1.
Blamestorming:
A noun. Your project was a failure and has spoilt the department’s record of
achievement. But just whose is idea was it anyway, and why did things go wrong?
Call a meeting to discuss it, and instead of brainstorming, why not try blamestorming-that way you can show you
had nothing to do with it.
The
Source “Back in the eighties and early nineties, everyone was talking about
brainstromin, but more often than not what actually went on was blamestorming – people sitting in
meetings, allegedly to share ideas but really saying …”Who made the mistake?..
in those meeting there’s lot of fingerpoiting, but not a lot of emphasis on the
important issue: How to solve the problem” …Business Week, 24th
September 2004
2.
Bouncebackability:
(also bouncebackibility) (noun): If things are not going so well for you at the
moment, reassure those around you not to give hope: remind them of your
bouncebackability. You may have lost every game this season or just failed your
exams, but success may be just be around the corner. “We have been beaten, but
we will benever be defeated.. I for one, am looking forwad to next season as we
wil prove that we have bouncebackability (the Holmesdade Online, 19th
May 2005)
3.
Earworm:(
noun) We all know that feeling of hearing a tune on the radio and then being
bothered by it for the rest of the day. Now we’ve finally got a name for ‘this
song whicgh keeps going round and round in the head.” This earworm, invading
our consciiuness fdor several hours until it finally gets moved, often by
another earworm. “The company shifted ficus from background music to
foreground; the music suddenkyt wanted to be noticed, to implant ‘earworms’-musical phrases you can’t
nget out of your head-into the disc changer of your brain”…Washington Post,19th
june, 2005)
4.
Infomania:
(noun) if you regularly send a quick text message while talking to someone, or
frequently check your emails during your working day, you could be suffering
from a new and widespread addiction, potentially more harmful to your
concentration than anything else1 sufferers of infomania are distracted from daily tasks because they have the
constant urge to read and reply to electronic messages. “The abuse of
‘always-on’ technology has led to a nationwide state of infomania where UK
workers are literally addicted t checking e-mail and text messages during
meetings, in the evening and at weekends.’ (999 today, 22nd April
2005)
5.
Irritainment:
We all know those TV programmes which we can’t quite resist tuning intio each
week, even we know they are annoying. What abiut last night’s reality TV show?
It was rubbish, but we were talking abiut it at lunch today. These compulsive
programmes are irritating but somehow they entertain us-that’s irritainment. “irritainment: entertainment
and media spectacles that are annoying but you find yourself unable to stop
watching them…Marshall Democrat News, 2nd June 2005)
6.
Latte
factor: (noun) Try avoiding the morning trips to a coffee bar to grab a late on
the way tog work or to your clasess, and see how much cahs you save. The latte factor represents the amount of
money we waste each day n quick drinks and snacks. Financial analyst have
estimated that if you saved this money each day, you could be millionaire in 41 years. “You don’t have to
change your whole life’, says David Bach(inventor of the phrase),… “but you
find your “latte factor.” It’s a metaphor for where you’re spending money on
little things that you could cut back on without changing your lifestyly…’ He
says spending less $5 less a day will grow to $948,612 over 40 years at a 10%
annual rate of return…USA Today, 14th April 2005)
7.
Marmalade
dropper ( British English) Muffin choker (American English) Imagine reading
something so exciting one morning that you forget wqhat you’re doing at the
breakfast table. Marmalade droppers in the United Kingdom, and Muffin chokers
in the United States, are those pieces of journalilsm-stories, photographs, and
quotations-which are so shocking that they can cause you to end up with jam on
your ti3e or crumbs all down your skirt. “Ah, how we brits like a good, old
fashioned,legover saga to read at the breakfast table-what one editor I know
calls a ‘marmalade dropper”( it is such a gripping yarn, your knife hovers above
the toast as you read that paper aghast, the marmalade slipping off unnoticed”
(This week, 5th December 2004)
8.
Me
time(also me-time): If the pressures of daily life are getting too much for
you, then why not indulge in a little me time, time to ralx and do exactly
wehat you enjoy. Whether it’s going to the gym,taking a long hot bath, or
sitting down with a cup of coffee and a large slice of chocolate cake, we all
need a little me time in our lives. “Are you allocating enough ‘me-time’ into
your day? it is far too easy to get wrapped up in a day-to-day tasks and
responsibilities, forgetting to takre care of yourself. Choose from a variery
of practices that can easily be
incorporated a few minutes each day to bring about inner peace and contentment.
(About Inc. 6th june 2005)
9.
Miswant
(verb) if you’ve always wanted a car but have never been able to afford one, if
there is whole list of things you’d buy ‘if only you had the money’, then stop miswanting and consider whether these things would really
make you permanently happy. Psychologist claim that as humans we are programmed
to miswant: we mistakenly believe
that getting a particular thing is the rout to future happiness. “If you are
wondering how anyone could ever miswant something, consider how wanting is intrinsically
tied to predicting. To want something is to predict that when we get it, we
will feel good…Here lies the problem of miswanting….miswanting refess to the
fact that people sometimes make mistakes about how much theyt will like
something in the future.”
10. Sheeple: The
power of 21st century media tricks many of us into following
fashionable ideas of the moment. If you’re one of those people who tends to
follow popular trends and bases their opinions on what everyone else is saying,
then count yourself among the sheeple. A
blend of the words sheep and people, sheeple describes people who are easily
persuaded and tend to follow what others do. “Unfortunately, voters succumbed
to the bullying tactics of our elected officials…These increased taxes will
harm the economy and hurt families. Hopefully, voters will remember in the
future that it’s “We the people’ not “We the sheeple”…Macon Telegraph, 22nd June 2005)
11. Supersize: It
all started with a particularly large portion of French fries at a well known
fast food restaurant. But supersize portions
of food lead to supersize people and supersize health problems. We now live in
a society where things are not just large, but excessively large, or supersize.
12. Thumb
generation: A broken thumb could potentially have a major effect on a young
man’s social life. It would stop him being able to text friends and prevent him
from playing his favourtite electronic game. He is a part of the thumb
generation, a generation of young people and adults whose enjoyment of their
free time relies heavily on how quickly their thumbs can press a keypad.
