Word Spy

smartphone face

Fri, 10 May 2013 09:01:40 EST

smartphone face

n. A drooping jawline and saggy jowls caused by neck muscles that have been shortened from constantly looking down at a smartphone or similar device.

Example Citations:

A new ailment, characterized by sagging jowls and a drooping jawline, has been dubbed "smartphone face." It comes from repeatedly bending forward to peer at a hand-held device, doctors say.
—Amber Sutherland, "'Phone face' woe," The New York Post, May 17, 2012

Nefertiti did not have to contend with 'smartphone face', the term coined by cosmetic doctors to describe the shortening of the neck muscles and pull on the jowls caused by spending hours looking down at laptops, mobiles and iPads.
—Tanith Carey, "Would YOU try the no-knife neck lift to look as good as Helen Mirren?," The Daily Mail, May 5, 2013

Earliest Citation:

A 'smartphone face', as explained by Dr Mervyn Patterson of the Woodford Medical group, is a new condition caused by spending too much time looking down into your phone. "If you sit for hours with your head bent slightly forward, staring at your smartphone or laptop screen, you may shorten the neck muscles and increase the gravitational pull on the jowl area, leading to a drooping jawline."
—Lutphea Tory, "Your smartphone can make your face sag," Priyo News, April 7, 2012

Categories:

Appearance and Grooming
Diseases and Syndromes
Cell Phones
Gadgets and Appliances

Posted on May 10, 2013

Permalink: http://www.wordspy.com/words/smartphoneface.asp

glasseslike

Wed, 08 May 2013 08:46:26 EST

glasseslike

adj. Resembling eyeglasses, particularly with respect to a wearable computing device. Also: glasses-like.

Example Citations:

Google's wearable computer, the most anticipated piece of electronic wizardry since the iPad and iPhone, will not go on sale for many months....

The glasseslike device, which allows users to access the Internet, take photos and film short snippets, has been pre-emptively banned by a Seattle bar.
—David Streitfield, "Google Glass Picks Up Early Signal: Keep Out," The New York Times, May 6, 2013

But privacy issues — be they safety commission-operated street cameras or the prototype glasses-like wearable computers that enable you to record audio and video or ordinances regarding remote-controlled aircraft equipped to take photographs that are now being debated in Conoy Township — are the new front lines in the technology wars.
—"Privacy Invasion," Intelligencer Journal/New Era, March 14, 2013

Earliest Citation:

Users feel like they are inside the computer-generated world as a result of RPI's patented Head Mounted Sensory Interface (HMSI), a glasses-like device with high resolution video screens and 3D sound built inside.
—"RPI demonstrates worldwide access virtual reality telephone system, announces availability," Business Wire, August 18, 1993

Notes:

Categories:

Hardware
Appearance and Grooming
Gadgets and Appliances

Posted on May 8, 2013

Permalink: http://www.wordspy.com/words/glasseslike.asp

Facebook facelift

Fri, 03 May 2013 08:37:17 EST

Facebook facelift

n. Cosmetic surgery designed to improve how a person looks in photos posted to social networking sites.

Example Citations:

An increasing number of young people are going for cosmetic surgery so that their profile pictures look perfect. Cosmetic surgeons have coined a term for the phenomenon — the Facebook Facelift. —Nalini Ravichandran, "Rise of the 'Facebook Facelift': How young men and women are turning to surgery in the quest for the perfect profile picture," Mail Online India, May 1, 2013

Seeing themselves in high definition has led to a surge in the numbers who say they could turn to "Facebook facelifts", according to new research. A survey by the media agency Mindshare found that 16 per cent of young British adults are now considering cosmetic surgery such as tummy tucks as a "normal" way of improving how they look.
—"Facebook fever accelerates teen cosmetic surgery," The Scotsman, January 28, 2013

Earliest Citation:

According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, chin augmentations have increased 71 percent in the last year. Doctors confirm that more and more patients are asking for the Facebook facelift — plastic surgery for the iPhone generation.
—Claire Pedersen, "(Don't) Like My Photo: Social Media Spurring Plastic Surgery," ABC News, July 16, 2012

Notes:

Categories:

Social Networking
Appearance and Grooming
Photography
Lifestyles

Posted on May 3, 2013

Permalink: http://www.wordspy.com/words/Facebookfacelift.asp

catfishing

Thu, 02 May 2013 08:26:57 EST

catfishing

n. The elaborate fabrication of an online identity to trick a person into a romantic relationship.
—catfish v., n.

