Cambridge Dictionaries Online blog

brass ceiling noun the difficulty that women face in rising to high positions in the military

Despite that pledge, four women recently sued Panetta and the Pentagon, saying the ban was a ‘brass ceiling’ hindering their advancement through the ranks.

[http://nation.time.com 24 January 2013]

It’s Time to Smash the Brass Ceiling.

[www.huffingtonpost.com [headline] 29 January 2013]

CFBC abbreviation child-free by choice

Like Ruby, I am child-free by choice (CFBC) and proud of it.

[Grazia (UK celebrity magazine) 28 January 2013]

the grass ceiling noun the barrier to promotion in business that is caused by a person’s inability to play golf or to join the the right golf club

IBM chief held back by “grass ceiling”

[www.gqemploymentlaw.com (title) 16 January 2013]

About new words

benefit tourism noun travel to the UK with the intention of taking advantage of the benefit system

‘Benefit tourism’ must end, Foreign Secretary William Hague has said, ahead of the lifting of work restrictions on Romanians and Bulgarians.

[www.bbc.co.uk 3 March 2013]

boatel noun a boat that is a hotel

Ahoy there! Revealed, the world’s best ‘boatels’ which allow you to stay beside the sea without getting your feet wet

[www.dailymail.co.uk 13 March 2013]

bug-out bag noun informal a bag that contains items needed in an emergency and that is ready for a person to take if they have to leave quickly in the event of a disaster

During his presentation, Mr. Charles suggested that a well-prepared bug-out bag was only part of the equation: just as important was knowing where to go.

[New York Times (US broadsheet) 27 January 2013]

About new words

self-interrupt verb to break off briefly from work to check email, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Office workers are interrupted, or self-interrupt, roughly every three minutes.

[https://plus.google.com 12 December 2012]

third-gender adjective refers to a person who identifies as neither male nor female

The new ID was a long time coming – the Supreme Court ruled in favour of third-gender IDs back in 2007.

[New Internationalist (UK current affairs magazine) November 2012]

walker noun a platonic male friend with whom to go for walks, to the theatre, etc.

She had been discussing this with two other single women of her age, and she’d said her ideal walker would be a musician [...]

[The Guardian (UK broadsheet) 20 October 2012]

About new words

brain porn noun informal the excessive use of references to brain studies and neuroscience in the popular media

As a journalist and cultural critic, I applaud the backlash against what is sometimes called brain porn, which raises important questions about this reductionist, sloppy thinking and our willingness to accept seemingly neuroscientific explanations for, well, everything.

[New York Times (US broadsheet) 25 November 2012]

frackademia noun academic research that is funded or influenced by the fossil fuels industry, especially companies involved in fracking

Weeks after SUNY Buffalo’s upper-level administration gave the Shale Resources and Society Institute (SRSI) the boot due to its gas industry public relations effort masked as a ‘study,’ University of Texas-Austin’s (UT-Austin) administration has somewhat followed suit for its own ‘frackademia’ study.

[http://my.firedoglake.com 7 December 2012]

lab lit noun literature that includes some detailed scientific information as part of the story

In Lab Lit, Fiction Meets Science of the Real World

[New York Times (US broadsheet, headline) 4 December 2012]

About new words

human enhancement noun the use of drugs to improve brain performance

Report raises ethical concerns about human enhancement technologies

[www.guardian.co.uk 07 Nov 2012]

mobile health noun medical advice from doctors and other healthcare professionals provided digitally to cell phones or other devices

She ‘sees’ her patients almost entirely over email, from her Manhattan home base [...] It’s all part of the growing effort to make healthcare more efficient by making it more digital. Some call this new industry ‘M-Health’ or mobile health, others call it Health IT.

[WNYC: New Tech City (technology news) 16 Oct 2012]

neurobionics noun artificial stimulation of the brain, for example to treat loss of neurological function or muscle paralysis

Today, at its leading edge, neurobionics is already significantly improving the quality of life in patients with conditions as wide-ranging as MS, winging of the scapula and brain injuries.

[The Guardian (UK broadsheet) 27 Oct 2012]

About new words

techno-fundamentalism noun the unquestioning embracing of all that technology has to offer, believing that it holds the answers to every problem

Techno-fundamentalism, Vaidhyanathan argues, hides the role of human bias and majority opinion in ordering how Google presents information to its users.

[http://jasonfarman.com 19 Oct 2012]

telematics noun technology that involves recording the details of how a car has been driven. This technology will increasingly be used by the insurance industry.

Pundits claim that buying a telematics (sometimes known as a ‘black box’) policy could be the best way for female drivers to keep their premiums down.

