There's been a list of words and phrases nominated for banishment floating semi-virally around the Web this week, including "fiscal cliff," "superfood," and "YOLO."
What words should we return to the English lexicon in 2013?
I have a couple:
Balderdash: Because it's way classier than "bullshit," but still has the same cadence.
Date: Okay, so it's not exactly extinct, but it's severely underused. Date, as in, "Would you like to go on a date with me?" as opposed to, "Want to get coffee sometime?" If I have to ask you whether or not you're asking me on a date, and if upon asking I find out that you are, then you have done something wrong. Make your intentions clear, and you will never be "friendzoned."
Fallow: Available, but left uncultivated -- a good metaphor for all sorts of political issues likely to come up in the new year.
I'm going to bring back referring to people as "cats".
Gadzooks. Since when has that word been used in context? It's time for change.
I'm working on a joke (I know...) about bringing back the phrase "fooling around with" as a way of saying you're interacting with an object, for the purpose of either hobby, vocation, or addiction. In my case, this began with the idea that I'd briefly quit smoking only to begin "fooling around with" cigarettes again after about a week or so of abstention. It's just kind of a leering 70's style phrase that casts a shadow over whatever word it's attached to.
Just read Shakespeare, Dickens, Conan Doyle or any other classic english author and you soon need a dictionary for all the amazing "new" words. I like the word "ejaculation" in its archaic meaning: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ejaculation_(grammar) William and Mary: A Tale of the Siege of Louisburg, 1745: "'Shiver me timbers, but I'll dew suthin' with it,' he ejaculated, holding up the missive and then feeling it over and over again."
Bollocks apparently has a lot more definitions that I thought it had. We definitely need to bring it back.
"Date" -As someone that has spent his fair share of time in the "friend zone", that makes complete sense to me. I've always liked the phrase "top-shelf", as in You'll like Saydrah, she's top-shelf, a class act, the bees-knees.
I admit that one was why I posted this. I just had someone I've known for literally 18 years (I'm 24) ask me to "grab lunch" in a Facebook message. His behavior toward me makes clear he's been nursing a crush for a long time, and it is SO frustrating that he won't just SAY so. I mean, the fact that he doesn't have my number after knowing me for 75% of my life is probably a clue that the feeling isn't mutual, but if I assume he's asking me on a date when he hasn't said so and explain that I'm not into him, his sister (my childhood best friend) will hear about it immediately and be mad at me for assuming her brother meant it "that way." Which, clearly he does. ARGH! I like "the bees-knees," too, and I like your choice of punctuation for it.
Hey, it's the journey not the destination. There's a scene in the movie Swingers where Jon Favreau's character says in regards to his break up that after he got over it, he "missed the pain". As if the pain of the breakup had become a companion. Perhaps having a "crush" is the same thing? The pain you get from the unrequited love becomes a companion, something that is familiar and consistent, a definition of you that proves that you exist and gives you cause to carry on. If he were to ask you on a date and you said "no", that could shatter all of that. Better to live with his familiar "crush".
I have in mind an 18th century habit of speech. If words like 'agreeable' and 'tolerable' were to be used in the place of 'good', people might be able to express their appreciation for something in a manner that appears deeper and more studied than superficial approval would imply.
I'd like to bring back "jazz" as in "I've got so much homework for this class, so go ahead without me. I'm gonna jazz on this essay." Or it can also be used like "She's full of drama, so I had to jazz out of there." I'd also appreciate hearing "din-din" more often. It makes me feel like I'm going to eat out of a little crystal dish, like the Fancy Feast cat food commercial. It's fun, try it. "I'm having potato soup for din-din."