Buzzword for 2006

anchor baby: a derogatory term for a child born in the United States to an immigrant. Since these children automatically qualify as American citizens, they can later act as a sponsor for other family members.

frequent flier: a repeat offender; a recidivist; generally, a person who regularly or habitually uses or takes advantage of a service. From the airline industry term but now widely used in hospitals and by police officials.

Fox lips: lips colored and lined with makeup to seem more prominent, said of female anchors on Fox News.

God wink: something taken as evidence that a higher power is at work; a coincidence. Popularized by Squire Rushnell in his 2003 book, “When God Winks,” and in later books. A similar term is God breeze, a commonplace epiphany or revelation.

Internet courage: boldness of character that comes from the anonymity and distance inherent in Internet communication.

Johnny Jihad: a Muslim or Muslim combatant. Although this term dates to 1996 or earlier, its heaviest usage by far has occurred since 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq.

Katrina brain: forgetfulness, lack of concentration and failure to follow through on activities, characteristic of the post-traumatic stress of Hurricane Katrina.

seven-thousand-mile screwdriver: micromanagement of a situation from afar. Lately used to describe the difficulties of managing the war in Iraq.

sudden jihad syndrome: an outburst of violence from a seemingly stable and normal Muslim.

vice mail: voice-mail messages disguised as confidential stock tips left on the wrong answering machine, a form of the pump-and-dump scam.

zeteophobia: a fear of career-planning. Coined by John Krumboltz, a Stanford University professor.

Chinglish

The Million Word March. Fueled by Chinglish?
'No Noising' and 'Airline Pulp' named Top Chinglish Words of 2006

The Annual Survey by the Global Language Monitor

San Diego, Calif. November 22, 2006. 'No Noising' and 'Airline Pulp' have been named the Top Chinglish Words of 2006 in The Global Language Monitor's annual survey of the Chinese-English hybrid words known more commonly as Chinglish. Though often viewed with amusement by the rest of the English-speaking world, The Chinglish phenomenon is one of the prime drivers of Globalization of the English Language.

"The importance of Chinglish is the fact that some 250,000,000 Chinese are now studying, or have studied, English and their impact (and imprint) upon the language cannot be denied," said Paul JJ Payack, President and The WordMan of the Global Language Monitor. "Since each Chinese ideogram can have many meanings and interpretations, translating ideas into English is, indeed, difficult. Nevertheless, the abundance of new words and phrases, unlikely as this may seem, can and will impact Global English as it evolves through the twenty-first century".

With the English Language marching steadily toward the 1,000,000 word mark, there are now some 1.3 billion speakers with English as their native, second, business or technical tongue. In 1960, the number of English Speakers hovered around 250,000,000 mainly located in the UK and its Commonwealth of former colonies, and the US.

Some scholars maintain that you cannot actually count the number of words in the language because it is impossible to say exactly what a word is, talking rather of memes and other linguistic constructs, are afraid that Global English is just another form of cultural Imperialism. GLM take the classic view of the language as understood in Elisabethan England, where a word was 'a thing spoken' or an 'idea spoken'.

Others say that English is undergoing a rebirth unlike any seen since the time of Shakespeare, when English was emerging as the modern tongue known to us today. (Shakespeare, himself, added about 1700 words to the Codex.) English has emerged as the lingua franca of the planet, the primary communications vehicle of the Internet, high technology, international commerce, entertainment, and the like.

Chinglish is just one of a number of the -Lishes, such as Hinglish (Hindu-English hydrid) and Singlish, that found in Singapore. A language can best be view as a living entity, where it grows just like any other living thing and is shaped by the environment in which it lives. With the continuing emergence of China on the world stage -- and with the Olympics coming to Beijing in 2008, the state is now attempting to stamp-out some of the more egregious examples of Chinglish.

In its annual survey the Global Language Monitor has selected from hundreds of nominees, the top Chinglish words and Phrases of 2006.

The Top Chinglish Words and Phrases of 2006 follow:

1. "No Noising". Translated as "quiet please!"

2. "Airline pulp." Food served aboard an airliner.

3. "Jumping umbrella". A hang-glider.

4. "Question Authority". Information Booth.

5. "Burnt meat biscuit." No it's not something to enjoy from the North of England but what is claimed to be bread dipped in a savory meat sauce.

Bonus: GLM's all-time favorite from previous surveys: "The Slippery are very crafty". Translation: Slippery when wet!

Independent News (London): Chinglish Phrases on the Rise

http://www.languagemonitor.com/Chinglish.html

Headlines

The Top Politically inCorrect Words for 2006:

Macaca, Global Warming Denier, Herstory, and Flip Chart Top Annual List

San Diego, California (December 16, 2006) Macaca, Global Warming Denier, Herstory and Flip Chart top the list of the most egregious examples of politically correct language found in 2006 by the Global Language Monitor (www.LanguageMonitor.com) in its annual global survey.

"In 2006, the Political Correctness movement continued to gain momentum to the effect that many were unaware of the extent that it had inserted itself into ordinary English-language conversations,” said Paul JJ Payack, President of The Global Language Monitor (GLM). The year has been rife with examples that have been nominated by the GLM’s Language Police, volunteer language observers from the world over".

The Top Politically inCorrect Words and Phrases for 2006:

1. Macaca – Might have changed the political balance of the US Senate, since George Allen’s (R-VA) utterance (which is an offensive slang term for Indians of the Sub-continent in the West Indies) surely has impacted his election bid.

2. Global Warming Denier – Since there are those who now believe that climate changed has moved from scientific theory to dogma; there are now proposal that ‘global warming deniers’ be treated the same as ‘holocaust deniers:’ professional ostracism, belittlement, ridicule and, even, jail.

3. Herstory for History – ‘Herstory’ again attempts to take the male element out of ‘HIS story’. Though there are nearly 900,000 Google citations for ‘HERstory, they are all based on a mistaken assumption. When Herodotus wrote the first history, the word meant simply an ‘inquiry’.

4. Flip Chart. The term can be offensive to Filipinos, please use ‘writing block’.

5. 1a and 1b -- The headmistress of a grade school in Midlothian (Scotland) had to split a grade into two equal classes. Though the split was purely alphabetical, parents objects because those with children in '1b' feared they may be perceived as academically inferior to those in '1a'.

6. Politically Incorrect Colors -- Staff at a coffee shop in Glasgow refused to serve a customer who had ordered a 'black coffee', believing it to be ‘racist.’ He wasn’t served until he changed his order to 'coffee without milk'. Around the world we have reports of the word ‘black’ becoming emotionally charged and politically correct or incorrect depending upon one’s point of view.

7. Oriental – Asian, please. Though this is generally a purely American phenomenon. In Europe, Asians prefer the term Oriental, which literally means ‘those from the East’.

8. Menaissance – The rise of a ‘manliness’ culture or male renaissance. Replaces metrosexual, which evidently appealed to women but not men.

9. Momtini -- A Michigan mother invented the term ‘momtini’ as an act of rebellion against ‘parental correctness’. This has raised the hackles of child protection and ‘anti-alcohol’ groups.

10. “Our Mother and Father Who are in Heaven” – From a new, ‘inclusive’ Bible translation (The Bible in a More Just Language) that replaces what it believes to be “divisive” teachings of Christianity.

Bonus: Political Correctness -- 'Equality Essentials,' a 44-page training manual book called has been used for staff training courses at Kirklees Council in West Yorkshire suggests that the term Political Correctness is now politically incorrect.

http://www.languagemonitor.com/

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