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Financial crisis hits 'Words of the Year'

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Press Trust of India London
Last Updated : Jan 20 2013 | 10:26 PM IST

It seems that the global financial crisis has been finally brought to book.  

Yes, the credit crunch has propelled popular business jargon like stagflation, ninja loans and even funt onto a list of 100 new terms and phrases compiled in the latest edition of the 'Words of the Year' book.  

Stagflation is the economic term for stagnant growth and rising inflation, ninja loans comes from the abbreviation of No Income, No Job, No Assets and funt means the financially untouchable.  

Other phrases such as jingle mail, which means sending back the keys to the mortgage company when the occupants can no longer make payments on their house, are also a sign of the times, according to Susie Dent who compiled the book.  

However, the 'Words of the Year' book also includes phrases like nomophobia, the fear of being out of mobile phone contact; nonebrity, a person who enjoys status without anyone really understanding why; and social networking to describe using websites such as Facebook.  

Boytox is a way to describe cosmetic surgery for men and momnesia is the term for a pattern of mental confusion and forgetfulness "that characterises a mother's first year after giving birth", the book says.  

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"You may hate momnesia and nomophobia but few of us could deny that when we first heard them, we weren't just that little bit curious. Some are new words which have come into use and others are established terms which are resurrected," 'The Daily Telegraph' quoted dictionary expert Dent as saying.  

She said that the new words captured the spirit of 2008 and gave the English language more power, including a YouTube divorce — an acrimonious break-up where a spouse even airs her former partner's dirty laundry on the video-sharing portal.

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First Published: Oct 02 2008 | 2:05 PM IST

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