Spinning coinages

Some new words coined 100 years ago named new realities, neon light and gas mask among them. But others from that decade described things that could have been labelled long before, such as defeatism, cross-dressing and to crash (used of aeroplanes before it was applied to motor-cars). As we report today, contenders for the word of 2017 certainly reflect unpleasant aspects of modern life. Antifa does not denote all those opposed to fascism (as most are), but one sort of aggressive activist adopting the label. Fake news is ambiguous in being used not only of lies, but also of reports that some people dismiss because they don’t like them. For the rising generation comes an invention to distract attention from the assaults on the senses and the boredom of daily life: fidget-spinner. What self-imposed dullness that neologism conjures up.