Word of the week 25 - 31 May 2009 SOCIAL NETWORKING

Word of the week 18- 24 May 2009 DOWNTOWN / UPTOWN

Downtown is a term primarily used in North America to refer to a city's core or central business district, usually in a geographical, commercial, and community sense.

The term is thought to have been coined in New York City, where it was in use by the 1830s to refer to the original town at the southern tip of the island of Manhattan. As the town of New York grew into a city, the only direction it could grow on the island was toward the north, proceeding upriver from the original settlement (the "up" and "down" terminology in turn came from the customary map design in which up was north and down was south). Thus, anything north of the original town became known as "uptown", while the original town (which was also New York's only major center of business at the time) became known as "downtown".

During the late 19th century, the term was gradually adopted by cities across the United States and Canada to refer to the historical core of the city (which was most often the same as the commercial heart of the city).

Uptown is a residential part of town away from the central commercial district. The word uptown originated in the New York city train stations. As you leave downtown Manhattan the trains direct you to Uptown. Uptown includes Harlem, East Harlem, Washinton Heights, Inwood and (sometimes) the South Bronx.

Word of the week 11 - 17 May 2009 SWINE FLU

Swine has two meanings:
1. Any of various omnivorous, even-toed ungulates of the family Suidae, including pigs, hogs, and boars, having a stout body with thick skin, a short neck, and a movable snout.
2. A person regarded as brutish or contemptible.

Word of the week 4 - 10 May 2009 FURKID

Furkid is a a compound noun (made by combining two words, in this case the nouns fur + kid) used mainly in American English for a pet such as a dog or a cat that is treated like a child by its owner.

Furkid is used by some animal lovers who feel that the word pet suggests the idea of owning something rather than describing the loving relationship that they have with their dog, cat, etc. Furbaby is another similar term for a baby pet that is like human baby for its owner.

We are thinking of adding another furkid to our family.

Please consider adopting your next furkid from a shelter or rescue organization.

Dress your furkid in the latest fashions.

I have a real kid and a furkid.

Word of the week 20 -27 April 2009 SPREE

spree (noun) = a brief indulgence of your impulses

The word spree is mainly used in phrases like: go on a drinking / shopping / spending / killing / shooting spree; a spree killer

Word of the week 13 - 19 April 2009 COLD CALLING

Cold calling (also known as telemarketing) is the process of approaching prospective customers or clients, typically via telephone, who were not expecting such an interaction. The word "cold" is used because the person receiving the call is not expecting a call or has not specifically asked to be contacted by a sales person.

Word of the week 30 March - 5 April 2009 SWISHING

Swishing is a new social movement that is spreading fast with new online communities, regular swishing events and mass media coverage. Swishing parties are being hailed as the new fun and free way to walk away with a new wardrobe while helping to save the planet.

A swishing party starts with drinks, nibbles and conversation and then guests start swapping clothes.

The term “swishing” may come from the sound of clothes swishing quickly along the clothes rails, or it may refer to the noise that certain clothes, particularly silk ones, make when rustled.

The word "swish" can be a noun referring to a rustling sound or a verb meaning to move with or cause to move with a whistling or hissing sound, as well as an adjective meaning elegant and fashionable.

Here's a children's song with some onomatopoeias. "Swish" is one of them:

MAD' DONNA - The wheels on the bus

The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round

The wheels on the bus go round and round all through the town.

The wipers on the bus go "Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish"

The wipers on the bus go "Swish, swish, swish" all through the town.

The door on the bus goes open and shut, open and shut, open and shut

The door on the bus goes open and shut all through the town.

The horn on the bus goes "Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep"

The horn on the bus goes "Beep, beep, beep" all through the town.

The money on the bus goes "Clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink"

The money on the bus goes "Clink, clink, clink" all through the town.

The baby on the bus says, "Wah, wah, wah! Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah!"

The baby on the bus says, "Wah, wah, wah!" all through the town.

Word of the week 23 - 29 March 2009 SLUMDOG

The term slumdog was invented for the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire, which shows how a poor boy from the Mumbai slums comes to win a TV quiz show. The title of the film has caused some controversy, especially in India, where some people have been offended by the suggestion that people from the slums are no better than dogs. However, screenwriter Simon Beaufoy has explained that the term was intended not as an insult but as a metaphor. He noticed how the dogs and cats of the Mumbai slums just sat there watching everything: ‘I thought it was a fantastic metaphor—of somebody who’s apparently not worth anything, is actually looking, eyeing everything and knowing everything—just like the boy in the game show knows everything.’ Slumdog also suggests the more positive associations of underdog: a person, team or country that is thought to be in a weaker position than others and is not expected to win or be successful.

