The new words that emerged in 2019
Philologist Adam Jacot de Boinod takes a look at the new words and phrases that emerged during 2019
Each year new words evolve effortlessly into our unofficial, informal language. Invariably to stand the test of time they need brevity, wit and invention. Here I’ve picked out some of my favourite neologisms (newly coined words) that have come into general use in 2019 from all over the Englishspeaking globe, many from social networks. Bear in mind that some words may well, strictly speaking, have appeared earlier than this year but they take time to be recognised officially into the English language.
The world of work
Three new phrases and words have emerged to describe different ways we earn money. The flat white economy is the wealth created through the large number of people using a coffee shop or café to work in, rather than working in an office. Then there’s the
blue economy, wealth created through using the world’s oceans, such as jobs in the oil and fishing industries and finally the anxiety
economy, wealth created through the production and sale of products designed to ease anxiety.
Gazing skywards, there’s an atmospheric, optical phenomenon called Steve, a recently discovered natural appearance of purple lights in the sky, similar to the aurora borealis and aurora australis.
Space grease is a particular type of matter found in space made up of molecules of carbon with a greasy consistency and a Goldilocks star is one that astronomers consider has exactly the right combination of features to support life.
Back to earth
A green screen is a large steel grid densely covered with ivy thought to act as a barrier to air pollution. Agritecture is the art and practice of designing and making buildings that are inspired by farm buildings, and a yarden relates to a small yard behind a house that has been turned into a garden.
Food for thought
Food always provides an interesting selection of new words. A veggie disc, similar to a hamburger, doesn’t contain meat and is made by pressing together small pieces of vegetables, seeds, etc, into a flat, round shape. Motherless meat is grown in a laboratory from cells and not from a live animal.
The world of fashion
Would you wear a zozosuit ? It’s a closefitting garment covered in sensors that takes precise measurements of your body and can then be used to buy items of clothing custom-made to the correct size. Then there’s hypebeast , a young person who is obsessed with buying the latest expensive designer clothes and
bundle buying, a way of buying clothes where a number of garments that go well together are personally selected for the buyer and posted out to them.
It’s all about relationships
The groomsmaid is a female friend of a man who is getting married who has special duties at the wedding.
Buddymoon is a honeymoon to which the married couple’s friends are invited and a sten do , a blend of a stag and hen do, is one where both the bride’s and groom’s friends are invited. Sadfishing is the practice of writing about one’s unhappiness or emotional problems on social media, especially in a vague way, in order to attract attention and sympathetic responses.
■ Adam was a researcher for the TV programme QI, which led to his fascination with the world of words. He has written three books about
unusual words with Penguin Press, including The Meaning of Tingo and Other Extraordinary Words from Around the World.