We take a look at the etymology behind words like ‘pwn’, ‘covfefe’ and ‘newt’ that came about by mistake

President Donald Trump recently caused his Twitter followers to scratch their heads when he wrote about ‘negative press covfefe’. The president had probably just made a mistake in typing the word ‘coverage’, but the apparently random assortment of letters got people wondering exactly what a covfefe might be, and… Read More

From ‘mugwump’, ‘Mayism’ and ‘gerrymandering’ – 15 election words you should know about

Do you know your filibuster from your flugie? As the 2017 General Election campaign comes to a close, we take a look at some of our favourite political words and phrases from this year’s campaign and from those that came before. Mayismnoun the policies… Read More

Lucy Mangan takes a look at some election buzzwords and their meaning

Every election yields its share of bafflegab – intentionally confusing jargon – along, of course, with all the gab that is not necessarily intended to baffle but somehow manages to do so anyway. This election has been no different. As the nation prepares to head to the polls… Read More

‘Priming the pump’, ‘cloud eggs’, and ‘potica’: May’s Words in the News

Remember when Al Gore invented the internet? Of course you don’t, because he didn’t. But during the 2000 US General Election campaign, he claimed he did, which was pretty embarrassing. Almost as embarrassing as when President Trump suggested he had just invented the phrase prime the pump, in the sense… Read More

Lucy Mangan is back and looks at the mystery that is ‘covfefe’

There is really only one new contribution to our glorious language this week. The word was with Donald Trump and that word was… covfefe. It appeared in a tweet sent from the leader of the free world’s official Twitter account at just past midnight, which read in… Read More

‘Avocado hand’, ‘cromniomancy’ and ‘negaholism’ – Lucy Mangan takes a look at your recent word submissions

I remember once in the mid-nineties watching an episode of Oprah in which people came on to talk the then nascent mogul through their “bagel injuries”. How could bagels injure you, I wondered. Were they the weapon of choice in America? It seemed unlikely in a country free of gun… Read More

‘Micrub’, ‘Dadvice’ and ‘confuzzling’ – Lucy Mangan takes a look at your recent word submissions

I’ve been pondering stanb’s submission – micrub – for some time now. According to him, it means a brief, affectionate little hug. In which case, of course, it should be “micrug”. Micrub is not a typo, however, because he’s used it repeatedly in his submission. And somehow, it’s right. Read More

‘Election narrative’, ‘Pepsi’, and ‘Unicorn Frappuccino’: April’s Words in the News

Unless you’ve been living in a cave underground (and by now you probably wish you were, right?) you’re aware that Theresa May has called a snap general election, to be held on 8 June. That’s this year. Elections are usually a good source of new words, and this one has… Read More

‘Fake News’ makes the News

If 2016 was the year of post-truth, then perhaps 2017 will be the year of fake news. After all, what other kind of news would we have in a post-truth world? The term fake news, despite the best efforts of many in both traditional mainstream and… Read More