Thursday, November 16, 2006

"Tablescape" made the 2006 Dictionary Edition

Erin McKean, an editor for the Oxford American Dictionary, defined tablescape as "everything you put on a table". She indicated that the first reference to the word was in 1991, but that it only recently came into common usage.

I went surfing to see what other fun words made the cut. I thought these were interesting:

sandwich generation

Main Entry: sandwich generation
Function: noun
: a generation of people who are caring for their aging parents while supporting their own children

polyamory

Main Entry: poly•am•ory
Pronunciation: "pä-lE-'a-m&-rE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -ories
Etymology: polyamorous (from poly- + amorous) + 2-y
: the state or practice of having more than one open romantic relationship at a time
- poly•am•or•ist /-rist/ noun
- poly•am•o•rous /-'a-m&-r&s, -'am-r&s/ adjective

drama queen

Main Entry: drama queen
Function: noun
: a person given to often excessively emotional performances or reactions



And my personal favorite.


mouse potato

Main Entry: mouse potato
Function: noun
Etymology: after couch potato
slang : a person who spends a great deal of time using a computer

Some of the other new words can be found here.

5 comments:

  1. I confess: I am a mouse potato. I was never a couch potato, though. I went straight from bookworm to mouse.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh Kathy - bookworm to mouse -that's a familiar story. Or should I say 'tail'?

    Thanks for the afternoon chuckle, Zooey. I know what the word tablescape means, but still think it sounds like someone who managed to get out of cooking dinner.

    Annie

    ReplyDelete
  3. Funny how these words have become common usage. Although I must say I hadn't heard of a mouse potato LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  4. LOL, Annie. That is a good "tail".

    I, too, am a mouse potato and proud to be one. There are certainly much worse things to be in this world!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh NO! Mouse potatoe. They found a name for me!

    Eeek!

    ReplyDelete

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