The title of the film Slumdog Millionaire is an ironic juxtaposition of two extremes, the poor on the one hand (‘the slumdog’) and the rich on the other (‘the millionaire’). It has therefore caused an unlikely collocational patterning for slumdog.

Word of the week 16 - 22 March 2009 JIG

The jig is a Celtic dance which takes its name from the type of music to which it is danced, also called a 'jig.' The music takes its name from the French word 'gigue,' which is an older word for a fiddle (violin). Therefore, an Irish jig is one of many cultural dances that is done to fiddle music, specifically, Celtic fiddle music. There are Irish and Scottish variants of jig music, but the most well known of the jigs is the Irish jig.

A jig is danced with a lot of hopping, making it into a joyful dance; jigs are often danced at weddings and other types of celebrations.

A traditional Irish jig is a series of hops and steps that repeat themselves over and over again. The steps are very simple, either stepping forward or taking steps backwards, but the hops can require some practice in getting the timing and coordination right.

Word of the week 9 - 15 March 2009 F***

The 'F' Word, a word you probably won't learn in your English class.

Word of the week 2 - 8 March 2009 VOIP (SKYPE)

VoIP is an acronym of Voice over Internet Protocol, and is now used as a verb which is synonymous with the idea of ‘making a telephone call over the Internet’, e.g. Do you want to try voiping me? Voip him at 416-907-9848.

A number of VoIP operators currently exist, but the best known and most widely used is Skype™ – so much so that the company name has also morphed into a noun Skyp(e)ing and a verb Skype or skype, e.g. I Skyped you this morning. He regularly skypes me when he's travelling on business.

The huge advantage of VoIP is that it can be very cheap relative to conventional or mobile telephone services, and sometimes even free. It also enables users to travel anywhere in the world and, providing they have access to the Internet, still make and receive calls regardless of their location.

What Language do I speak when I say VoIP?

Word of the week 23 February - 1 March 2009 CARNIVAL AND SHROVETIDE

The origin of the name "Carnival" is unclear as there are two theories:

Most popularly, it is believed the term Carnival derives from the words 'carne vale' (farewell to meat), a reference to the excesses that led up to the sombre Lent (Cuaresma).

Some suspect Carnival is derived from the Roman solstice festival, the Saturnalia, where participants indulged in much drinking and dancing. Saturnalia is believed to have had the first parade floats (carrozas), called the 'carrus navalis' (naval car), in honour of the god Apollo.

Shrovetide is the English equivalent of Carnival. The word shrove is a past tense of the English verb 'shrive', which means to obtain absolution for one's sins by confessing and doing penance. Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the shriving (confession) that Anglo-Saxon Christians were expected to receive immediately before Lent. Shrove Tuesday is celebrated as Pancake Day.

The term 'Mardi Gras' or Fat Tuesday refers to the Carnival celebrations originated in the one time French colonial capitals of Mobile (now in Alabama), New Orleans (Louisiana) and Biloxi (Mississippi).

Word of the week 16 - 22 February 2009 YOB

What are you really saying when you mispronounce the word "job" and say "yob" instead?

A yob (or yobbo) is an aggressive, impolite young man (or teenager) who engages in antisocial behaviour and/or drunkenness.

The word is believed to have derived from spelling "boy" backwards (maybe because a yob is the antithesis of a good boy).

It is usually used as an insult, so calling someone a yob or a yobbo can be dangerous.

Examples:

Be careful if you go to a pub on Friday or Saturday night. The yobs will be out and lots of them will be looking for a fight.
Lots of yobbos travel to places like Spain or Greece and get drunk, behave badly, and damage the image of Britain and the British.

You can read and find out more about yob culture here in the first part of a BBC series of features focusing on different aspects of crime.

Just for fun:

Word of the week 9 -15 February 2009 SPAM

Most email users receive unwanted emails from senders with odd-sounding names offering a variety of products and services, which are also for the most part unwanted. These junk emails, sent simultaneously to thousands if not millions of computer users have been known since the early 1990s as spam.

This term appears to have nothing to do with the original word spam, which was a proprietary name for a brand of tinned meat first produced in the United States and much appreciated in the UK during World War II and the years of rationing that followed it. It is widely believed that spam originated as a short form of the words spiced ham.

How the same word came to be applied to junk email is more of a mystery. Some people attribute it to a sketch in the British cult comedy TV series Monty Python, in which a group of Vikings attempt to order food in a typical greasy spoon café in 1970s England where everything is served with spam. Perhaps like the spam in the comedy sketch spam emails are so-called because they are excessive and ultimately unwanted.

