21st-Century Interdisciplinary Dictionary
A William&Mary Lexicon of English Neologisms, Buzzwords, Keywords and Jargon
Glass cliff. n. (neologism) A term that describes the phenomenon of women in leadership roles, such as executives in the corporate world and women political election candidates, being likelier than men to be put in leadership roles during periods of crisis or downturn, when the chance of failure is highest. Etymology. The term was coined in […]
Demisexual. n. (neologism) Someone who can only experience sexual attraction after an emotional bond has been formed. This bond can be but does not have to be romantic in nature. Demisexuality falls on the spectrum of Asexuality. Asexual is defined as someone who does not experience sexual attraction. (Asexual Visibility and Education Network or AVEN.) Most […]
Adj. (Neologism) In my belief Hispanic and Latino/a are usually used interchangeably in order to refer to those who come from Spanish speaking countries. This usually refers to people who come from Latin American countries that live in the United States. There are many controversial debates on whether the words mean the same thing or […]
Voluntell v.- to volunteer someone to do a task (usually not an enjoyable one) without their consent or knowledge.Usually used in the past participle, voluntold, to complain about someone volunteering you to do a task. Etymology- this word is a blend of volunteer and told. Volunteer comes from the late 16th century french word “volontaire.” […]
TERF/TWERF. n. (neologism/initialism) Denotation: An acronym for for the term “Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist”, or sometimes “Trans Women Exclusionary Radical Feminist”. Used to describe a sub-group of self-identifying feminists who claim that transgender people are “not really” the gender that they identify as. While not technically a pejorative term, those who use it are generally […]
Super PAC. n. (Acronym/Neologism) Short for “super political action committee”, officially known as “independent-expenditure only committees”, is an organization able to accept unlimited political donations from individuals, corporations, unions, and other groups. Super PAC’s are also free to engage in unlimited spending independently of political campaigns (Center for Responsive Politics, 2010). Etymology: “Super” means ” above, over, beyond”. The […]
Neologism, jargon: n. the tendency to view events which have already occurred as more predictable than they truly are. Also known as the “knew-it-all-along” effect Etymology: Compound formed by the combination of “hindsight” and “bias”, separated by a space The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines “hindsight” as seeing what has happened after an event has occured; perception gained by […]
Colorism. n. (neologism). prejudice or discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group. (1) Etymology: color + -ism Colorism comes from the combination of the word color with the suffix ism Color: pigmentation of the skin, especially as an indication of someone’s race. […]
Mindfulness. n. (act of being mindful, adj.) (Jargon) The concept of being able to live in the present and enjoy the moment. Etymology: According to the OED, Mindfulness is formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: mindful adj., -ness suffix. Mind: The state of being remembered; remembrance, recollection. “A word inherited from Germanic. Cognate with Old High […]
DFAB/DMAB. adj. (neologism/initialism) Denotation: An acronym/initialism for “Assigned male/female at birth”, generally used by transgender or nonbinary individuals to describe the gender they were designated at birth. A replacement term for “born male/female”, which can be used to invalidate trans/nb people’s identities and perpetuate harmful stereotypes. Etymology: Term created by and for the transgender/nonbinary community to […]
