11 New Words We Learnt In 2012

1.  Love Pentagon
The US intelligence department’s biggest breach of security since 9/11 in which Cupid brought down ex-CIA chief David Petraeus. The super sleuth resigned after an FBI probe revealed his extra-marital affair with biographer Paula Broadwell.

2. Mummy porn
The literary genre born of Fifty Shades Of Grey and its sequels, ostenstibly the stuff that mature women enjoy.

3. Games Maker
It refers to the army of volunteers to help people at the Olympics Games venues.

4. Hangry
The way you feel when you are famished and your boss wants to discuss sales targets.

5. Laymanise
Something we all know but seldom practise. Keep it simple, stupid.

6. Omnishambles
The neologism was first used in the BBC political satire The Thick Of It in 2009. But it debuted in the hall of fame (Oxford University Press named it the word of the year) when Labour MP Ed Miliband panned the country’s ‘comprehensively mismanaged’ budget. A significant spinoff: Romneyshambles.

7. Floordrobe
If you are a parent, you don’t want to hear about this. Ever. The pile of clothes on your kids’ floor that you detest has given birth to this neologism—the unholy union between the floor and the wardrobe.

8. Eurogeddon
The potential collapse of the euro triggered by the fall and fall of the currency. If recession sinks its teeth any further, EU is expected to witness a bout of matsyanyaya. What’s that? Watch this space next year.

9. Frankenstorm
It’s the storm, Hurricane Sandy as it was christened, that brought superpower America’s toniest neighbourhoods on the East Coast down on their knees.

10. Mobot, Bolting
The first one’s the celebratory pose of Olympic double gold medallist Mo Farah where he arches his hands over his head to denote M. The second is the victory gesture by Usain Bolt. We don’t need to tell you what that is.

11.  Yolo
Carpe Diem 2.0. Acronym for ‘you only live once’ often used as a hashtag on Twitter to highlight exciting events or excuse brash behaviour.