Neologisms and the Web

NEOLOGISMS AND THE NET by Trad. Patricia García Ces*  Keeping up to date with the ever-changing terminology currently used in most of today’s publications may prove to be quite an ordeal. However, a practical, inexpensive way to prevent one’s vocabulary from getting rusty is subscribing to a specialized electronic mailing list, or  joining a discussion group or forum devoted to linguistic issues. This gives us immediate access to new lexical data, paper abstracts and article summaries from a wide range of areas, just a mouse-click away, on a monthly, weekly, or even daily basis. Some of these e-publications feature mainly neologisms – including abbreviations, acronyms and idioms–, most of which are from, or related to, the booming macrofield of Information Technology. However, plenty of vocabulary from other areas is also covered. Below is a compilation of examples gathered from such publications, mainly from the fields of IT, business and finance, and the labor sector. Following each entry, there is a quote that serves to not only clarify its mean-ing and illustrate usage, but also –in most cases– to provide related terms. Highlights of the huge, inexInformation haustible Technolo-gy field include: (n.) Technology that remains in the background until needed and thus enables a person to interact with it in a calm, engaged manner.

calm

technology

“In this new world, what Weiser called “calm technology” will reside around us, interacting with users in natural ways to anticipate their 

needs.”–Rick

Merritt, “Ubiquitous computing: slow going, “Elec-tronic Engineering Times”, March 31, 2003. click-wrap (noun): A license or

contract that appears during the setup of a software program or online service and that requires the user to click a button to agree to the terms of the license. “Sometimes a contract is a mouse click away-all of the free email services and commercial ISPs use ‘click-wrap’ contracts, which [...] require users to agree to conditions before using a service. [...].”–Anita Susan Brenner, “Contractual Obligations– Click here to waive your rights,” Smart Business, September 2000. invisible Web (noun): The col-

lection of searchable Web sites whose content exists within databases and so cannot be indexed by search engines. “While the aforementioned Internet search resources are essential for ‘on the Internet’ searching, they do not and cannot find and make all that is ‘on the Internet’ accessible...This ‘hidden’ information is often called the ‘Invisible Web.’ Gary Price, “Myths for Today, Hopes for Tomorrow,” Searcher, January 1, 2000. rejecter (noun): A person who

rejects or limits their interaction with technology. “But in a scary finding for ecommerce boosters, a fast-growing number of occasional online users are ‘rejecters,’ abandoning the Internet in droves. Earlier this year, 29 million U.S. adults stopped using the Net. That’s nearly double the number of those who had dropped out by 1998.”-Edward Iwata, “Tech’s

tyranny provokes revolt,” USA Today, August 21, 2000. skinnable (adjective): Describes a

software program that is capable of using different modules –called “skins”– that change the program’s colors and interface design. “Winamp is skinnable so you can change the look of the software as you wish. –Mark Gibbs, “The elephant remembers to remember audio,” Network World, July 17, 2000. typosquatter (noun): A person

who registers one or more Internet domain names based on the most common typographical errors that a user might commit when enter-ing a company’s registered trade-mark name (e.g., “amazom.com”). “amazom.com”). “Typosquatters look around and see which Web sites get the heaviest traffic. They then register, for themselves, domain names that consist of the likeliest typographical errors that users make when seeking to access these sites.” – Robert C. Cumbow, “‘Typosquatters’ Pose Threat to Trademark Owners on the Web,” New York Law Journal, October 13, 1998. (adjective):Describes a unstrung (adjective):Describes person or technology that uses wireless communications to access the Internet.

“Eager to expunge the dot-com taint much of Silicon Alley is recasting itself in a wireless role. There is even a new buzzword to describe the scene: ‘unstrung.’” – Simon Romero, “Wireless Internet Casts Its Shadow, and Substance, in New York,” The New York Times, August 21, 2000. WAPathy (noun): The general

lack of interest in WAP (Wireless Application Protocol), the technology that enables Web pages to

be viewed on the latest generation of cell phones. “Most people have barely heard of WAP phones –the mobiles which use a cut-down version of the Internet– yet already there’s a new word to get used to: WAPathy. Instead of connecting to the latest technology, the early signs are that people are switching off.”– Patrick Collinson, “Phones fail to ring up sales,” The Guardian, July 8, 2000.

