Hello and happy holidays!
I read the article, Buzzwords for 2008. The list of new words made me think of one I coined in 1976 (to the best of my knowledge, this coining is accurate): "traumatose." This is "traumatize" + "comatose," the way I felt as a young, exhausted, new college grad breaking off my wedding engagement.
Everyone with whom I've shared this word connects immediately! Anyone who's lived long enough has had an experience for which this word is perfect. Death, divorce, job loss, betrayal, violence all seem to qualify. Words are inadequate at these times, and the ol' brain can just leave you in the lurch.
Best,
Desne
Desne, it's always nice to see people coming up with great new words to express how they feel when the chips are down, rather than resort to those common four-letter-word epithets! If I get frostbite on my toes I'll use the word traumatoes.
At times in college, we would have a day so wet from rain, and with "oil on the puddles in taffeta patterns" (as Joni Mitchell sang in her song, Michael from Mountains), that one could easily lose one's footing and fall. A friend referred to such days as "slickery", a combination of "slick" and "slippery" (and I like the connection to "slicker" as well).
Then there is the term "wuss."