bankster noun informal a banker whose actions are illegal

Where do banksters, you know, bad guy bankers, want their money?

[www.wired.com 30 Sept 2012]

challenger bank noun a bank that provides competition to the large traditional banks

‘I don’t expect the challenger banks to have a meaningful impact for the prices and services of existing banks,’ says Investec banking analyst Ian Gordon

[www.bbc.co.uk 08 July 2012]

pre-distribution noun the equitable channelling of wealth before taxation

For those not in the know – which I suspect is most of us – predistribution is essentially ‘a fairer distribution of wealth before taxation, rather than after’.

[http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk 06 Sept 2012]

About new words

on the bubble idiom at a point where success or failure will be decided

I didn’t dive well. I was on the bubble. I’m 18th so I’m in [the final].

[NBC TV (US interview with diver, David Boudia) 10 Aug 2012]

smack-talk noun slang the use of insults to goad someone in a competitive situation, usually a game

This is how a rape survivor feels when you use rape jokes as smack-talk in video games

[www.newstatesman.com 07 July 2012]

superbowl noun a handbag that is styled like a bowling bag

You can carry your superbowl with your hand through the handles and the bag resting on your hip like Victoria Beckham, but we reckon that could get uncomfortable.

[Grazia (UK celebrity magazine) 20 Aug 2012]

underbrag noun a boast which consists of openly admitting to failings in a way that proves you are confident enough not to care what others think of you

‘The underbrag is the new humblebrag,’ Doll writes, ‘because it is the brag that does whatever its braggy little heart desires.’

[The Guardian (UK broadsheet) 16 Aug 2012]

About new words