Among the stars of the “Labor Sector” –which, ironically as it may seem, at least in our country, is also fairly bulky– are: rat-race equilibrium (noun): A

work environment in which an employee’s willingness to work long hours for possible promotion is equal to an employer’s belief that working long hours merits promotion. “According to the standard theories, unreasonable work weeks are self-defeating...because workers get tired or demand high over-time rates or simply rebel. How-ever, according to a newer model, some businesses manage to devel-op what economists call a ‘rat-race equilibrium.’ The rat-race occurs when managers use a will-ingness to work long hours as a sign of some tangible yet much-desired quality that merits pro-motion.” – James Gleick, “Faster,” Pantheon Books, 1999. scarlet-collar worker (noun): A

woman who owns or operates an Internet pornographic site. “Women [...] control more than 50 per cent of pornographic sites in cyberspace. ‘Scarlet collar’ workers are the feminists of the modern age, say psychologists, free from coercion and the dangers of the traditional, male -dominated business.”–Cherry Norton, “Women Take Control of Cyberporn,” The Independent, August 6, 2000.

trading coach (noun): A person

who advises stock traders on the strategy and psychology of invest-ing. “A successful day trader has to be able to stay calm while absorbing painful losses. ‘It’s easy to get suckered into this game,’ says Ari

Kiev, a psychiatrist and trading coach who wrote Trading to Win.”-Daniel Kadlec, “Day Trad-ing: It’s a Brutal World,” Time, August 9, 1999. windshield time (noun): Work-

related time spent in a car, includ-ing commuting time. “Consolidated Network, [...] says its video conference room has raised productivity by elimi-nating many 150-mile trips [...] for meetings with its parent com-pany and other subsidiaries. ‘When you place a value on the windshield time of certain employ-ees, it has paid back its cost at a reasonable rate for the amount of investment,’ said Richard Gibbens, president of Consolidated Net-work.”–Jerri Stroud, “New Busi-ness Routine: Lights, Camera, Meeting,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 14, 1991. WMWM (acronym): White mar-

ried working moms; according to some, a key demographic in the 2000 U.S. presidential election. Also: WMx2, WM squared. “In fact, 2000’s key voters appear to be white married working moms –in political junkie jargon, ‘WMWMs,’ ‘WM squared’ or ‘WMx2’ –because they back Bush by a giant margin that has Democrats wringing their hands.” –Deborah Orin, “Women’s Vote Holds Key for Gore Win In Battle of Sexes, Men Solid for Bush,” The New York Post, August 20, 2000. balance (noun): A state of equilibrium in which the demands of both a person’s job and personal life are equal. “Even the longest economic expansion in history cannot continue forever. And when it ends, what will happen to the smaller revolutions it has created? To the transformation of the office into a place where workers are acknowl-edged to have families? Is all this talk of work-life balance really a change to the social core, or is it just cocktail conversation that will fade when the party’s over?”–Lisa Belkin, “Life’s Work,” The New York Times, March 29, 2000. work-life

The ever-growing “Business

and Finance” world features: BAM (acronym): A bricks-and-

mortar company. “Brick and mor-tar firms (BAMs) and fencesitters have treated the web like a fax-on-demand box –a novel way of satisfying formulaic inquiries and fulfilling low-level support requests.” –Bill Michael, “The Customer Always Clicks Twice,” Computer Telephony, November 1, 1999. cookie jar accounting (noun):

The corporate accounting practice of taking a reserve to reduce profits in good years and then using that reserve to increase profits in bad years. “The SEC (Securities and Exchange) charged that Grace employed a ‘cookie jar’ accounting strategy that stashed as much as $20 million of excess profits [...]. The idea, according to the SEC, was to declare the profit at some later date when operations were not running so well ...” – Steve Bailey and Steven Syre, “SEC files suit against W.R. Grace,” The Boston Globe, December 23, 1998. dotbam (noun): The Internet ver-

sion of a traditional bricks-andmortar retailer. “The report says online retail is strong in many industry categories, including computers, autos, books, sporting goods and catalog sellers. What’s significant is that many analysts predicted a sharp drop after the Christmas season. But that didn’t happen, which is welcome news for today's surviving e-tailers –and downright encouraging for dotbams stepping up their Web efforts.”–Judith N. Mottl, “Brick and Mortars Fight Back,” InternetWeek, June 19, 2000. falling knife (noun): A stock 

whose price is currently undergoing a steep or long-standing decline. “Let’s look at Oak Brook-based McDonald's Corp. (MCD). The stock closed Friday at $33.38 a share, up $1.38 on the week, but far off its 52-week peak at $49.56, touched last November. A falling knife.” –Mitchell Zacks, “When a stock’s price falls, those selling

may be right,” Chicago SunTimes, August 6, 2000. passion brand (noun): A brand

that resonates with consumers and makes them passionate about the brand’s products or services. “[...] Flowerbud.com has hired Nerve Inc. to oversee its $7.3 mil-lion advertising campaign [...]. ‘Our goal is to be the passion brand,’ said Traci Hill, Nerve’s account supervisor. ‘We’re going after a more emotional target –the passionate, soulful person who recognizes the role flowers play’”– Kristina Brenneman, “Flowerbud hopes to bloom under Nerve’s watchful care,” Business Journal-Portland, April 21, 2000. potrepreneur (noun): A person

