Jane Farrow, ed. Wanted Words (2000) The CBC ran a delightful short program about words for those things, events, and (usually) annoyances that we labour to describe. It was almost entirely listener-driven. Listeners supplied the wants and the words, and many anecdotes, some even about the event that caused the coinages.This eponymous book collects some of the best, along with short lists of alternative suggestions. None of the listed words has entered the general lexicon.
For example, Motorola-mouth for those annoying people who not only answer their cellphones in public, but ensure that we hear their side of the conversation. An alternative suggestion: Cell-droids, which would do very well for people incapable of surviving more than a couple of minutes without checking their screens. Now that texting has superseded voice, we may be entertained by demonstrations of the perils of texting while walking, and terrified of becoming a participant in a demonstration of the perils of texting while driving.
Aneurythm was proposed for “a song that sticks in your head”, but earworm appeared later and became the fairly common term for this annoying brain-glitch.
A pleasant read. **½
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