21st-Century Interdisciplinary Dictionary
A William&Mary Lexicon of English Neologisms, Buzzwords, Keywords and Jargon
Meme n. an idea, behavior, thought, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture, a unit for carrying ideas General Denotation: A meme is usually a picture, idea, or joke that is taken by a group and replicated/altered. It has become a term to name an inside joke or something funny, usually online. Memes […]
Swemming Neotwampism v. the act of going to Swem library to study, usually for a long period of time before an exam or project is due Etymology: Swem (name of the library) + -ing (derivational affix, verbalizer) (This is a verb, to go swemming, to be doing the action of swemming) Swem Library, named after […]
Gouache Technical word, art jargon General Denotation: n., a type of paint with opaque colors ground in water, a mix of honey and gum makes the paint a paste. Also sometimes called opaque watercolor. The type of painting with the medium also. Etymology: The term gouache comes from the 16th century Italian word “guazzo” for […]
Indie Colloquialism; Shortening of independent Neosensical word, in terms of capturing the entire culture surrounding the word General Denotation: adj. not depending on another’s authority, in the cases of music and art, created by someone without a tie to a large scale company or major label; colloquial A non-major record label or film producer, an underground […]
Hipster Neo-sense word. n. A person who is trendy, stylish, progressive, and/or knowledgeable about what is happening in popular culture. It also defines a subculture of indie/alternative music and progressive, edgy fashion and lifestyles, usually in groups of young adults (20s-30s) and teens. General Denotation: n. One who is hip or up-to-date Etymology: hip – also […]
