New words – 18 January 2016

skype-familySkype family noun a family in which one parent is living overseas and contact is maintained through Skype

A new report published by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England (OCC) […] has revealed that around 15,000 British children are either separated from one parent and living in a ‘Skype family’ or forced to grow up outside the UK because of immigration rules introduced in July 2012.

[http://www.mdx.ac.uk 09 September 2015]

switch and swipe generation noun the younger generation who, it is claimed, experience more change in their lives than their parents, especially in their sexual partners, homes and jobs

All change for the ‘switch and swipe’ generation: Young people now have twice as many jobs, more partners and move house more often than their parents.

[www.dailymail.co.uk 05 July 2015]

grey gapper noun a person of retirement age who takes a year out of their normal life to go travelling

I was abandoned by my grey-gapper parents

[www.telegraph.co.uk 02 September 2015]

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6 thoughts on “New words – 18 January 2016

  1. Pingback: (EN) – New words: 18 January 2016 | | Cambridge University Press – Glossarissimo!

    1. Ann Anderson

      Yes, after the grey-gappers have finished their travels they finally settle abroad where their adult offspring never see them, making them a ‘grey-Skype family’, or, thinking of the ‘silver surfers’, a ‘silver-Skype family’. Haha!

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