February 18th, 2009
A New Word is Born Every 98 Min.
I don't usually read airline magazines, but I saw this factoid on the airline mag. of the person sitting next to me. A new word is birthed every 98 minutes! Fifteen new words every day- can you imagine that? I also read recently that there are 5 times more words in the English language since Shakespeare's time. As I reflected on this, I thought of several new words I heard in just one week:
1) Growteau: a cross between growth and plateau when speaking of church growth. A pastor at the Church Solutions conference stated that their children's ministry grew from 600 to 900 – growth. But during the same time the frequency of attendance has dropped by almost 1 sunday per month – plateau.
2) Bromance: although this has been alive in pop culture, I heard a worship pastor refer to his feelings for his senior pastor with this term- carrying the tone of deep mutual respect. Remember that "brother" was a widely used biblical metaphor!
3) 100Xer: A term coined by the Leadership Network and Half Time teams last week as we discussed the missional core of the organization. A 100Xer is a leader with the capacity for a hundredfold yield in kingdom fruitfulness based on Jesus teaching in the gospels.
4) Makeunder: (Verses the makeover.) Just read this with regard to the benefits of wearing less make-up: "The makeunder applies to those who require longer than an hour to put on their face; women who blow out sockets styling their hair; the ladies whose clothes are so loud they should come with earplugs." "Confidence, maturity and security also tend to go hand-in-hand with a pared down look that favors simplicity over excess." Review Journal
What are some new words that you have either created or heard?
Hey Will – not sure this is anything “earth shattering” or not – or if it is even original to me – but while working in campus ministry during the Facebook explosion I got tired of telling someone – “hey I just sent you a message on facebook” – so I tried to coin the term “Facemail” – even started a group on campus – but didn’t really take off – I thought it was funny though -
Combining Facebook with E-mail (like you needed an explanation) – seemed only natural to me – might even try to hit up the facebook big wigs and try to get it changed!
Ding – you have facemail! You just received 2 new Facemails – see it is catchy! ha ha ha
So that’s my word – FACEMAIL
I have seen it used in another setting but I like my way better (isn’t that always the way???)