Every year lexicographers add a handful of words to the old Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Among ones added in 2008 were fanboy (one who is obsessed with the minutia of comics, video games, cartoons, sci-fi and/ or fantasy) and webinar (an online, interactive learning session, any portmanteau beginning with 'web' sounds high-tech, I think it smacks of mental websturbation). But the world of love and relationships had a few good adds this year to the vernacular. Sure, nothing was as awesome as the 'wardrobe malfunction' that JT and Janet Jackson gave us back in 2004, but there are a few keepers. Please bear in mind that youngsters have probably been using some of this lingo for decades but it caught mainstream heat this year (like when grown-ups started saying 'bling' a couple of years back and their kids all cringed). Staycation . Sure, it doesn't make any sense but Time seems to think that the term meaning taking time off work but going nowhere has some merit. If there’s such thing as a babymoon, we suppose you can have a staycation. Be careful combining words, though. Bromance . Sure, the word's been around for ages but the heartless svengalis at MTV needed a vehicle for Brody Jenner, so they've appropriated the term. Oh, it means the straight, but intense love between 2 men. You may also refer to your bro as a heterosexual life partner. Sloppy Seconds. Yes, this term has been around for decades but Gary Bettman (head honcho of the NHL) likely heard this term for " having sex with a woman while her lady business still contains residue from her last sexual encounter" when Sean Avery used it in reference to his ex-girlf Elisha Cuthbert. Stay classy, hockey. Client 9. Eliot Spitzer used a hooker. His alias was Client 9 with the Emperor's Club. To call someone a Client 9 is to infer that they use a prostitute and that they had to wait in line. This scandal also brought us the Diamond rating system. To say a girl is any count of diamonds is sure-fire backhanded compliment. Wide Stance. Sen. Larry Craig brought us this term. When busted for soliciting hot, gay sex in a Minneapolis airport bathroom, his excuse for incurring into his neighbor’s stall was that he has a "wide stance" for pooping. This term now is a catch-all replacement for "it's not want it looks like" when caught doing something weird and sexual. MILF Island. One of many, many gems from 30 Rock . MILF Island is a fictional game show involving several 20 horny, middle-aged women and 50 8th grade boys. Anytime that there is an abundance of good-looking, young mothers in the same place, it is a MILF Island (see: the Park Slope neighborhood in Brooklyn for reference). The acronym MILF has given rise to almost any imaginable thing that you'd like to f*ck. My favorite is the SILF (or Sandwich I'd Like to Fornicate). Sexting . Combining words is fun. Evidently, if you send someone a sexy text message and/ or solicit sex via SMS, you have just engaged in sexting. I sort of have a weird taste in my mouth because I can imagine that people my parents’ age thing this word is really clever and a good idea. I just threw up in my mouth a little. J*zz (in my pants). I actually bumped into a few people that were under the impression that Andy Samberg invented the term j*zz (meaning to ejaculate). He did not. But he helped bring a golden oldie back to prominence. J*zz (in my pants) can be used by either gender and can be used literally to reference orgasm or to figuratively describe being over-excited by something. It has effectively replaced "blow one's load." Walk Of Pride. Are you really ashamed that you're wearing the clothes from the night before? Didn't think so, you should be psyched that everyone knows you got some. Own that walk home wearing your expensive club gear, young lady. Do be terribly careful not to roll your ankle though. Flexo-sexual. Boys who like boys who like girls who like girls who like boys. Gender orientation has gotten terribly confusing. Some gals dig chicks, some chicks dig attention and, evidently, it’s possible for a girl to be able to figure things out without a label. Oh, except flexo-sexual is a label. Uh, just have fun and we’ll sort all of this out in 2009, Lindsay Lohan . What are some other terms that came into being (or popularity) in 2008? Thanks for reading and commenting, have a happy new year.