Example Citations:

And while what happened to Manti Te'o is bringing the term to light, we shouldn't talk about catfishing like it's a new thing. Ever since there's been an Internet, there's been a fat guy in an undershirt pretending to be a hot model. Social media only makes the lie more believable and more noticeable.
—Scott Kleinburg, "Don't be the next Te'o," Chicago Tribune, January 24, 2013

Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson was unsympathetic to their claims, finding that their conduct was objectionable enough to warrant censure by the university. She specifically calls them out for "catfishing" their victim.
—Kashmir Hill, "'Catfishing' Gets Its First Legal Mention," Forbes, April 26, 2013

Earliest Citation:

Did you hear how Dave got totally catfished last month?! The fox he thought he was talking to turned out to be a pervy guy from San Diego!
—sbacker, "catfish," Urban Dictionary, July 22, 2010

Notes:

This term comes from a 2010 documentary called Catfish, about a man who falls for a woman whose online persona turns out to be a fake. The origin of the term is given an oddly positive spin in the film:

They used to tank cod from Alaska all the way to China. They'd keep them in vats in the ship. By the time the codfish reached China, the flesh was mush and tasteless. So this guy came up with the idea that if you put these cods in these big vats, put some catfish in with them and the catfish will keep the cod agile. And there are those people who are catfish in life. And they keep you on your toes. They keep you guessing, they keep you thinking, they keep you fresh. And I thank god for the catfish because we would be droll, boring and dull if we didn't have somebody nipping at our fin.
—Vince Pierce, "Catfish," Relativity Media, January 22, 2010

Categories:

Internet
Social Networking
Marriage and Relationships

Posted on May 2, 2013

Permalink: http://www.wordspy.com/words/catfishing.asp

cli-fi

Wed, 01 May 2013 08:47:55 EST

cli-fi

n. A literary or movie genre featuring dystopian stories of Earth affected by extreme climate change. [Climate + fiction.]

Example Citations:

Odds is the latest in what seems to be an emerging literary genre. Over the past decade, more and more writers have begun to set their novels and short stories in worlds, not unlike our own, where the Earth's systems are noticeably off-kilter. The genre has come to be called climate fiction — "cli-fi," for short.
—Angela Evancie, "So Hot Right Now: Has Climate Change Created A New Literary Genre?," National Public Radio, April 20, 2013

Cli-fi, or 'climate fiction,' describes a dystopian present, as opposed to a dystopian future. And don't call it 'science fiction.' Cli-fi is literary fiction.
—Husna Haq, "Climate change inspires a new literary genre: cli-fi," The Christian Science Monitor, April 26, 2013

Earliest Citation:

From "Soylent Green" in 1973 to "The Day After Tomorrow" in 2004, movies also began to venture into a new genre of science fiction that might be called "cli-fi" .. or climate fiction.

Cli-fi is also a new genre for novels and short stories.
—Dan Bloom, "The Next Big Genre: 'Cli-Fi' — Climate Fiction, in Which 'Mad Max' Meets 'The Road'," The Wrap, November 3, 2011

Notes:

Categories:

Books and Magazines
Film
Writing
Environment

Posted on May 1, 2013

Permalink: http://www.wordspy.com/words/cli-fi.asp

get-off-my-lawn

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 07:42:30 EST

get-off-my-lawn

adj. Cantankerous and old-fashioned or bourgeois, particularly with respect to values or ideas. Also: hey-kids-get-off-my-lawn.

