During 2008 I bookmarked new words I learned under the tag newwords using delicious. To save you the trouble of hopping over there I've listed them all below. Note, some of them aren't new words, but rather words I've always been unsure of the meaning of and decided to clear up. You should try this, I recommend it.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
unbidden - "Not invited, asked, or requested; unasked - ie unbidden guests."
insensate - Lacking sense or the power to reason
MacGuffin - A MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin) is a plot device that motivates the characters or advances the story, but the details of which are of little or no importance otherwise.
Meijin - Brilliant Man
equanimity - "The quality of being calm and even-tempered; composure."
Skeuomorph - "Skeuomorph is a term used in the history of architecture, design, and archaeology. It refers to a derivative object which retains ornamental design cues to structure that was necessary in the original." Brilliant! And it mentions Stonehenge!
Pinyin - Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin romanisation system in use.
mensch - "A person having admirable characteristics, such as fortitude and firmness of purpose" via Beeker
St Totteringham's Day - "St Totteringham's Day is the day when Arsenal fans celebrate the fact that Tottenham can no longer catch Arsenal in the League"
impetuous - "Characterized by sudden and forceful energy or emotion; impulsive and passionate."
ameliorate - "to make or become better, more bearable, or more satisfactory"
Diegesis - the (fictional) world in which the situations and events narrated occur
discomgoogolation - "Feel stressed if you can't get online? You could have 'discomgoogolation'. Psychologists studying the high stress levels caused by internet dependency have dubbed the phenomenon 'discomgoogolation' '' - I have this!
loquacious - Very talkative, garrulous, given to conversation. (A bit like me, maybe.)
grawlix - A string of typographical symbols used (especially in comic strips) to represent an obscenity or swear word.
chrysalid - Relating to or resembling a chrysalis.
Cerulean - Cerulean may be applied to a range of colors from deep blue, sky-blue, bright blue or azure color through greenish blue colors.
Rhizotron - A rhizotron is a clear-walled chamber through which one can observe roots as they grow.
micturate - To urinate.
Otaku - is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime and manga.
scatological - Meaning: offensive to accepted standards of decency. Not to be confused with the other definition of scatological which is literally "offensive to accepted standards of decency".
salience - The importance of a political issue, or issue dimension. The quality or condition of being salient.
cybergenic - able to surf, blog, IM and twitter their way into the hearts of activist netizens
disemvowled - as in "bkkeepr is a disemvowled version of book-keeper"
dizygotic - Derived from two separately fertilized eggs. Used especially of fraternal twins.
brackish - Having a somewhat salty taste, especially from containing a mixture of seawater and fresh water.
Epicanthic - An epicanthal fold, epicanthic fold, or epicanthus is a skin fold of the upper eyelid (from the nose to the inner side of the eyebrow) covering the inner corner (medial canthus) of the eye.
Psephology - (from Greek psephos, 'pebble', which the Greeks used as ballots) is the statistical analysis of elections.
Tensegrity - Tensegrity is a portmanteau of tensional integrity. It refers to the integrity of structures as being based in a synergy between balanced tension and compression components.
meretricious - Attracting attention in a vulgar manner.
What a cromulent list. Very useful. I like the photos too. All the best for 2009
Posted by: Anne | Jan 01, 2009 at 12:46
Ordinarily we spell skiamorph thus. What is your source for that spelling?
Posted by: Joe Clark | Jan 01, 2009 at 17:13
Word I learned this year that made me stare off into the distance, like I was contemplating running into the sea or something: Freeplay. The incredible, mind-boggling concept that not every minute of a child's time should be scheduled and supervised and sometimes they should just be "free" to "play".
Runner up: Staycation.
Thank-you, Ben, for another year of great blogging.
Posted by: Simon | Jan 03, 2009 at 16:05
How ameliorating.
I am certainly a nintendotaku.
Posted by: Rob Mortimer | Jan 12, 2009 at 13:57
My new favourite word right now is 'chillax'. I love new words.
Posted by: Haniff Din | Jan 12, 2009 at 18:31
if I remember when the word chillax emerged, if you must have been in my really late teens or my early 20s. Good times. Another great word is dauber - used for bingo - take a look at this great post - www.bingo-room.com or bingo room it's pretty darn cool :-)
Posted by: Jeremy Stersky | Apr 08, 2012 at 05:33
Let's all go play bingo at www.bingo-room.com. Join us! Word play is as pleasing as bingo!
Posted by: Account Deleted | Apr 27, 2012 at 11:31