Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Another damn word of the year

Every maven and his sisters and his cousins, whom he reckons by the dozens, is pushing a word-of-the-year article or word-of-the-decade article (for that decade that we don’t have a word for, haven’t cared enough about to settle on a word for, and frankly just want to be over).

Even I am not immune to the temptation. So, herewith, my Word of the Year, Word of the Decade:

CRAPTASTIC

A portmanteau word, blending crap and fantastic, not in a favorable connotation, it was particularly beloved among some people whom I know in their descriptions of the work of a particular major media concern. (This description, I realize, will make it impossible for you to narrow the field.)

As a description of the level of public discourse to which we have descended in this waning decade, and particularly as a description of the degeneration of the established news media into drivel, gossip, and irrelevance, it does appear to be the signature word.

Merry Christmas.

8 comments:

  1. Others will suggest this too. I nominate "meep" as a late entry. What better sums up this dismal decade, this pre-decimated century, this where-is-my-jetpack age? Meep!

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  2. Prefer the more explosive, splattershot sound of craptacular.

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  3. Surely mavens reckon their female relatives "up by dozens" rather than "by the dozens"?

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  4. I couldn't help but be reminded of the word "craptacular," a blend of crap and spectacular. I think it was first used on The Simpsons. It seems to have about the same meaning.

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  5. A Dear John Letter.

    Dear John:

    A vertical dotted line between a gray and blue area on a page is a visual distraction.

    Solid line, please.

    Sign me: Computer-Human Interface Design Whiner

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  6. How about crapitalism, a word that implies where my investments went?

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  7. did you know, Nessie3's "crash blossom" term made the NY Times top words of the year list, too. See Ben Schott's blog on language there for the details.

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  8. crash blossom made NYTimes list of 2009 words too

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