gg abbreviation abbreviation for ‘good game’; used to express approval for someone’s play in a multiplayer computer game

I never say ‘gg’ – like some robot!

[Heard in conversation (young person) 03 November 2015]

machine vision noun a software system that allows sensors to ‘see’ objects

Organizers of an annual academic machine vision competition reported gains in lowering the error rate in software for finding and classifying objects in digital images.

[nytimes.com 10 December 2015]

A/B testing noun a testing strategy for web pages in which half of potential customers are presented with one page (‘A’) and half the other
(‘B’) and the performance of each page is compared

Working in conjunction with other analytics tools, such as segmentation and targeting, A/B Testing is used to test different variables within distinct groups of players in your game to see the positive or negative impact.

[www.pocketgamer.biz 30 November 2015]

About new words

elephant deal noun an extremely large business deal, typically worth more than £20 million

At the wealth division, run by Tom Kalaris at the time, bankers working to close the 1.9 billion-pound ‘elephant deal,’ kept details of the transaction in a safe.

[http://www.bloomberg.com/ 27 November 2015]

 

surge pricing noun the practice of making higher charges for services at times of higher demand

Surge pricing: Since the service is consumed on-demand in real time and built on a flexible supply base, pricing can be adapted accordingly which offers customer as well as supply partners the best deal at any time.

[www.linkedin.com 12 November 2015]

Green Monday noun the second Monday of December when many businesses offer online sales in time to ship at lower standard shipping rates or combine free shipping with the sale

Cha-ching! Huge Green Monday deals. Celebrate Green Monday with up to 45 percent off select PCs and electronics.

[Dell.com email (US advertisement headline) 14 December 2015]

About new words

uberize verb (of a business) to change or be changed into an app-based, on-demand service

At Minds&More’s upcoming Marketing & Sales Performance summit, we will address how companies with thousands of employees, millions of physical assets and established business models can ‘uberize’ and evolve to become truly digital enterprises.

[www.linkedin.com 12 November 2015]

down round noun when a start-up raises capital that is lower than a previous valuation

It’s become a meme in tech circles, ‘IPOs are the new down round,’ venture capitalists quip.

[http://techcrunch.com/2015/11/22/ipos-the-new-down-rounds/ 22 November 2015]

secondary ticketing noun the (currently legal in the UK) practice of buying tickets for concerts etc specifically to sell on at an inflated price.

Mumford & Sons, Elton John Join In Fight Against Secondary Ticketing

[http://www.billboard.com/ 16 December 2015]

‘It’s our hope that secondary ticketing companies root this out to stop it happening on their sites, and that they shut it down,’ said the band, who urged fans to submit their views to a government review on secondary ticketing.

[http://www.bbc.co.uk 16 December 2015]

About new words

veganise verb to adapt a dish that contains animal-derived components so that it is vegan

So stock up on some easy-to-veganise extras in tow, bring enough for everyone to sample, and you’ll hopefully wake up on Boxing Day pleasantly surprised.

[www.thedebrief.co.uk/ 19 December 2015]

food swamp noun an area with an abundance of fast food retailers but a dearth of healthy, fresh food sellers

‘The food swamp or the lack of access to healthy food is a much bigger problem than the food desert,’ she said.

[http://www.thestar.com/ 10 November 2015]

kukicha (tea) noun a Japanese tea made from stems and twigs of tea plants

Ever feel nauseated if you drink too much green tea?
Kukicha tea is a Japanese green tea made from the roasted twigs, stalks and stems of the green tea plant (unlike Chinese varieties made from the leaves) and has no such effect.

[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ 02 November 2015]

About new words

weeaboo noun informal someone who is obsessed with Japanese culture such as games and anime

I mean, people can play whatever they want to play, but as as long as weeaboos are a profitable demographic we’re going to keep getting more sexualized preteen girls/ fan service games.  [http://www.gamefaqs.com/ 04 October 2015]

Otaku vs Weeaboo. Which term should you use if you’re a fan of Japanese cultures and subcultures? [hectormadrigal.com 14 October 2015]

robata noun a Japanese cooking method in which food is cooked on skewers over hot charcoal

We will also have a huge robata grill, so there will be barbecue elements too. [GQ (UK men’s magazine) November 2015]

character bento noun a style of Japanese food for lunch boxes, in which portions are designed or decorated to look like people or characters from
books, movies, etc

‘When I began making character bento, it was actually a spur of the moment decision, an attempt to combine two things that I love – kawaii culture and cooking.’ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/ 26 October 2015]

About new words

farecasting noun predicting the optimum date to buy a plane ticket, especially on a website or using an app

A handful of new and updated websites and apps are trying to perfect the art of what’s known as farecasting – predicting the best date to buy a ticket.

