decision fatigue noun a decreased ability to make decisions as a result of having too many decisions to make

Our brains have a finite number of decisions they can make before they get depleted and become less discerning – so this is called decision fatigue.

[PBS: All Things Considered (US news and information) 25 January 2016]

time poverty noun the lack of time to do anything to improve your life or for personal fulfillment or enjoyment due to the amount of time spent doing unpaid work

Melinda Gates Takes You Behind the Statistics on Time Poverty

[www.youtube.com/watch?v=noy9lF9Xu68 (US video title) 22 February 2016]

the weekend effect noun the spike in death rates in hospitals at the weekend

The poll found anxiety about the ‘weekend effect’ increased most among elderly people, including 62 per cent of over-65s.

[www.standard.co.uk 15 January 2016]

About new words

convo noun informal a conversation

The convo around concussions mostly focuses on guys who play football, but Chastain thinks that this whole thing could be a headache for women too.

[The Skimm (US email newsletter daily news digest) 04 March 2016]

sprezzy adjective chic and elegant

Or head on down to the King’s Road … and you’ll find the eminently sprezzier ‘nu-Sloane’.

[GQ (UK men’s magazine) February 2016]

salty adjective informal angry or causing anger

Why are you so salty anyway?

[Heard in conversation (young person, teens) 29 January 2016]

About new words

skyrunning noun the sport of running at 2k metres or more above sea level

Icicle, a company based in Chamonix, has launched skyrunning weeks with guided runs of 15-20km a day and coaching, for runners capable of half marathons.

[The Guardian (UK broadsheet) 23 January 2016]

packrafting noun the sport of hiking and rafting, using an inflatable raft that you carry on your back

I carried mine here on my back, to try out the growing sport of packrafting – trekking into the wilderness with a small, stowable rubber craft in your rucksack.

[The Guardian (UK broadsheet) 16 January 2016]

snow diving noun the activity of jumping into snow, dressed in swimwear and endeavouring to ‘swim’ through the snow

Bizarre trend of SNOW DIVING in just a swimsuit sweeps the nation after storm Jonas leaves parts of the East Coast with forty inches of white fluff

[www.dailymail.co.uk 25 January 2016]

About new words

clipped wing generation noun the generation of young adults who are unable to be independent from their parents because they cannot afford independent living costs

William Wragg, aged 28, is among tens of thousands of Britons who have joined the ‘clipped wing generation’ of graduates, despite earning £74,000 plus expenses as a Member of Parliament.

[http://www.standard.co.uk/ 10 February 2016]

genervacation noun a holiday taken by parents and their grown-up children which is paid for by the parents

While the rise of what travel firms are calling the ‘genervacation’ has been building for some time, it has received a turbo boost from pension reforms and soaring property prices.

[http://www.theguardian.com 20 February 2016]

A large number of parents were caught up with guilt because their children can’t afford the holidays that they can, Mr Williams said. Travel firms have coined the phrase the ‘genervacation’ to describe the change.

[www.dailymail.co.uk 21 February 2016]

adultism noun discrimination against young people

Mizzou has developed a new guide to ‘inclusive terminology’ which ensures a healthy level of respect for all minority groups. It includes terms such as ‘adultism’ (prejudice against the young), ‘minoritised’ (when under-represented groups are made to feel inferior) and intersextionality (obscure).

[The Economist (UK current affairs magazine) 02 January 2016]

Unfortunately, not everyone takes the idea of adultism seriously, or even believes it exists. And it’s easy to see why – the idea that adults are biased to the detriment of the children in their lives is a sensitive topic.

[https://www.romper.com 28 March 2016]

About new words

trigger warning noun a warning that a subject may trigger unpleasant emotions or memories

This is not, I should stress, an argument that trigger warnings should become commonplace on campus.

[The Guardian (UK broadsheet) 28 November 2015]

 

 

safe space noun a place or situation, especially in an educational establishment, where people will not face discrimination or be forced to listen to views that are offensive to them

As an advocate of free speech, I am an unlikely person to defend the current move towards ‘safe spaces’ and ‘trigger warnings’ on university campuses.

[The Guardian (UK broadsheet) 28 November 2015]

coercive control noun extreme and destructive controlling behaviour exhibited by a partner. It includes such practices as bullying, stalking, monitoring of mobile phone use, restricting access to money/friends/food, etc and is now recognised as a crime in UK law.

