Words Men Must Not Say

Kummerspeck, and other great options

(NEWSER) - The German language is officially richer, thanks to its adoption of the English word "shitstorm." Now that we've given, it's time to take: Cracked argues that the English language is in desperate need of these nine foreign words, for which there is absolutely no English equivalent:

• Kummerspeck: Kicking things off with a word from our German friends, this literally means "grief bacon," or, in Cracked's translation, the extra pounds we pack on thanks to emotional eating.

Please, if it's not amazing, stop calling it 'amazing'

(NEWSER) - “OMG,” people “seriously” overused certain words and phrases this decade, and we are “over it.” Wendy Atterberry lists 25 that should be “voted off” immediately, on The Frisky :

• “That’s what she said.”
• “Getting anything ‘on,’ like ‘getting my drink on.’”
• Blended words including, but not limited to, “staycation,” “bromance,” “metrosexual,” “recessionista,” and “Brangelina.”

A new word emerges every 98 minutes

(NEWSER) - The millionth word to enter the English lexicon is pure geek-speak, the Telegraph reports: Web 2.0 was entered this morning by Global Language Monitor, which recognizes words once they’ve appeared 25,000 times in the media, blogs, and social websites. The linguistic cataloger estimates that a new word is generated every 98 minutes. More»

Foreign words help language reach milestone

(NEWSER) - If your New Year’s resolution is never to use the words “change,” “bailout,” and “Phelpsian” again, you’ll get some help on or about April 29, when the English language will acquire its millionth word—or so says a Texas-based group that tracks such things. But, as Ruth Walker notes in the Christian Science Monitor, deciding what constitutes a word can be controversial. More»

Apodiectic use could save niddering and oppugnant

(NEWSER) - The Collins English Dictionary is giving rarely used words a last chance before they are dumped from the new edition, Time reports. Language lovers were outraged at plans to exuviate (shed) words like oppugnant (combative), so the editors have made public a list of 24 candidates for deletion. If the words reappear in the dictionary's database of English usage before January, they can stay. More»