blog you’ve started writing but couldn’t finish because you’re lazy. Do a VLOG instead and use more video than words just to get it done.
Being online also allows you to chat with friends or total strangers. Just make sure you have a SOCK PUPPET or a false identity to guard your privacy. And use your sock puppet to stalk your frenemies too!
If a staycation doesn’t cure job burnout, maybe it’s time to do something new, like getting a GREEN COLLAR JOB as an environmentalist. A green collar job goes well with being a LOCAVORE should you decide to eat only locally-grown food.
But living la vida locavore only makes you partly fit so you still need exercise to burn fat from other OBESOGENIC food, which Webster competitor, Oxford defines as food that makes you… obese. Oh, Oxford Dictionary also released new word AEROBICIZE to burn obesogenic food via aerobic exercise!
Now back to local produce, Oxford warns about AGROTERRORISM or acts intended to damage or disrupt a country’s agriculture. Finally a term for those in government who neglect farmers and get kickbacks from rice importation. Darn AGROTERRORISTS!
It is hard to keep up with the evolution of words. 2009 is just halfway through and Webster already adds 100 new terms to the global vocabulary for the year. With these catching on fast on the internet there could be more dictionary entries, while I’m still struggling with using “TEXT” as a verb to mean send message via mobile phone.
In the early years of cell phones a message “I already TEXTED you” would send grammar teachers’ blood pressures off the ceiling. But since a couple of years ago Webster has already“accepted” TEXT as a verb (with a past and present tense). As a “TEXTER” I am still reluctant to verbalize “TEXTING” to this day.
And I won’t be surprised if FACEBOOKING (the verb) will earn its space on Webster faster than Microsoft Word allowing FACE BOOK to be written as one word. Constant usage elevates words to legitimacy, as long as these are adapted world wide.
In the same way as some English words used exclusively in the Philippines will never see the light of… dictionary. These are called FILIPINISMS or English terms that cannot be understood elsewhere in the world.
How many times have you ordered BOTTOMLESS iced tea which to the rest of the world is just REFILLABLE iced tea? And I suppose you had your drink “DINE IN” and not “TAKE OUT” as against Americans having theirs “FOR HERE” and not “TO GO”?
Or would you prefer to wear you shirt TUCKED IN? Or do you just leave it UNTUCK because by adding a preposition it is “physically impossible” to TUCK OUT?
Words like these will never be acceptable because simply put, they make no sense. Like a SHORT CUT isn’t already shorter and a cut from the long way, yet some Pinoys still use the LONG CUT of it?
And finally there are words I call MANILANISMS, largely because they represent MANILACENTRIC realities such as the Unified Vehicular Reduction Scheme or “COLOR CODING” to reduce traffic congestion. Manilanisms won’t even get nationwide comprehension (let alone acceptance) plus it just shows how lazy we are in finding ways to express ourselves better.
In one too many meetings I’ve attended, someone who almost doesn’t make it says (and in very confident English), “Sorry, I’m CODING today!”
Do I just frown at the fact that he’s late?
(Comments or reactions are welcome. Email: stanley.palisada@gmail.com)