Tuesday, October 04, 2005

The New Words are Here!

On the list of new Webster words this year:

amuse-bouche (noun) 1984 : a small complimentary appetizer offered at some restaurants.

battle dress uniform (noun) 1982 : a military uniform for field service.

bikini wax (noun) 1985 : a procedure for removing pubic hair from the skin near the edge of the bottom half of a bikini by applying hot wax, covering the wax with a cloth to which the wax and hair adhere, and then peeling it off quickly.

brain freeze (noun) 1991 : a sudden shooting pain in the head caused by ingesting very cold food (as ice cream) or drink.

chick flick (noun) 1988 : a motion picture intended to appeal esp. to women.

civil union (noun) 1992 : the legal status that ensures to same-sex couples specified rights and responsibilities of married couples.

cybrarian (noun) 1992 : a person whose job is to find, collect, and manage information that is available on the World Wide Web.

DHS (abbreviation) : Department of Homeland Security.

hazmat (noun) 1980 : a material (as flammable or poisonous material) that would be a danger to life or to the environment if released without precautions.

hospitalist (noun) 1996 : a physician who specializes in treating hospitalized patients of other physicians in order to minimize the number of hospital visits by other physicians.

metadata (noun) 1983 : data that provides information about other data.

otology (noun) 1842 : a science that deals with the ear and its diseases.

retronym (noun) 1980 : a term consisting of a noun and a modifier which specifies the original meaning of the noun ["film camera" is a ~]

oteganography (noun) 1985 1 archaic : cryptography 2 : the art or practice of concealing a message, image, or file within another message, image or file

tide pool (noun) 1853 : a pool of salt water left (as in a rock basin) by an ebbing tide -- called also tidal pool

Wi-Fi (certification mark) : used to certify the interoperability of wireless computer networking devices

zaibatsu (noun) 1947 : a powerful financial and industrial conglomerate of Japan.

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