Dianafication
n.— «Our seeking of a shared and public grief at any given opportunity has already been coined as the Dianafication of our world; the idea that our method of mourning is driven more by selfishness and secularism than sincerity of emotion.» —“Sky high tributes just give us grief” by Fiona Leith Scotsman Sept. 18, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
It was a dark and stormy night. So begins the long and increasingly convoluted prose of Edwards Bulwer-Lytton’s best-known novel. Today the annual Bulwer-Lytton Contest asks contestants for fanciful first sentences that are similarly...
After hearing our conversation about how dictionaries decide on a preferred pronunciation, and specifically about how to pronounce aioli, Vern from San Diego, California, wrote to say that a friend once made fun of him for pronouncing grimace with a...
I believe I coined the term “Dianification” in an opinion piece I wrote in 1999 after the death of John F. Kennedy Jr, and the out-of-context hoopla surrounding his death. The article appeared in the “Times Argus” newspaper, Barre – Montpelier Vermont
Perhaps. The term spelled “Dianafication” or “Dianification” and used to mean “adulation or idealizing of a person who is recently dead or removed from a position of power” dates to at least as early as October 16, 1997 in the Portland Oregonian. Another use, usually referring to the royal family, and meaning “the taking on of characteristics or behavior that are media-friendly, perceived as relating to the common people, or demonstrating interest in public problems” dates to at least as early as November 2, 1997, in the London Times. The use meaning “the airing of public grief, especially in excess or as a form of media exploitation” dates to at least as early as August 1, 1999, in the Salt Lake Tribune.