2018 a Dictionary
Each year we gather the neologisms and phrases that have crept into usage from textspeak to slang to political jargon. Some of these terms are clearly cromulent, and many, predictably, swirl out from our empty tech-based world and our weird toxic politics. Some are clearly credible and may nestle into everyday use, others are not likely to make it past the end of the week. Make your own mind up.
Here’s our incomplete list:
Anechdoche – everyone talking / no-one listening
Anthropocene – we have changed the destiny of our planet and its ecosystems, to the point that human actions have become as powerful as that of plate tectonics or ice ages
Askhole – someone who continually asks stupid questions
Afterclap (n) – the last person who claps after everyone else has stopped
Backstop – the “Irish backstop” is an insurance policy in UK-EU Brexit negotiations. It’s meant to make sure that the Irish border remains open (as it is today) whatever the outcome of the UK and the EU’s Brexit negotiations. May crumble under the weight of Brexit’s internal stupidity
Belliger – to be difficult,aggressive, warlike…direct from the Latin
Bingeable (adj) – “Having multiple episodes or parts that can be watched in rapid succession”
Bougie – Short for bourgeois, this term means “marked by a concern for wealth, possessions, and respectability”
Dark Money – the cash slung at the Brexit campaign by Aaron Banks and by the Tories at the DUP to keep them in power
Dudevorce – when bros break up their friendship
Emolument – refers to clauses in the US Constitution that bar the president from profiting from his position in office, whether through dealings at home or with foreign governments
Fintech (n) – “Products and companies that employ newly developed digital and online technologies in the banking and financial services industries”
Finity – opposite of infinity
Floss – the stupid dance, from Fortnight I think
Gammon – pink-faced men on the telly over-brimming with their own worldview. See also Normie.
Gaslight – Verb: to attempt to manipulate (a person) by continually presenting them with false information until they doubt their sanity
Geobragging – repeated status updates noting your location in an attempt to get attention or make other people jealous
GRU – Russian secret intelligence group. Operatives memorably described as “probably just involved in the dodgy end of the bodybuilding supplements trade” on their trip to Salisbury
Hallouminatti – a particular breed of middle class commentators that act as a secret society directing and controlling public discourse (possibly coined by Darran McGarvey – though this is disputed).
Heroquine – a woman of outstanding achievement or ability (attributed to Jeanette Foggo)
Holocene Thinker – someone who hasn’t yet made the intellectual adjustment to the Anthropocene
Nambia – at an event with African leaders, Trump twice referred to the fictitious nation of “Nambia.”
Neurocapitalism – in his book Neurocapitalismo (Mimesis, 2016), Giorgio Griziotti highlights our symbiosis with technology and its impact on social life.
Normie – Normies possess a lack of interest in ideas not easily accessible or being outside of their/society’s current range of acceptance. A straight. A follower.
Most normies adopt a “popularity is the only measure of good or bad” mindset at an early age. Normies typically have a sense of cultural superiority over “counter culture” movements & foreign cultures. They will often try to discredit out cultures or choices falling outside of their majority think claiming those of other dispositions are mentally ill or out of touch with reality. By perspective normies of this generation would have been the social outcasts of the uber conformist 50s. See Angela Nagle’s Kill All Normies.
Over-Tourism – places ruined by total domination of tourism. See Edinburgh, Skye, Amsterdam etc
Palbatross – (PAL-buh-tross), n. A friend you’d like to drop
Plogging – people jogging and picking up litter. I don’t really believe it’s actually a thing
Trill – “Trill” is just a combination of the words “true” and “real”. According to Urban Dictionary, “trill” is slang used in hip hop culture and means someone well respected.
Rando – According to Merriam-Webster, this “often disparaging” slang means “A random person: a person who is not known or recognizable or whose appearance (as in a conversation or narrative) seems unprompted or unwelcome”
Shruggie – You know when we are happy, we just send out a little smiley, to show that we are smiling. Well a shruggie is a little different but works on the same principle. So Just like the smiley, a shruggie is an emoticon ¯\(ツ)/¯ indicating that a person is shrugging. A shrug basically is a gesture that is performed by lifting both shoulders and hands up. This gesture shows that you don’t know the answer to something or you don’t care about something
Salt/Salty – Used to describe passive-aggressive people.
Single Use – its the word of the year, or words of the year
Textpectation – that period of time when you are waiting for a text from someone special
TL; DR – “Too long; didn’t read—used to say that something would require too much time to read”
Unlightening – learning something that makes you stupider
VAR – the football thing
Wokebait (n) – possibly coined by Hannah McGill. Example: “Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s attack on Trump is wokebait to court bien pensant liberals who are disgusted with her support for authoritarians and killers abroad”
Woke – politically aware. Almost instantly became impossible to use in an un-ironic way
Who benefits if “plogging” is considered a thing? Secret service operatives performing their daily dead drops?
Also, what is the word describing an international-English-language analysis without a Scots item? “Scaughts”, perhaps?
Then you really should add Jeanette Foggo’s “Heroquine” – a woman of outstanding achievement or ability.
Oh, I like
Holocene Thinker – someone who hasn’t yet made the intellectual adjustment to the Anthropocene.
Thanks Matthew
Hadn’t heard of plogging until I moved to Sweden. I hear it’s a thing, although I’ve yet to witness anyone engaging in it.
Good/interesting list, thanks
Call me a pedant, but shouldn’t “over tourism” be hyphenated?
See here, for example: https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2018/08/11/artwash-over-tourism-and-edinburgh/