Word of the week 2 - 8 February 2009 MOCK EXAM

A mock exam is a "fake" exam taken for training or practice, with the same standards and often under the same conditions as the real examination. It's supposed to prepare students for the real exam.

GOOD LUCK IN YOUR EXAMS EVERYONE!

Amusing commercial by Instant Kiwi, a scratch card for lottery in New Zealand.

A group of university students sits in an exam room. Our hero has finished his exam with a minute to spare. He pulls out an instant kiwi ’scratch-it’ card and proceeds to check out his luck. The exam supervisor calls the end of the exam and instructs students to put down their pens and bring their papers to the front of the room. He thanks the students as they place their papers in a neat pile on the front desk.
In the meantime our chap is still using his pen to check out the last of his numbers. As he approaches the front with his exam paper he’s told that he’s too late. “Gave you plenty of warnings about time. You failed. Sorry.” The student replies, “Excuse me do you know who I am.?” The teacher says, “I have absolutely no idea”. “Good!” says the student as he quickly puts his exam in the middle of the other papers and walks out - eating the teacher’s apple. “Instant Kiwi: Give it a go!”

Mr Bean's exam

SCRIPT

STUDENT: Done your revision?
MR BEAN: Oh, yes. I've concentrated on trigonometry.
STUDENT: I've done calculus mainly.
MR BEAN: I believe they concentrated on calculus last year.
STUDENT: Oh. Oh, dear.
INVIGILATOR: Quiet, ladies and gentlemen, please. The exam will commence in two minutes.
Ladies and gentlemen, you may open the envelopes containing your papers. The exam starts...now.
INVIGILATOR: Two minutes, ladies and gentlemen. At the end, will those who answered the green calculus papers please put them in the green box, and those who answered the white trigonometry papers, please put them in the white box.
Stop writing, please. I said stop writing. Will you stop writing!

Word of the week 26 January - 1 February 2009 BOOMERANG KID

A boomerang kid is an adult child who returns home to live with his or her parents after being away for some time.

Though many students only stay for a few months, others linger at home even after they are on their feet financially. They are attracted by a room of their own, a regular allowance (pocket money), and eager-to-help parents who are welcoming their "boomerangers" — as they are being called — back to the nest.

A similar term is kipper (an acronym of Kids In Parents' Pockets Eroding Retirement Savings), an adult son or daughter, particularly one aged 30 or more, who still lives with his or her parents.

Word of the week 19 - 25 January 2009 PHISHING

The criminal activity of persuading people to give personal information such as account numbers, passwords and credit card details by directing them to a fake website which has been made to look exactly the same as the website of a legitimate bank or other organisation.

Typically, emails are used as "bait" (= cebo) in order to get the potential victim to visit the fake website. The emails use various stratagems to trick readers into clicking on the included links, thereby opening the bogus website. Information submitted on these bogus websites may then be used to steal funds from the user's accounts and/or steal the victim's identity.

The term phishing has been around in computer hacker culture since the mid-nineties, where it originally referred more generally to the practice of acquiring password information in order to infringe security barriers. Its use specifically in the context of internet-based financial crimes is more recent. The word is derived from a deliberate misspelling of fish in its verbal sense of trying to obtain information.

Word of the week 12 - 18 January 2009 COPE

To succeed in dealing with a difficult problem or situation.

Synonyms: handle, manage

• intransitive

The tyres on my car don't cope very well on wet roads.

He had so much pressure on him in his job that eventually he just couldn't cope.

• transitive (cope with)

She feared she wouldn't be able to cope with two new babies.

Local authorities have to cope with the problems of homelessness.

No system is designed to cope with the floods we have had this year.

My computer can cope with huge amounts of data.

Word of the week 15 - 21 December 2008 FREAK OUT

1. Lose one's nerve, panic, be overcome by a sudden fear behave or cause to behave irrationally and uncontrollably, with enthusiasm, excitement, fear, or madness. For example:

The band's wild playing made the audience freak out.

The students freaked out when told that final exams were less than a week away.

It was such a close accident that it really freaked me out.

She freaked out and ended up in the psychiatric ward.

2. Experience or cause to experience hallucinations, paranoia, or other frightening feelings as a result of taking a mind-altering drug [Slang; mid-1960s]. For example:

They were freaking out on LSD or some other drug.

AVRIL LAVIGNE - FREAK OUT

Word of the week 8 - 14 December 2008 AVATAR

An avatar (from the Sanskrit word avatara, meaning "incarnation”) is a computer user's representation of himself/herself or alter ego, usually in the form of a three-dimensional model used in computer games or a two-dimensional icon (picture) used on Internet forums and other communities. It is an “object” representing the embodiment of the user.

You can create your own avatar on http://www.befunky.com/