Pronunciation: \nē-ˈä-lə-ˌji-nerd\
Function: noun
Etymology: French néologisme, from ne- + log- + -isme -ism +
English nerd
: an individual who obsesses with finding, tracking, or coining new words and/or uncovering their origins.
As far as we know, and according to 0 results from Google (as of September 20, 2009 7:59pm EST) this word was coined by Bruce Frankel upon encountering the Mintjelly post regarding nerdy knuckle tattoos (Frankel’s suggestion: WORD NERD) together with this fine site you are now visiting, after a long and terrible red-eye flight from Los Angeles to New York, August 29, 2009.
Pronunciation: \ˈnərd\
Function: noun
Etymology: # perhaps from nerd, a creature in the children’s book If I Ran the Zoo (1950) by Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel)
# Date: 1951
: an unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept person; especially : one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits
Excerpt from If I Ran the Zoo by Dr. Seuss:
And then, just to show them, I'll sail to Ka-Troo
And
Bring
Back
an IT-KUTCH
a PREEP
and a PROO
a NERKLE
a NERD
and a SEERSUCKER, too!
Fauxcabulary Origin: discussed in an email from journalist and author Bruce Frankel, upon submission of the word Neologinerd.
Frankel writes,
James E. Burrows has made an extensive search [of the word nerd].
The problem with pinning the creation of “nerd” on Dr. S. is that the second documented occurence comes only a year later in the Oct. 8, 1951 edition of Newsweek, on page 16, in an article that states: In Detroit, someone who once would be called a drip or a square is now, regrettably, a nerd, or in a less severe case, a scurve.
There is much more on the search, for the origins of nerd. Several alumni of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) have written Mr. Burrows, who is otherwise knows as Brons, that the word comes from KNURD, which is DRUNK spelled backwards, and was created at RPI to make fun of those who weren’t drunk. But the earliest documented usage there is on the 1965 cover of the Homecoming edition of the RPI humor magazine The Bachelor. For much more, visit James E. Burrows‘ site.
Pronunciation: \chahrt -ti-kuh l\
Function: noun
Etymology: chart + article
: more commonly referred to as an infographic, the word charticle is used mostly in the newspaper industry to describe a the use of visual imagery, design elements, and text as a narrative device thought to allow a reader easy access to the information presented.
USA Today is best known for its charticle usage, but Gawker also embraces the term. Another good example would be New York magazine’s Approval Matrix.
Pronunciation: \ˈgrɔ:lɪks\
Function: noun
: A string of typographical symbols used (especially in comic strips) to represent an obscenity or swearword.
Etymology: unknown, possible onomatopoeia: according to wiktionary, looks to have been coined by Beetle Bailey cartoonist Mort Walker around 1964.
Fauxcabulary Origin: Typography masters Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones answer the question, “What is the name of that string of non-alphanumeric characters that indicate cursing?”
n. A string of typographical symbols used (especially in comic strips) to represent an obscenity or swear word.
Pronunciation: \ˈ pər-sən ˈi-zəm\\
Function: noun
Etymology: person + ism
13th century Middle English, from Anglo-French persone, from Latin persona actor’s mask, character in a play, person, probably from Etruscan phersu mask, from Greek prosōpa, plural of prosōpon face, mask. + -ism circa 1680.
: the doctrine, movement, or practice concerned with individual human beings, whether man, woman, or child.
Fauxcabulary Origin: Read the tongue-in-cheek manifesto of personism by poet Frank O’Hara, written in 1959, the inspiration for artist and personism.com site developer Jen Bekman. Random encounters increased circa 2007-8, with attention brought to focus by link regarding the topic of gender diversity at web conferences. List of female conference speakers compiled in 2006 by Jen Bekman on personism.com. Further need for a such a word, indicating general doctrine of interest or concern for individual humanity, Fauxcabulary predicts, will increase, perhaps tongue-in-cheek, perhaps not.
Pronunciation: \nā’pə-tôr’ē-əm, -tōr’-, nāp’ə-\
Function: noun
Etymology: nap + natatorium
: n. An indoor napping room or area.
Fauxcabulary Origin: Coined in late 2006 by Tina Glengary and Evan Cordes somewhere in the Oakland Hills.
Pronunciation: (prō-krāf’tə-nāt’, prə-)
Function: verb
Etymology: procrastinate + craft
: v. intr.
To put off doing something, in lieu of constructing an object or an idea.
v. tr.
To postpone or delay for the sake of creating.
Fauxcabulary Origin: coined by Evan Cordes while driving across the United States with Tina Glengary.
Pronunciation: \’me-g& - gal - ‘tas-tik\
Function: adjective
Etymology: mega- gal- ‘tast -ik
characterized as having an extensive vocabulary
Fauxcabulary Origin: Learned on The Show with Ze Frank. First used in Gal’s basement in 2005, but the Oxford English Dictionary requires five published instances and for the word to exist for at least five years before it is officially added to the dictionary.
Variant(s): \&-’pä-k&-ä-li-t&-r&-/"chur, -"ch&r, -"tyur, -"tur/\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, revelation, Revelation, from Anglo-French apocalipse, from Late Latin apocalypsis, from Greek apokalypsis, from apokalyptein to uncover, from apo- + kalyptein to cover, with Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin litteratura writing, grammar, learning, from litteratus
: literature of or pertaining to the apocalypse
Fauxcabulary Origin: found in the June 23, 2002 Time magazine article “The Bible & The Apocalyse” by Nancy Gibbs while researching the increasingly loud buzz of the Apocalypse.
Pronunciation: \tI-(’)pO-ti-"kän\
Function: noun
Etymology: typo + emotion + icon
: unintential emoticon (smile-type-face) due purely to inadvertent key strokes, as rendered by the smilies feature in sophisticated instant messanging clients like Trillian, Adium, and Miranda-im.
Fauxcabulary Origin: Actually, this word was the origin of Fauxcabulary. The first word to be recorded after being coined by Mia Eaton, 2006.
Pronunciation: \’i-dE-&-"nim\
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek eironeia feigned ignorance, with Greek nym from onoma meaning name or word.
1: word combinations that “represent lexical irony” according a 2004 article in American Speech by Larry Horn.
2: situation when a person’s name is at ironic odds with their actions, coined by Geoff Lewis as posted on wordsmith.org
Fauxcabulary Origin: Read post on kottke.org asking “Is dwarf planet an ironym?” — via Adriana at Stingykids.net. Ironym not yet found in dictionaries (no fauxcab word should be — yet), but discussed in a few places such as this great post giving definition #1, by Benjamin Zimmer at Language Log.
Pronunciation: ’i-dE-&-"nim
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek eironeia feigned ignorance, with Greek nym from onoma meaning name or word.
1: word combinations that “represent lexical irony” according a 2004 article in American Speech by Larry Horn.
2: situation when a person’s name is at ironic odds with their actions, coined by Geoff Lewis as posted on wordsmith.org
Fauxcabulary Origin: Read post on kottke.org asking “Is dwarf planet an ironym?” — via Adriana at Stingykids.net. Ironym not yet found in dictionaries (no fauxcab word should be — yet), but discussed in a few places such as this great post giving definition #1, by Benjamin Zimmer at Language Log.