who creates a business based on selling marijuana (pot+entrepreneur). “Lately it seems that everyone is getting into the ‘M-Commerce’ market (the M is for ‘Mobile,’ though in this case it could stand for ‘Marijuana’). American drug dealers in Amsterdam have started a company called iToke to sell pot via WAP-enabled cell phones. ‘Potrepreneurs’ Mike Tucker and Tim Freccia are trying to get ven-ture backing for the company, but so far their plans have gone up in smoke.” – Mike Elgan, “Dial-A-Dope,” Mike’s List, August 22, 2000. put skin in the game (idiom): To

take an active interest in a compa-ny or undertaking by making a significant investment or financial commitment. “While Microcom was willing to part with some of its precious cash for Parthenon’s expertise, the consultants had a different idea: pay us in stock. Microcom agreed, granting Parthenon options on 195,000 of its shares with a $2 strike price. ‘It said that the outside guys believed in the company and were willing to put some skin in the game.’ ‘Putting skin in the game’ –it could be the slogan of a new era.”– Edward O. Welles, “Put skin in the game,” Inc., June

as ecology, education, language, medicine, politics, tourism, sports, social sciences, etc., can also be found, although –not surprisingly, these days– in remarkably smaller numbers. Here are  just a few representatives: agritourist (noun): A tourist

who watches and participates in agri-cultural activities. “Within the next two years, Vineland Estates is planning to open an international culinary institute on its property, with lodging for up to 70 students, visiting chefs and agritourists who want to see Niagara wine-andfood country up close.” –Joe Chi-dley, “Haute Canuck,” Maclean’s, August 24, 1998. fuzzy math (noun): Mathematics

education that de-emphasizes memorization and rote learning in favor of a cooperative approach to solving problems. “A method that [...] does not require students to memorize multiplication tables, compute fractions or learn other basic skills essential to algebraic suc-cess. It’s often rightly derided as ‘fuzzy math’ because of its murky goals, which include, according to one popular integrated math program, ‘linking past experience to new concepts, sharing ideas and developing concept readiness through hands-on explo-rations.’”– “Old Math, Good Math,” Los Angeles Times, Janu-ary 29, 2000. good wood (noun): Wood that

does not come from an endangered forest region or from an endangered tree species; wood grown on a plantation. Also: ethi-cal wood, plantation wood, man-aged wood. “‘Good wood’ is the new buzz term in furniture. And it isn’t just for eco-activists any more; Home décor retailers such as Ikea and Restoration Hardware are jumping on the good-wood bandwagon, along with hardware giants such as Home Depot.”–Karen Burshtein, “Good wood,” The Globe and Mail, August 12, 2000.

1999.

Apart from the above three areas, new terminology from a great variety of other fields, such

greengrocers’ apostrophe

(noun): An apostrophe erroneously inserted before the final

“s” in the plural form of a word. (Also: greengrocer’s apostrophe.)

“And usual big business policy is counter-balanced by the widespread use of the greengrocers’ apostrophe, which sneaks into everything from apple’s to yam’s. One of our local pubs recently ran a pool tournament and invit-ed ”lad’s and dad’s, mum’s and son’s, uncle’s and niece’s, aunt’s and nephew’s“ – which may be a record.” – Matthew Engel, “I demand an end to the apostro-phe: Then the maligned green-grocer will be as literate as you and I,” The Guardian, June 6, 2000. orphan patient (noun): A hospi-

tal patient who doesn’t have a family doctor. Also known as an “unattached patient.” “Dr. Tom Dickson, chief of staff at the William Osler Health Centre in Brampton, Ont., said the FP [family physician] shortage is so severe in the ring of suburbs surrounding Toronto –the ‘905 belt’– that dozens of orphan patients are arriving at local community hospitals every day.” –Patrick Sullivan, “Enter the hospitalist: new type of patient creating a new type of specialist,” Canadian Medical Association Journal, May 2, 2000.

As it is often suggested, the Internet offers such colossal amounts of data (not necessarily information) that one can easily drown while trying to surf its electronic waves. Nevertheless, it can still be invigorating and rewarding to take a dive now and then, and attempt a few amateur strokes, at least, rather than letting the vastness of this cyber realm overwhelm us. (*) Excerpted and adapted from: “Neologisms in Today’s English Language,” by Patricia García Ces.

* Profesora de Lingüística y Terminología I y II,y Práctica de la Traducción I. Interpretariado de Inglés. UMSA.