Cambridge Dictionaries Online blog

lights-out machine noun a machine controlled by a computer that does not require a human operator or supervision and can operate throughout the night

John Hill’s 30 employees design and assemble plastic injection molds. That requires direct labor. The company does use lights-out machines to make the parts for those molds.
[WNYC: Marketplace (NPR, financal news) 1 Dec 2011]

lit flick noun informal a film adapted from a novel of some literary merit

Classic lit flick: Stanley Kubrick’s one-time banned A Clockwork Orange starring Malcolm McDowell
[www.metro.co.uk 8 Nov 2011]

negawatt noun a notional unit of power which represents the amount of energy saved through a particular measure

Energy conservation has been dubbed the fifth fuel. Negawatt is environmental scientist Amory Lovin’s term for a unit of energy saved.
[The Observer (UK broadsheet) 6 Nov 2011]

POP noun an acronym that stands for ‘persistent organic pollutant’

In what concentrations those POPs will end up climbing the food chain scientists don’t yet know.
[Natural History (US natural history magazine) Oct. 2011]

About new words

mangle noun informal a bangle designed for men

Or you could go chinoiserie with a Thomas Sabo dragon mangle.
[GQ (UK men's magazine) Nov 2011]

manimoney noun informal alimony paid to a man

In recent years there have been a number of high-profile cases of manimony payments. Last week, Katie Price’s complicated love life was placed, once again, in the spotlight following reports she had been landed with maintenance pay-outs for both her ex-husbands, Peter Andre and Alex Reid.
[www.dailymail.co.uk 25 Nov 2011]

mood tracking noun the practice of tracking the mood of the public using sentiment analysis

Researchers have been exploring this area for some time and applying mood tracking in all sorts of ways.
[WNYC: On the Media (Media news radio program) 11 Nov 2011]

sentiment analysis noun the use of computer algorithms to examine phrasing, grammar, etc., of natural language in large quantities of social media text to detect sentiment and mood and predict public feeling in public health, public policy, socio-economic phenonmena

The CIA didn’t invent the use of sentiment analysis.
[WNYC: On the Media (media news radio program) 11 Nov 2011]

Sentiment analysis reveals how the world is feeling
[WNYC: On the Media (Segment title; media news) 11 Nov 2011]

About new words

ghost bike noun a bicycle that has been painted white and left as a memorial at the scene of a cyclist’s death

Commemorating Min Joo Lee, a 24-year-old fashion student killed last month while cycling through King’s Cross, it is one of the latest examples in the fast-growing global phenomenon of ‘ghost bikes’.
[www.guardian.co.uk 10 Nov 2011]

There is a ghost bike memorial at a junction close to where I live and which I pass most days on my bike. If alongside being a memorial the ghost bike also marks a place for cyclists to take extra care, I am not convinced that it works.
[www.guardian.co.uk 21 Nov 2011]

global weirding noun informal extreme and unpredictable weather phenomena, giving credence to the theory of global warming

NASA reports a new twist in global weirding – massively increased rainfall over land this year has resulted in an unexpected (and unprecedented) temporary result [...]
[https://plus.google.com 3 Oct 2011]

man camp noun a temporary housing development for men working in the oil extraction industry and related businesses

In recent weeks, Williams County, [...] and Mountrail County, [...], imposed moratoriums on man camp development.
[New York Times (US broadsheet) 26 Nov 2011]

About new words

diamond fibre noun cashmere

The traditional sobriquet for their coat, by the way, is ‘fibre of the gods’ which makes cashmere’s ‘diamond fibre’ sound almost prosaic.
[The Observer (UK broadsheet) 6 Nov 2011]

geo-fence noun the limits of an area around a GPS-enabled device that the user sets for a particular purpose, for example to trigger an errand reminder from a smartphone when leaving home

The shoe works by allowing caregivers or family members to set a perimeter, called a geo-fence, that allows wearers to move freely around a specific area. When they stray [...] a message pops up on a computer or phone to alert caregivers.
[AARP Bulletin (US over-50s newspaper) Dec. 2011]

It’s now set up a geo-fence around work [...] and when I leave Apple it’ll put up an alert reminding me to call my wife.
[www.apple.com 4 Oct 2011]

K leather noun leather made from kangaroos

Elite athletes had been passionate about the lightweight, buttery fit and the bounce of what sports brands call K leather.
[The Observer (UK broadsheet) 9 Oct 2011]

About new words

the new normal noun a situation that had been considered unusual but now seems to be the way things are

Financial crisis has world teetering on the brink – welcome to the new normal
[www.guardian.co.uk 4 Oct 2011]

twisticuffs plural noun humorous an argument conducted on Twitter

No FBUI – Facebooking under the influence; Avoid ‘Twisticuffs’ (online arguments); Be clever on social media vs. being controversial.
[http://law2sm.com 14 Nov 2011]

zombie account noun a savings account that pays negligible interest

Some 20 percent of savings accounts on the market are ‘zombie accounts’ which pay pitiful interests rates of less than 0.1 percent, according to Jane Platt, chief executive of National Savings & Insurance.
[www.citywire.co.uk 24 Nov 2011]

zombie debtor noun a person with a debt that they do not have a hope of paying off because the interest on it is so high

Rise of the zombie debtor as 3.5m consider turning to payday loans
[www.which.co.uk 7 Dec 2011]

About new words

automagically adverb independently, without effort and as if by magic

[He explained] how to automagically solve the problem of having millions of rows of data, and not knowing how to find the 15 valuable rows [...]
[http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/14 Mar 2012]

global weirding noun informal extreme and unpredictable weather phenomena, giving credence to the theory of global warming

NASA reports a new twist in global weirding – massively increased rainfall over land this year has resulted in an unexpected (and unprecedented) temporary result [...]
[https://plus.google.com 3 Oct 2011]

JAAC abbreviation slang an acronym that stands for ‘just another Android cellphone’

At first glance, the Rhyme looks like JAAC (just another Android cellphone).
[New York Times (US broadsheet) 29 Dec 2011]

job flipping noun the changing of careers during a lifetime

Now that the retirement age is set to rise even higher [...] the trend for ‘job flipping’ is set to become the norm.
[Marie Claire (UK fashion magazine) Nov. 2011]

About new words

couch commerce noun the buying of goods online from the home

Above, you can see an intriguing graph from Compuware APM that shows a kind of kooky new trend in shopping this holiday season, something the researchers are calling ‘couch commerce.’
[www.tuaw.com 5 Dec 2011]

dark green adjective describes a financial product that avoids investing in unethical companies

Dark green funds avoid investing in companies involved in unethical activities such as the arms industry, animal testing and tobacco.
[The Guardian (UK broadsheet) 15 Oct 2011]

Goldilocks planet noun a planet with temperatures in the habitable zone for humans, i.e. not too hot and not too cold

In short, a so-called Goldilocks planet fit to be inhabited by the biochemical likes of us.
[New York Times (US broadsheet) 03 Dec 2011]

light green adjective describes a financial product that invests only in companies that have a positive ethical and ecological bias

Light green funds, meanwhile, take a positive screening approach, investing in companies that make a positive environmental contribution such as those involved with renewable energy, recycling and water management.
[The Guardian (UK broadsheet) 15 Oct 2011]

About new words