Example Citations:

From there, though, the film turns into a disorganized rant, jumping from Uneeda Biscuits to the Glass-Steagall Act to kids and their infernal text messaging and anything else that occurred to Mr. Hoffman or the seemingly random collection of people he allows to spout off on camera. The whole enterprise has a get-off-my-lawn feel; it tries to pass off whining and a rose-colored-glasses view of the past as insight.
—Neil Genzlinger, "Analyzing History Before the Dust Settles," The New York Times, August 16, 2012

This isn't intended to be a "get off my lawn!" argument, though it is indeed old-fashioned to believe everyone deserves respect.
—Evan Selinger, "Facebook Home Propaganda Makes Selfishness Contagious," Wired, April 22, 2013

Earliest Citation:

When Rumsfeld said in a press conference March 28 that Syria and Iran would be held accountable if they interfered in Iraq, Stewart had material for a comedic rant.

"There is nothing like a cantankerous old man who takes a hey-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn approach to foreign policy," he said.
—Anthony Breznican, "Comics find even war can be laughing matter," The Associated Press, April 8, 2003

Notes:

The idiom get off my lawn, used ironically to indicate that one's arguments or opinions are self-consciously old-fashioned and curmudgeonly, has been in use since at least the early 1990s:

Of course, now that some group of twits or another has decided that milk is bad for you, there will soon be a group called Milkaholics Anonymous.
—Dennis Duggan, "Milk Bashers, Get Off My Lawn!," Newsday, October 11, 1992

Categories:

Culture (General)
Idioms
Aging and Death

Posted on April 30, 2013

Permalink: http://www.wordspy.com/words/get-off-my-lawn.asp

feature nail

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 07:51:10 EST

feature nail

n. A fingernail with an applied color, pattern, or shape that is different from the other nails.

Example Citations:

Commonly known as the "feature nail," this trend is far from over, thanks to the ever-increasing interest in nail art. The fashion world has been taking nails and nail art very seriously in the past few years, as seen on international designer runways. The trend of painting, patterning and/or embellishing one nail differently is now being embraced both by celebrities and by the mainstream.
—Bahar Niramwalla, "What's a 'feature nail' and how do I wear it?," The Globe and Mail, April 13, 2013

When it comes to killer nails, Lady Gaga's latest manicure could actually do some damage. The pop star stepped out with a huge sharpened talon on her finger on Saturday morning. The five-inch feature nail looked seriously scary, as she flashed it at photographers.
—Chelsea White, "Monster manicure! Lady Gaga rocks claw-like nails with a super-long talon as she steps out in structural mini-dress," Daily Mail, December 15, 2012

Earliest Citation:

The nails were a funky, three-dimensional retro stripe with colours that followed the collection's sassy street theme.

"Any Gold Coast girl can do a feature nail easily to match their clothing colours."
—Rachel Syers, "Fingers do the talking," Goal Coast Bulletin, May 20, 2003

Notes:

Kudos to Karen H. for fingering this phrase.

Category:

Appearance and Grooming

Posted on April 26, 2013

Permalink: http://www.wordspy.com/words/featurenail.asp

organ recital

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 08:43:03 EST

organ recital

n. A long-winded recitation of one's ailments, particularly those related to or caused by aging.

Example Citations:

Often it starts with an innocent greeting, such as "How are you?" When we were younger, the answer was usually, "Fine, how are you?" Lately however, with friends of a certain age, I find that the question will open into a extended discourse about health and aging, reminiscent of the classic Buddhist reflection on the 32 parts of the body — a report on the liver, lungs, joints, muscles, kidneys, heart — a conversation sometimes known as "the organ recital."
—Wes Nisker, "The Practice of Geezing," The Huffington Post, February 6, 2013

These days, in some circles of old folks, this recapitulation of complaints is known as "the organ recital," and, God knows, it does "divert [the] torments," at least for a bit.
—Daniel Klein, Travels With Epicurus (excerpt; see p. 33), Penguin Books, October 30, 2012

Earliest Citation:

Nor does he mention the fact that he served on the Leukemia Society board before he even got the disease — an eerie irony. "I don't accept the gloomy aspect of things — to heck with that," Thysell says, sitting in his office just beyond the busy toll gates of the Coronado Bridge. Too many people, he says, "give organ recitals when they get older."

