NEW
cowpooling pp. Purchasing a whole cow or side of beef from a local farmer and sharing the cost among multiple families. [Blend of cow and carpooling.]
Example Citation:
Amid growing concerns about large-scale meat production fuelled by such recent books as The Omnivore's Dilemma and The 100-Mile Diet, some consumers are bypassing supermarket meat aisles and even the local butcher shop in favour of cowpooling — clubbing together to buy half or whole carcasses directly from local farms.
—Wency Leung, "You take the ribs, I'll take the rump," The Globe and Mail, May 21, 2008
Read more about "cowpooling"
Posted on June 10, 2008
NEW
CGI fatigue n. Feelings of boredom and frustration caused by viewing movies that use excessive or inferior digital special effects.
Example Citation:
The Yoda puppet in the second and third "Star Wars" sequels turned in a performance, a performance that Mark Hamill could watch and react to and play against. The CGI Yoda in the prequels was great for light-saber battles, but when it came time to bandy words with Samuel L. Jackson or whomever, "there was no there there," to misquote Gertrude Stein. I guess I am just suffering from CGI fatigue.
—Steve Penhollow, "CGI tops marks against 'Skull'," Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, June 1, 2008
Read more about "CGI fatigue"
Posted on June 6, 2008
NEW
freeconomics n. The economics of giving away goods or services. Also: free-conomics.
—freeconomic adj.
Example Citation:
Since an e-book can be short, you probably don't need a ghostwriter. If you do, ghostwriters like myself will do the job for anywhere from $5,000 [for 35 pages] to $9,000 [for 85 pages]. Having a traditional book ghostwritten could run from $20,000 to $60,000. Formatting it into a PDF is free. Copyrighting it through the Library of Congress [downloadable forms online] is $45. What about laying it out? That's not absolutely necessary since your audience is hungry for content, not beauty. But I advise clients to scout out a low-cost graphics pro to make the manuscript look professional.You're not asking anyone for anything. Most likely you will offer the e-book free. Actually, freeconomics is the way to go in this market. Provide something free and you are halfway there to hooking that fish.
—Jane Genova, "Hedge Legal Careers — Do a 35-page e-book," Law and More, March 30, 2008
Read more about "freeconomics"
Posted on June 4, 2008
NEW
hectivity n. Hectic activity.
Example Citation:
A reader wrote to say that, in his house, they use the word "hectivity." "My three daughters cause too much hectivity in our house."
—Jay Nordlinger, "Cohen of Memphis, etc.," National Review, September 6, 2007
Read more about "hectivity"
Posted on June 3, 2008
NEW
microboredom n. Boredom caused by having nothing to do over a short period of time. Also: micro-boredom.
Example Citation:
A decade ago, those monotonous minutes were just a fact of life: time ticking away, as you gazed idly into space, stood in line, or sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Boredom's doldrums were unavoidable, yet also a primordial soup for some of life's most quintessentially human moments. Jostled by a stranger's cart in the express checkout line, thoughts of a loved one might come to mind. A long drive home after a frustrating day could force ruminations. A pang of homesickness at the start of a plane ride might put a journey in perspective.
Increasingly, these empty moments are being saturated with productivity, communication, and the digital distractions offered by an ever-expanding array of slick mobile devices. A few years ago, cellphone maker Motorola even began using the word "microboredom" to describe the ever-smaller slices of free time from which new mobile technology offers an escape.
—Carolyn Y. Johnson, "The joy of boredom," The Boston Globe, March 9, 2008
Read more about "microboredom"
Posted on May 30, 2008
NEW
BlackBerry prayer n. The head-down, slightly hunched position that is characteristic of a person using a BlackBerry or similar device.
—BlackBerry praying pp.
Example Citation:
Without a doubt, the biggest workplace changes involve computers and communication. Employees are linked to their jobs practically around the clock. There's been a revolution in smart phones like the Treo and BlackBerry that allow people to communicate by E-mail and IM (which your kids will soon explain, if you don't understand) and access the Web from soccer fields and doctors' waiting rooms. If you haven't used them yet, you've almost certainly been to a dinner party or school event where someone's hunched over in the "BlackBerry prayer," thumbing an E-mail response.
—Kerry Hannon, "What's Changed at Work While You Were Out," U.S. News & World Report, February 1, 2008
Read more about "BlackBerry prayer"
Posted on May 27, 2008
NEW
staycation n. A stay-at-home vacation. Also: stay-cation.
Example Citation:
Amy and Adam Geurden of Hollandtown, Wis., had planned a long summer of short, fun getaways with their kids, Eric, 6, Holly, 3, and Jake, 2. In the works were water-park visits, roller-coaster rides, hiking adventures and a whirlwind weekend in Chicago. Then Amy did the math: their Chevy Suburban gets 17 miles to the gallon and, with gas prices topping $4, the family would have spent about $320 on fill-ups alone. They've since scrapped their plans in favor of a "staycation" around the backyard swimming pool.
—Linda Stern, "Try Freeloading Off Friends!," Newsweek, May 26, 2008
Read more about "staycation"
Posted on May 26, 2008
NEW
facadectomy (fuh.sawd.EK.tuh.mee) n. The removal of the facade of a building to use as the front of a new or reconstructed building. Also: facade-ectomy.
Example Citation:
"My talk is about reinventing the preservation movement. I hope to shed some light on the challenges," he told the Deseret News in a phone interview from Chicago. After all, he noted, the preservation movement is more than 100 years old. Many of this country's oldest buildings have already been saved. And yet, increasingly, architects and lovers of architecture find themselves faced with gray areas. For instance, is it better to engage in what Kamin calls a "facadectomy" when you can't save the whole building? In cities around the country, facades have been saved. The original ZCMI is just one example of a facadectomy in Salt Lake City.
—Susan Whitney, "Critic to address challenges of preservation effort," Deseret Morning News, April 15, 2008
Read more about "facadectomy"
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Big Dave
Bookmarks