AMERICAN POP LANGUAGE

by Don L. F. Nilsen and Alleen Pace Nilsen

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Time Magazines Top Ten Buzzwords

# 1: Change # 2: Bailout # 6: Staycation # 7: Rickrolled

# 3: Hockey Mom
# 4: Fist Bump

# 8: Puma
# 9: Tweet # 10: Topless Meeting

# 5: Nuke the Fridge

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Time Cover: Dec 22, 2008

Mirriam-Webster Words of the Year

Recession: What we deny that were in Airball: Someone disrupts things but doesnt do anything positive Jingle-Mail: House keys in envelopes to be mailed to banks as the owners walk away from their mortgages Nanomanagers: Micromanagers, but more so Staycation: A vacation at home

And the winner is Bailout: A word associated with sinking ships

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AMERICAN DIALECT SOCIETYS WORDS OF THE YEAR: http://americandialect.org/

Each year, the American Dialect Society selects the words that have had the most impact during the previous year.

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AMERICAN DIALECT SOCIETY WORDS DETERMINED IN ADS CONFERENCES OF 2008, 2009, 2010
The American Dialect Society gives awards in the following categories: Most Useful Most Creative Most Unnecessary Most Euphemistic Most Outrageous Best Tom-Cruise-Related Word (2006) Best Pluto-Related Word (2007) Most Likely to Succeed Least Likely to Succeed Word of the Year

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 As we discuss the runners up and the winners in each of these categories ask yourself these questions:
1). Have I heard the word before? 2). What does the word mean? 3). Is the word negative or positive in connotation? 4). What does the word show about our changing culture?
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Most Useful Word

podcast (i-Pod + broadcast) green- a prefix which designates environmental concern, as in greenwashing -er:
birther: Someone who questions Obamas American birth deather someone who believes America has death panels tenther someone who believes that what the government does is in violation of the 10th Amendment truther someone who doubts the official account of the 9/11 accounts

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Most Creative Word

muffin top" (bulge of fat hanging over low-rider jeans) whale tail (thong or g-string underwear above the waistband of pants, shorts, or a skirt) googlegnger a person with the same name as the name that you google bragabond someone who travels a lot and brags about it a lot dracula sneeze: covering ones mouth the the crook of ones elbow when sneezing

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Most Unnecessary Word

pope-squatting (registering a domain name that is the same as that of a new pope before the pope chooses his new name) Brenifer (Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston) Happy Kwanhanamas! (derived from Kwanza+Hanukka+Christmas) Octomom Nadya Suleman who gave birth to octuplets
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Most Outrageous Word

Whizzinator (realistic prosthetic penis for passing drug tests)

crotchfruit (a child or children [used by proponents of child-free public spaces])

toe-tapper referring to a gay. Senator Larry Craig was arrested in June of 2007 for an encounter in a public restroom in which toe tapping was used as a sexual come-on death panel what health care would provide to decide if patients would live or die sexting texting sexual messages or pictures teabagger derogatory names for attendees of Tea Parties underpants bomber the Nigerian passenger who put a liquid bomb in his underwear

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Most Euphemistic Word

extraordinary rendition (sending prisoners overseas for torture) internal nutrition (force-feeding a prisoner against his or her will) human terrain team referring to a group of social scientists employed by the US military to serve as cultural advisers in Iraq or Afghanistan hike the Appalachian trail what South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford did sea kittens fish (a word coined by PETA)

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Word Most Likely to Succeed

Cyber Monday (Monday after Thanksgiving when people begin internet Christmas shopping) sudoku (a number puzzle with each row or column containing only one instance of each number 1-9) to have a wide stance meaning to be hypocritical or to express conflicting points of view, again based on Larry Craigs arrest in a public restroom green shoots signs of Americas economic recovery
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Word Least Likely to Succeed

Cruiselex (all Tom-Cruise-related words) pope-squatting earmarxist referring to a congressman or senator who is famous for adding earmarks Polywood Hollywood stars who are political slow media Newspapers and other paper-based periodicals

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Special Category:
Words Related to Real Estate, such as Ninja meaning No Income, No Job or Assets, and referring to a poorly documented loan made to a high-risk borrower Words Relating to Blogging such as blogosphere, blogerati, milblog, blogola, etc.
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Name of the Year

The name of the year is Betraeus. This is the name used by http://www.moveon.org to refer to General Petraeus This is ironic because Rush Limbaugh first used the name Betraeus to describe liberals who would not support the War in Iraq. 2010 choice is tweet; the word of the decade is google
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Word of the Year

Heck of a job (phrase by President Bush) to describe the success of some one of his political appointments

truthiness (first used on Stephen Colberts The Colbert Report) subprime used to describe a risky or poorly documented loan or mortgage.
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SLAM DUNKS AND NO BRAINERS

Leslie Savan wrote a book entitled Slam Dunks and No Brainers.

The subtitle of the book is Language in Your Life, the Media, Business, Politics, and Like, Whatever.
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OPENERS:
Hey! Whats happenin? Whats up? Whats up, Dude?

Tsup, Dawg?
Sup, Bro?
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CONTINUERS: BACK CHANNELING

So? Make my day. It could happen. No way. Way.