[www.guardian.co.uk 16 Dec 2012]

teletreat verb to examine and prescribe treatment for a patient remotely, using videoconferencing

At Kaiser Permanente, dermatologists ‘sit in a suite in San Francisco’ and teletreat patients throughout Northern California, Dr. Yellowlees said.

[New York Times (US broadsheet) 9 Oct 2012]

About new words

natural media noun green ads and logos created in dirt and dust

As an eco advertising consultancy and provider of alternative natural media solutions, our innovative approach is designed to enable you to promote your brands and products and highlight your CSR initiatives in an environmentally responsible way.

[www.naturaladcampaign.com 06 Nov 2012]

self-tracking noun the practice of using a Smartphone to monitor and record one’s health and wellbeing

They called it ‘self-tracking’ and in 2007 founded a blog named the Quantified Self.

[The Observer (UK broadsheet) 25 Nov 2012]

trackback noun a method of informing someone if someone has linked to their website

By sending a trackback, you are creating a backlink to your blog, which takes a very small amount of time to do when considering the benefits of it.

[http://webmasters.stackexchange.com 16 Nov 2012]

word-of-post adjective spread via posts on the internet

We’ve known for years that word-of-mouth marketing has been partially co-opted by word-of-post, but the power of that lesson continues to impress when words like Grey (as in Fifty Shades) cease to instantly invoke Goose, sky or sweaters.

[www.forbes.com 15 Oct 2012]

About new words

milking noun the pouring of milk over one’s head in a public place

Is milking the most pointless internet craze yet? Students filmed pouring four-pint cartons over their heads

[www.dailymail.co.uk 29 Nov 2012]

Among the creme de la creme of British youth, an udderly bizarre trend has emerged: milking.

[The Guardian (UK broadsheet) 27 Nov 2012]

owling noun the practice of posting pictures of oneself crouching in unlikely places: an Internet craze

Somewhere in this mix came owling – for people more comfortable with squatting than lying.

[The Guardian (UK broadsheet) 27 Nov 2012]

Predditor noun a person who exposes the identity of people who post ‘creepshots’ of women on the website ‘Reddit’

Predditors — a play on ‘Redditors,’ a nickname for users of the site — post personal information about CreepShots submitters, including photos, Facebook pages, marital status, location and occupation, and any other identifying details found by sleuthing on the Internet.

[www.huffingtonpost.com 11 Oct 2012]

About new words

kitchenalgia noun nostalgia for the homespun domesticity of the 1950s as evinced by the success of craft stores and retro retailers such as Cath Kidston

On the same measure, vintage-style homewares chain Cath Kidston also saw sales break through £100m and earnings jump 13 percent to £19m as its distinctive brand of kitchenalgia which embraces the image of the 1950s housewife, proves irresistible to a generation who perhaps idealise rather than practise domesticity.

[The Observer (UK broadsheet) 02 Dec 2012]

meat fruit noun a meat dish that is constructed to resemble a piece of fruit

We were here, mainly, for the Meat Fruit. A fruit shaped ball of meaty plasticine. In fact, it’s a mandarin shaped chicken liver parfait. It was easy to see why Time Out made it the best dish in London. It’s a work of art, but also zesty and creamy and delicious.

[http://hungrylondoner.com 12 Oct 2012]

Stayed and had dinner with friends – obviously had a meat fruit.

[The Guardian (UK broadsheet) 27 Oct 2012]

meat glue noun a powdered enzyme used to join pieces of protein, usually to join scraps of meat so that they appear to be one piece

We found out meat glue is used in some restaurants and even some grocery stores and we wanted to know why.

[www.actionnewsjax.com 07 Nov 12]

About new words

hybrid camera noun a digital camera for which apps are available and which has many of the functions of a smart phone

The Galaxy camera from Samsung and the Coolpix S800C from Nikon are hybrid cameras that contain cellphone functions

[New York Times (US broadsheet, caption) 20 Dec 2012]

iLegacy noun Steve Jobs’ contribution to the world of technology, as evinced by all the Apple products

Steve Jobs has left us, the iLegacy is here to stay

[www.grreporter.info 06 Oct 2012]

password wallet noun a piece of software which remembers all your passwords and automatically enters them for you

In the meantime, he recommends doing what I did, after thoroughly scaring myself researching this article: install a piece of software known as a ‘password wallet’, such as LastPass [...]

[The Guardian (UK broadsheet) 06 Oct 2012]

Retina adjective trademark refers to a display method using a very high density of pixels

March provided Apple with its first opportunity to dominate the news after the firm unveiled its first iPad with a high-definition ‘retina’ screen.

[www.bbc.co.uk 28 Dec 2012]

About new words