11 of your favorite made-up words
A few weeks ago, I shared some of my favorite made-up words, among them: “stample,” “jobfuscate,” and “hygienevangelist.”
I also asked PR Daily readers to offer their favorite coinages — which they did, along with their own definitions in some cases.
Here’s what you came up with, though it seems not all of them are favorites. Use them wisely (if you dare):
1. Conversate— a combination of conversation and communicate (just in case someone’s forgotten the verb converse).
Example: “Maybe we should try to conversate with Bob instead of sending an email.”
2. Ginormous— the state of being giant and enormous.
Example: “Why do all photos of fundraising events feature a ginormous check?”
3. Irregardless— when people mistakenly combine irrespective and regardless.
Example: “Irregardless of what the dictionary says, I am going to continue using the word irregardless.”
4. Carefrontation— art of delivering constructive, compassionate feedback.
Example: “Maybe we need to set up a carefrontation with the IS department?”
5. Inpout— “the negative reaction of a subject matter expert who feels he or she should have been consulted first.”
Example: “We’re going to get inpout from the physicians on this decision.”
6. Obsolesson— when someone corrects you for using a word or expression that has become old; or “when you try to explain a typewriter to a 10-year-old.”
Example: “It was an obsolesson when I told my kids about what we did before the Internet.”
7. Upproval— “the time-sucking process of sending an article further up the food chain for approval in order to avoid having to make the decision to publish it.”
Example: “We need human resources’ upproval for that article on the new dress code.”
8. Staycation— a vacation in which you stay home and enjoy everything your city has to offer.
Example: “I now understand why people who live in Seattle choose to staycation.”
9. Vaguebooking— “an intentionally vague Facebook status update that prompts friends or fans to engage with you, e.g., ‘I knew I should have stayed in bed today…’”
Example: “I unfriended Amy; I’ve had it with all her vaguebooking.”
10. Choggers— “chair hoggers, specifically those who reserve sun loungers by the pool.”
Example: “The worst part of waiting for a flight is all the choggers in the gate area.”
11. Voluntold— “when an assignment or duty is optional in theory, but the doer isn’t truly given a choice in the matter.”
Example: “I was voluntold to join the IS Relations Committee.”
PR Daily readers, care to add any more words to the list?
This article was first published on Ragan Communication’s PR Daily.