It is what it is.
Whatever.
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SOMETHING IS REPETITIOUS
Blah blah blah. Same old, same old. Yadda yadda yadda.

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SOMETHING IS FRUSTRATING
I hate when that happens. Im having a bad hair day.
What was I thinking?

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OLD SLANG STILL IN USE

Been there. Done that. Hes history. the bottom line Chill out! Go for it. Something is hot. to dis someone to push someones buttons under the radar 24/7 Do the math! Gimme a break!
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CRITICAL REACTIONS
Excuse me! Hello! Duh! Eat my shorts! Thats so five minutes ago You just dont get it. That sucks. Yeah, Right. WTF
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MORE CRITICAL REACTIONS

I dont think so. Get over it. Not ready for Prime Time. Signed L on forehead for (Loser) Im your worst nightmare. Dont go there!

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STILL MORE CRITICAL REACTIONS

As if Like Puhleez Talk to the hand, girlfriend That blows. And a common critical reaction to the media: If it Bleeds, it Leads!
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GROUP IDENTIFIERS
bling wearers icies (fancy jewelry) glitterati red states, blue states, purple states yuppieness special clothing, cars and hair styles

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TEXT MESSAGING SMILIES & ACRONYMS

pos (parent over shoulder) tmi (too much information) tldr (too long, didnt read) utsl (use the source, Luke) (funny) (sad) lol (laughing out loud) lmao (laughing my ass off) roflmao (rolling on the floor laughing my ass off)
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STRONG AFFIRMATIONS
Word! Hua! Hua! Hua! (marines; an acronym for Heard, Understood, Acknowledged) Ka-ching! Yessss!
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SOME RECENT BUZZWORDS:

Blahger: A blogger whose message consists of blah-blah-blah. Cellular Macarena: When a cellular phone rings and everyone starts reaching into his coat, pants, purse to answer it

Dixie-Chicked: To be reviled or boycotted for voicing an unpopular political sentiment

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 ! Job Spill: When work cuts into your personal time Payroll Orphan: Someone who has lost his or her job Up-Titling: Giving people an impressive title instead of a raise YOYO: Youre On Your Own from text messaging
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!!CLOSERS
Its a no brainer. Puhleeze. Not. Throwing a hissyfit.

Its a slam dunk.

Im outta here!
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!!!POP CULTURE WEB SITES

AMERICAN DIALECT SOCIETY: http://americandialect.org/ THOMAS FRIEDMAN: The World is Flat: http://www.amazon.com/World-Flat-History-Twenty-firstCentury/dp/0374292884

POP MATTERS (Iain Ellis): http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/118

REBELS WIT ATTITUDE (Iain Ellis): http://www.popmatters.com/pm/showcase/article/66658-rebels-witattitude/

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References: Brox, Ali. Simple on Satire: Langston Hughes, Gender, and Satiric Double Consciousness. Studies in American Humor NS3.21 (2010): 15-28. Caron, James E. The Years Work in American Humor Studies. Studies in American Humor NS3.21 (2010): 47-102. Cisicsila, Joseph, and Chad Rohman, eds. Centenary Reflections on Mark Twains No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2009.

Dudden, Arthur Power. American Humor. American Quarterly 37.1 (1985): 7-12.
Foster, David William. Truthful Misrepresentations: Steve Benson Draws Phoenix. Studies in American Humor NS3.21 (2010): 29-46.

Friedman, Thomas. The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century. New York, NY: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2006
Gale, Steven H., ed. Encyclopedia of American Humorists. New York, NY: Garland, 1988.
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Goad, Jim. The Redneck Manifesto. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 19979.
Inge, M. Thomas. American Humor. New York, NY: Oxford Univ Press, 1978.

Inge, M. Thomas. Anything Can Happen in a Comic Strip: Centennial Reflections on an American Art Form. Jackson, MS: University of Mississippi Press, 1995.
Inge, M. Thomas. Comics as Culture. Jackson, MS: Univ Press of Mississippi, 1990. Inge, M. Thomas. Perspectivds on American Culture: Essays on Humor, Literature, and the Popular Arts. Cornwall, CT: Locust Hill Press, 1994. Lowenthal, Leo. Historical Perspectivds of Popular Culture. The American Journal of Sociology 55.4 (1955): 323-332. Metcalf, Allan, Wayne Glowka, Grant Barrett and David Barnhart. Truthiness Voted 2005 Word of the Year by American Dialect Society. Press Release by the American Dialect Society, January 6, 2006.
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Mey, Jacob. Pragmatics: An Introduction, 2nd Edition. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2001. Peckham, Aaron. Urban Dictionary: Fularious Street Slang Defined. Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel, 2005. Rosati, Clayton. MTV: 360 Degrees of the Industrial Production of Culture. Transactions 32.4 (2001): 556-575. Savan, Leslie. Slam Dunks and No Brainers: Language in Your Life, the Media, Business, Politics, and LikeWhatever. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. Smith, James. Popular Culture and the Freshmen. College Composition and Communication 10.4 (1960): 253-259. Suter, Scott Hamilton. Funny and Bright Though Even Under Adversary Conditions: The Comic Innocent in Edward Streeters World War I Humor. Studies in American Humor NS3.21 (2010): 5-14. Wolfram, Walt, and Natalie Schilling-Estes. American English Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 1998.
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