word submissions

‘Biophobia’: a fear of studying life… Lucy Mangan gets Gothic with your new word submissions

“Come round for dribbles!” The mind doesn’t so much boggle as run immediately for shelter and stay there cowering until it can be sure all danger has passed. Nothing good can come of such a phrase, and this is particularly true when you become aware – as I am now,… Read More

‘Crushed it.’ Lucy Mangan does a great job with your new word submissions

Thank you, moneill, for submitting “crush it” – meaning “do exceptionally well” – as it gives me an excuse to quote one of my favourite moments from the second season of my favourite sitcom of recent years, Silicon Valley (Mike Judge’s latest and A Joy Forever). Richard and Jared, founder… Read More

How ‘grammable’ is your ‘hoglet’? Lucy Mangan casts judgment on your new word submissions

I am apparently not allowed to share with you all the new swearwords that spring forth unbidden but fully formed when your tyre blows on a country road on the penultimate day of your holiday and takes half your nearside wing with it, but can I just say they were… Read More

Where’s your ‘fossilling’ brush? Lucy Mangan does some digging and ‘gigging’ with your new word submissions

I’m doing a gig! Previously I have just sat at my desk and written this blog on a laptop and in a state of questionable personal hygiene, but this time – I’m gigging! Because I, as a freelance, am now part of the “gig economy”, a term which was submitted… Read More

‘Smize’, ‘Squinch’ and ‘Teeg’ – Lucy Mangan poses with your new word submissions

I accidentally went out with a young person the other evening and she insisted on taking a selfie with me in the frame. “Smize!” she said. “We barely know each other,” I said, shocked. “It means ‘smile with your eyes’,” she said. I think she thought she was explaining. Read More

Feeling ‘unkeyboardinated’? Lucy Mangan’s new word submissions should do the trick!

Hang on… bear with me… I got very little sleep last night so am a bit unkeyboardinated today. Which means, of course, “to be having trouble typing”. Thank you, RobertG, for this contribution to the word stock and – far more importantly – to my sense of not being uniquely… Read More

Grab your ‘koozie’ and catch a spot of ‘rabbit showjumping’ – Lucy Mangan’s back with your new word submissions

A phenomenon that is spreading faster than cracks in a Californian riverbed is “droughtshaming”. Submitted by RobertG, it refers to the practice of posting pictures on social media of violations of the water use restrictions that the state has put in place as a result of the ongoing absence of… Read More

‘Pandafication’, ‘Jockalypse’, and a word with no meaning are among the new word suggestions dissected by Lucy Mangan

Thank you first of all to moneill, for “whaling” – a form of phishing (nefarious emailing to try and extract sensitive data from unsuspecting recipients) that targets company executives instead of average Joes with their only averagely valuable information. Phishing for bigger fish = whaling! PLEASING! “Flakka”, submitted… Read More

Any ‘quamments’? Lucy Mangan questions and comments on your new word submissions

Quuuuiiiick – let’s get these last few election terms out before…well, before the new election term begins. “Milifan” and “Milifandom” (submitted by moneill) came to prominence just after my last blogpost, which rounded up previous GE2015-specific words, and refers to the – primarily young – coterie of Ed Miliband supporters… Read More