I'm getting ready for work this morning, the Today show is on, nothing unusual. I'm half listening, half checking my facebook, half drying my hair and putting on makeup. Wait, that's too many halves. Maybe that's why my hair didn't look quite right today, but I digress.
As I'm multi-tasking, Matt Lauer says something that makes my ears perk up. Something about a young boy surviving a cougar attack. Five years ago? I would have thought, oh my God! How awful! Some big jungle cat attacked this little boy!
This morning? I think, oh my God! How awful! An older woman in skin-tight leopard print spandex attacked this little boy. Then I giggled.
As it turns out, it was the jungle cat variety, but sadly, that's not what I thought to begin with. Every year new words are added to the dictionary, and old words get new meanings, hence the mental image conjured with the word "Cougar."
Some recent examples?
Staycation I hate this word. Like really hate it. It wreaks of lameness. Just say you're not going anywhere, or you're staying in. Why the need for the new word?
Carbon footprint Again, not a fan of this one either. Much like the word cougar conjures an inappropriate image, this one does for me as well. I picture a big ass Big Foot walking all over the place leaving muddy, black carbon-ey footprints everywhere. (I told you there was a lot of crazy in my head.)
Waterboarding Now this one I like. I first think of the ocean, and sand, and by association fruity drinks and personal bartenders. Then of course, I realize they mean torture, but what a pleasant term for it. I can get on board with that one.
Unfriend I love this one. For those people that dare to annoy the piss out of you with their obnoxious facebook status updates (I think I did a post about these people.), there's always the option of unfriending. I am guilty of the unfriend. I have also been unfriended. Of course, being unfriended usually drives me batshit crazy as I try to figure out who in the hell would dare to cut me out of their facebook life.
Sock Puppet Seriously? For reals?
And from the 2008 edition,
webinar (lame, just the word makes me yawn),
fanboy (love), and my personal favorite word of all time,
w00t.
Now, go use one of these words in a sentence. You can't say I never taught you anything.