Organ recitals being a recitation of all the things that are wrong with one's body.
—Suzanne Choney, "Byrd's feisty spirit gives bridge run dash," The San Diego Union-Tribune, October 5, 1985

Notes:

Yes, this phrase isn't even remotely new (I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that it's even older than the earliest citation), but it combines so much wittiness and pithiness in its two-word frame that I just couldn't resist it. Now, about this pain in my foot...

Categories:

Diseases and Syndromes
Medicine
Aging and Death

Posted on April 25, 2013

Permalink: http://www.wordspy.com/words/organrecital.asp

nanofacture

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:32:48 EST

nanofacture

v. To manufacture something at the molecular level using nanotechnology. [Nano- + manufacture.] —n.
—nanofacturing pp.

Example Citations:

Hope's chosen medium is "nanofacture," a neologism that describes fabrication at a molecular level. He builds his paintings using a cobbled-together toolkit of hard and softwares, starting with a molecular modeling software called PyMol and ending with a RepRap 3D printer.
—Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan , "Artist 'Nanofactures' Paintings Using a 3D Printer and Molecular Modelling Software," Gizmodo, April 24, 2013

The result: "DNA machines have been built, as a route to nanorobotics," Seeman told UPI's Nano World. "Nanofacturing of new and revolutionary materials is going to result from some of these devices."
—Charles Q. Choi, "Nano World: DNA Meets Nanotechnology," Space Daily (via UPI), January 18, 2005

Earliest Citation:

Every atom will be in the right place, as specified by the computer program driving its assembly, tugged and herded into place by machines smaller than a virus and many times smarter. True, you can also expect to manufacture — to nanofacture — tiny dedicated computers the size of bacteria...

If you had a nanofacturing system and a supply of raw materials, there's no obvious reason why you couldn't mint anything not forbidden by the laws of physics.
—Damien Broderick, "Molecular licence [sic] to print money," Canberra Times, August 29, 1998

Notes:

Category:

Technology (General)

Posted on April 24, 2013

Permalink: http://www.wordspy.com/words/nanofacture.asp

austerian

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 07:54:18 EST

austerian

n. A person who believes that extreme fiscal austerity is the key to solving economic problems, particularly for countries carrying huge debt loads. Also: Austerian.

Example Citations:

"Austerians," as the champions of fiscal prudence are called, perhaps a little uncharitably, are in retreat because an emphasis on deficit cutting has failed to generate a convincing recovery.
—Kevin Carmichael, "'Austerians' are reeling as G20 avoids mention of hard fiscal targets," The Globe and Mail, April 21, 2013

When it comes to inflicting pain on the citizens of debtor nations, austerians are all steely determination — hey, it's a tough world, and hard choices have to be made.
—Paul Krugman, "Very Sensitive People," The New York Times, April 22, 2013

Earliest Citation:

Remember, the political idea being expressed a year ago was that because the GOP interpreted its 1994 mandate as a call to budget-balancing austerity, the electorate would never give the White House to the GOP if its nominee was also a root-canal austerian.
—Jude Wanniski, "Reminder from Forbes ... Crossroads for Dole," The Washington Times, March 20, 1996

Notes:

Fans of the novelist Paul Auster (and, really, who isn't one?) will be pleased to know that his work and the atmosphere it conjures up are often described as Austerian (first use: 1994):

See if you like this sample, which ends with a typically Austerian twist. "For the first few weeks, they did what they could to make the rooms habitable, diligently attacking all manner of blight and decay, treating each small task as if it were a momentous human endeavor, and bit by bit they turned their wretchedly inadequate pigsty into something that might, with some generosity, be classified as a hovel."
—John Greenya, "Book review: 'Sunset Park'," The Washington Times, December 31, 2010

Categories:

Economics
Insults
People

Posted on April 23, 2013

Permalink: http://www.wordspy.com/words/austerian.asp