A new domestic violence law comes into effect on 29 December, which recognises for the first time that abuse is a complex and sustained pattern of behaviour intended to create fear. The coercive control offence, which carries a maximum penalty of five years […]

[http://www.theguardian.com 28 December 2015]

About new words

bio-banding noun in sport, grouping children according to their physical maturity rather than their age

‘When we’re grouping children for sports, we do it by age groups, but the problem is that, within those age groups, we get huge variations in biological age,’ said Dr Sean Cumming, senior lecturer at the University of Bath’s department for health, which is helping Premiership rugby union side Bath conduct a six-month study evaluating bio-banding.

[www.theguardian.com 19 December 2015]

rashie noun a type of clothing for the upper body, designed to be worn in water and to protect from sunburn and abrasions

An Australian brand has come up with a Christmas jumper rashie for surfing/sun protection.

[The Guardian (UK broadsheet) 28 November 2015]

biotech tattoo noun a wearable device for monitoring the heart rate, etc. that mimics a tattoo in appearance, being largely flat, with an aesthetic design

How biotech tattoos will turn you into a quantifiable canvas

[http://www.wired.co.uk 04 December 2015]

About new words

dude-fussing noun informal, humorous inefficient, unfocussed actions, designed to give the illusion of useful activity

Are you familiar with dude-fussing? It’s when you go camping and someone feels a primal need to poke at the fire every 30 seconds.

[http://www.buzzfeed.com/ 03 November 2015]

gender tax noun a term used to refer to the pricing disparities between products aimed at men and women, usually showing a premium on products sold to women

New ‘Gender Tax’ study shows women are charged more for being women

[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ 23 December 2015]

ze pronoun a non gender-specific pronoun

Overall, though, Baron calls the gender-neutral pronoun an ‘epic fail’ and reckons that new pronouns such as ‘ze’ may not survive.

[www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34901704 07 December 2015]

About new words

climate smart adjective helping to prevent climate change

Ahead of UN conference, World Bank says ‘climate-smart’ development can keep 100 million people out of poverty [http://www.un.org 08 November 2015]

Today, the Administration is announcing new efforts to promote climate-smart agricultural practices across the country and is recognizing leaders who are taking action to make our agricultural supply chain more sustainable.[www.whitehouse.gov 26 October 2015]

diesel farm noun a small power station that uses fossil fuel and is built on farmland

The government is facing calls for an urgent investigation into how companies were awarded more than £175m in subsidies to build heavily polluting ‘diesel farms’ to provide the UK with backup energy generating capacity. [http://www.theguardian.com/ 11 December 2015]

agrihood noun a sustainable housing development centred around a farm

The Cannery, which features 547 new homes spread out across a quartet of distinct neighborhoods, is what’s referred to as an ‘agrihood’ – a down-on-the-farm New Urbanist housing model where the park ‘n’ path-heavy community is centered around agriculture, usually in the form of a working farm. [http://www.mnn.com 02 October 2015]

About new words

bronde adjective describes hair that has been dyed artfully to be both brown and blonde

Celebrities’ best bronde moments [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ 13 October 2015]

Wearing a blue Schiaparelli haute couture dress, Swift is barely recognisable with straight ‘bronde’ hair and a fringe. [www.news.com.au/ 13 October 2015]

cold-shoulder adjective describes a style of clothing for the upper body in which the shoulders are cut away

And if that’s not enough to get you into a woolly frenzy, then meet the solution to roll-neck claustrophobia: the cold-shoulder polo neck.

[Grazia (UK celebrity magazine) 30 November 2015]

accidental fur noun fur that is derived from roadkill

This season’s must-have – ‘accidental fur’: Meet the woman who creates muffs, wraps and scarves from roadkill

[www.dailymail.co.uk 14 December 2015]

Boston-based Petite Mort Fur owner Pamela Paquin is turning roadkills into ‘accidental fur’ items such as hats, leg warmers, neck muffs, purses and more.

[www.techtimes.com 15 December 2015]

About new words

instafamous adjective having achieved a measure of fame through posting selfies to social networking service Instagram

I made my baby Instafamous

[http://www.reveal.co.uk 02 December 2015]

 

 

cybersickness noun a feeling of nausea brought about by looking at the screens of electronic devices

Scientists believe they have discovered why mobile phone users can often feel queasy while on their devices after diagnosing ‘cybersickness’.

[http://www.mirror.co.uk/ 17 November 2015]

datafication noun the collection, analysis, and use of data from digital sources, such as social media, apps, and search tools, used by individuals

We expose ourselves even further as we buy in to the discourse of ‘datafication’: the idea that amassing large data sets and mining and analyzing them will reveal truths about our society and solutions to problems that we might never have discovered.

[chronicle.com (higher education news) 29 November 2015]

About new words