wendy
v.— «Misogyny, anti-intellectualism, vindictive political opponents, an out-of-control press—the resignation of Wendy Alexander as leader of the Labour party at Holyrood offers something to everyone with a thesis about the loss of public respect for the UK political process. First, misogyny. In recent years the Scottish political classes have introduced a new verb to the English language—the idea of being “wendied”—a term invented to describe the way that Alexander apparently browbeat her civil servants, assistants and anyone else who didn’t match her exacting demands. A wendying was often said to be carried out in a shrill manner—another word that cropped up in descriptions of her style.» —“Alexander’s achilles” by Ewan Crawford Guardian (United Kingdom) June 30, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A Winter Dictionary (Bookshop|Amazon) by Paul Anthony Jones includes some words to lift your spirits. The verb whicken involves the lengthening of days in springtime, a variant of quicken, meaning “come to life.” Another word, breard, is...
Samantha Harvey’s novel Orbital is a sensuous, exhilarating meditation about the strangeness of life on a space station, with its mix of tedious tasks and jaw-dropping views. And: a musician who rode the rails in his youth shares the slang he...