Vocab Glow‑Up: English’s Newest Words Buzzing in my Bonnet

by Mandira Pattnaik

Like all wordsmiths, I’ve built forests from alphabets. Like all forest dwellers, I’ve been a gatherer all my life. Of vocable. Of pretty sentences. I have words buzzing in my bonnet. Newest words in the English dictionary fascinate, and put me in duress, alternatively, depending on the specimen under consideration. It changes — the dictionary’s wealth — so rapidly and abruptly, without a salutation to tradition or grammar, that it baffles me. I admit — I’m in that age group that I can no longer keep pace. I’d believe age is just a number if I’d be dishonest, or if I knew every new English word coming into normal usage. Not for me, no longer. Would I guess the meaning of every word that university kids were using these days? Not sure.

Anyway, in my first column, January 2022, I attested to this habit of a word-collector even before I was a writer: I love musing on word choices — specificity, context, appropriateness, formality — and I’m of the view only the most refined authors can do that with exemplary authority. “The girl was bony” might suggest unhealthy, but “the girl was slender” does not pass judgement.

With time, and as a keen practitioner, I hoped to have gained more insights into word choices and word usage. In a second column “Holy Moly Vocabulary,” I mentioned Mohamed Tonsy’s “Take the Chalk, The Pens, and the Blackboards” (Epoch Press, 2021), which is a narrative exposition of experiences as a queer Egyptian, now living in Edinburgh, and their unearthing of identity politics during infrequent visits home, through the dichotomy of language (Arabic and English). The piece led me to the geo-politics of lexicons: let’s take “shame” and “embarrassment.” Now, for both those two words, the only Japanese word is haji, the only Persian word is hasham, the only Hindi word, sharm. It will, therefore, be of importance to choose one over the other, particularly for writers for whom English is a foreign language.

English vocabulary is always on the glow-up (getting an uplift or cosmetic transformation). New buzzy words get added from “greenhushing” (quietly doing your thing for the environment) to “quiet quitting” (a reaction to hustle culture, it means you do exactly what your job requires, no more no less), and even “sharent” (parent who frequently shares content about their children online). These neologisms reveal what matters in our modern lives — climate, work, tech, and how we share (or overshare). So buckle up and take a snappy crossword puzzle — because the dictionary isn’t just a book, it’s a mood, and it’s getting updated while you read this!

ACROSS

1. Verb; to use digital technology to make a person appear younger, common in films.

2. Verb; to dominate or perform exceptionally well.

3. Verb; to be completely honest.

4. Verb; to excel or dominate.

6. Noun; informal, playful variation of the word “boy”.

7. Acronym; the likes of Michael Jackson or Jackie Chan — the best in their fields in all time.

9. Noun; awesome, impressive, or extraordinary —

11. Internet acronym for — do you know the gossip?

DOWN

1. Short for delusional; having unrealistic or irrational beliefs.

3. Acronym for an emotionless person, referring to a non-player character in video games.

5. Noun; someone who chooses their food based on its low climate impact — basically, a person who eats in a way that’s mindful of reducing carbon emissions and environmental harm.

7. Acronym; stands for a popular phrase — especially on social media and video platforms — “Get Ready With Me,” where someone films or shares their routine of getting ready for an event, day, or night out.

8. Slang for being really excited, pumped up, or hyped about something.

10. Originally coined in Sheng, the East African street language that mixes Swahili with English, this word adopts the Swahili word panya ‘mouse’ and is used to describe a secret path or roundabout route, especially one used for smuggling.

12. Casual, encouraging phrase that basically means “be yourself” or “do what feels right for you.”