[www.nytimes.com 14 September 2015]

unsend noun the action of deleting an email after it has been sent

Gmail had heard our prayers and officially launched an unsend function.

[The Guardian (UK broadsheet) 18 July 2015]

digital diet noun a deliberate reduction in the amount of time spent on the Internet

With our Internet habit being blamed for a spike in our stress levels, some techies are putting themselves on a ‘digital diet’.

[Grazia (UK celebrity magazine) 17 August 2015]

About new words

awesomesauce noun slang the state of being extremely good or enjoyable or something or someone that is extremely good or enjoyable

Recovering from the awesomesauce of another fab #Vidcon!!

[http://katch.me/ 03 August 2015]

Sensei Yu is basically the totally best ever awesomesauce.

[themostexcellentandawesomeforumever-wyrd.com 18 August 2015]

Here’s a list of some of her famous, awesome-sauce relatable characters throughout her career (and sorry I’m not going to mention her Bring It on Again no matter how much you try to make me …. I just won’t).

[www.themarysue.com 10 September 2015]

weak sauce noun slang the state of being inferior or disappointing, or someone or something that is inferior or disappointing

Sorry, Joe Negron, but this latest ploy for Senate Presidency is weak sauce.

[floridapolitics.com 26 August 2015]

My lucid dreams are weak sauce. Need help please!

[http://ld4all.com/ 26 August 2015]

nothing burger noun informal something that has no substance or meaning

It’s then that we’ll find out if the putative agreement is, in the words of a senior negotiator, a ‘nothing-burger’.

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/ 09 September 2015]

It’s frustrating to show her the statistics that say DCIS is a nothing burger but not be able to make her doubt the advice of her ‘expert’ doctor.

[https://market-ticker.org 25 August 2015]

About new words

kicks plural noun slang trainers

You can be wearing wavy garms or wavy kicks.
[Heard in conversation (UK teens) 05 July 2015]

From crop flares with tennis shoes to grunger-girl baggies with thick-soled skate kicks, here are three sneaker-flare formulas you need to know now.
[Grazia (UK celebrity magazine) 13 July 2015]

ear jacket noun a type of earring with a decorative part that curves under the lobe from behind

It’s all about an ear jacket, like the purple, £124 Missoma beauties.
[The Guardian (UK broadsheet) 22 August 2015]

slashkini noun a one-piece swimsuit with lots of cut-outs, giving the appearance of having been slashed

Would YOU wear a slashkini? Millie Mackintosh, Vogue Williams and Nadia Forde lead summer’s hottest swimwear trend (but just imagine the tan lines!)
[www.dailymail.co.uk 17 July 2015]

About new words

Skype 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]

About new words

manel noun an exclusively male panel

Some of my male peers in the industry joke about it, calling the consistently male dominated talks or panels ‘manels’ – recognising the distinct lack of female voices. What’s telling is that ‘manels’ are everywhere – in the boardroom, C-Suite and across the tech sector, especially finance.

[www.huffingtonpost.co.uk 06.08.15]

wasband

noun a former husband

We don’t talk about the ‘wasband’! Woman who advised Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin to use term ‘conscious uncoupling’ coins new phrase to describe ex-husbands

[www.dailymail.co.uk 21.09.15]

dude food noun informal food that is said to be favoured by men, often including meat

The tipping point is not the fact that middle-class hipsters with topknots and penny-farthings are pushing out all the grubby, real-deal greasy spoons and swapping them for slick banh-mi joints and dude food (perhaps I’m not bleeding-hearted enough – although it certainly bothers me).

[GQ (UK men’s magazine) Sept 2015]

About new words