Here’s a neologism used to describe someone possessed of effortless attractiveness or style: rizz. It’s a shortening of charisma, a word that goes back to ancient Greek. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “It Don’t Mean a Thizz If You...
You’ve seen this guy before: the older gent who strolls around at construction sites, asking questions, offering suggestions, and kibitizing about the activities there. The Italian dictionary Lo Zingarelli (Amazon) recently added the handy neologism...
Nanomoon is a neologism promoted by the wedding industry to mean “an especially short honeymoon” such as a quick trip to a nearby national park, that’s taken by a frugal couple in hopes of saving for a longer one later. This is part of a complete...
The German neologism Coronafussgruss literally translates as “Corona foot greeting,” a term for the socially distanced alternative to handshakes. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Coronafussgruss” We were talking earlier about the...
The handy German neologism Impfneid literally means “vaccine envy.” It’s one of many German words coined during the COVID-19 pandemic. Neid in German means “envy” and Impf, meaning “vaccine,” derives from the horticultural metaphor of grafting part...
On HBO’s Not Necessarily the News, comedian Rich Hall offered sniglets, goofy made-up words for things and ideas that don’t already have names, like aquadextrous, describing someone able to use their toes to turn off the bathtub faucet, or...

