‘glitterati’: meaning and origin
the celebrities of the fashionable literary and show-business world—USA, 1944—blend of ‘glitter’ ((to make) a brilliant appearance or display) and of ‘literati’ (intellectuals)
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‘Bridezilla’: meaning and origin
USA, 1995—a woman thought to have become intolerably obsessive or overbearing in planning the details of her wedding—from ‘Godzilla, the suffix ‘-zilla’ is used to form humorous nouns which depict a person or thing as a particularly fearsome, relentless or overbearing example of its kind
Read More‘Popemobile’: original meaning
USA, 1969—the 1964 Lincoln Continental specially built and equipped for Pope Paul VI’s 1965 visit to the United States
Read More‘shrinkflation’: meaning and origin
the practice of reducing a product’s amount or volume per unit while continuing to offer it at the same price—blend of ‘shrink’ and ‘inflation’—2014—apparently coined by Pippa Malmgren
Read More‘monokini’: meaning, origin and early occurrences
a woman’s topless swimsuit, consisting of the lower half of a bikini—from the prefix ‘mono-’ and ‘-kini’ in ‘bikini’, reinterpreted as containing the prefix ‘bi-’—coined in 1946 by French clothing designer Louis Réard
Read More‘flopbuster’: meaning and origin
a film which fails to achieve the commercial success that was expected—UK, 1986—from ‘flop’ (a failure) and ‘-buster’ in ‘blockbuster’ (a film which achieves great commercial success)
Read More‘technosaur’: meaning and origin
a person who shows no proficiency in the use of information technology—USA, 1998—from ‘techno-’ in ‘technological’ and ‘technology’, and ‘-saur’ in ‘dinosaur’, i.e., a person who is unable to adapt to change
Read More‘fartichoke’: meaning and origin
the Jerusalem artichoke—UK, 1968—blend of ‘fart’ and ‘artichoke’ in ‘Jerusalem artichoke’—refers to the flatulence caused by eating Jerusalem artichokes
Read More‘Butskellism’: meanings and origin
UK, 1954—the economic policy of Rab Butler, Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer (1951-5), regarded as largely indistinguishable from that of Hugh Gaitskell, Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer (1950-1)—blend of ‘Butler’ and ‘Gaitskell’ plus suffix ‘-ism’
Read More‘keytar’: meaning and origin
a synthesizer designed to be held in the manner of a guitar, with one hand playing a keyboard while the other operates controls on an extended handle—USA, 1979—from ‘key-’ in ‘keyboard’ and ‘-tar’ in ‘guitar’
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