The word is out. It is new and different. The recession has churned out glum faces, sober weekends and empty wallets. But as a byproduct, it has produced something else which just rolls off your tongue. New words are out, and they are making more sense with every passing day.

Try homedulging, a cocktail of home and indulging. It means friends get their own booze to your sitting room, the new neighbourhood hangout and party.

The recessionista (person shopping for bargains on designer wear) has already made its way into conversations. But already, recessionista is on its way to being ‘so last week’ as chiconomic (chic and economic) takes centrestage.

This is what neologisms are all about: a perfect reflection of a fast growing society. A neologism, (coined in 1803) is a word devised in a specific time period often directly attributable to a specific person, publication, period, or event.  

Politicians are well-known neologists.

For example, the White House’s recent offering is Obamanomics—US President Barack Obama’s plan to help save the country from the backlash of recession. Or there’s Saddlebacking. The story goes, that President Obama asked Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church and author of The Purpose Driven Life—to speak at his inauguration. Warren has old-fashioned views about homosexuality and gay columnist Dan Savage asked readers to define the term saddlebacking, preferably as a sexual abuse.

 No one can beat the good ol’ George W. Bush for giving rise to some classics. His last memorable one was when an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the former US President in Baghdad. The Internet (a neologism itself) has Ducking the Shoe (or Duck the Shoe) as a new oft used phrase. Its definition? Escaping even the most minor of punishments for extended errors or catastrophic misdeeds. And who can forget Bush’s very own ‘weapons of mass destruction’ that gave birth to loads of new phrases — weapons of mass deception, weapons of mass discomfort, weapons of mass entertainment or weapons of mass obstruction.  

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