I neologismi della recessione

La crisi economica degli ultimi anni ha dato vita a una lingua tutta propria, diffondendo divertenti neologismi finanziari che riflettono l'umor nero di chi deve affrontare i propri problemi economici.

Quando creiamo un nuovo termine, mettiamo in atto un meccanismo di difesa: cerchiamo di prendere il controllo della situazione circoscrivendo il problema e cristallizzandolo in un neologismo. Se poi ci ridiamo su tanto meglio! :)

Recession makes us richer.. in words

The only one who is gaining benefits from the recession is the English language: as we are growing poorer, the English language is growing richer.

The latest trend in the most famous online dictionaries (Collins, Merriam-Webster , Cambridge, etc) is to stay current with language changes, word usage, slangs, jargons, and neologisms.

Each year the dictionaries add new words that have been accepted by the common parlance and competitions are being launched each year in order to find the word of the year.

The “word of the year” competition, abbreviated WOTY, is a competition for voting the most important word o in the public sphere during a specific year.

In the last five years, the list of new, officially recognized words by Merriam Webster’s WOTY include a number of terms that are a true product of our times.

• In 2008 the word was bailout, “a rescue from financial distress.”
• In 2009, staycation, “a vacation spent at home or nearby.”
• In 2010, austerity, “enforced or extreme economy.”
• In 2011, boomerang child, “a young adult who returns to live at his or her family home especially for financial reasons.”
• Finally, in 2012 underwater, “a mortgage loan for which more is owed than the worth of the property.”

This competition proves how words are our windows to the world. These five words are a reflection of our concerns and worries since the beginning of the “Great Recession”.

Recession language isn’t a new phenomenon. Thanks to the Great Depression we have terms like: dirt poor, and baloney (to mean ridiculous, not the mystery sandwich meat). Even the term "depression" has been attributed to Herbert Hoover, who is thought to have wanted to avoid using the more common, but more alarming terms "panic" or "crisis" to describe what subsequently became known as the Great Depression.

When we are creating a new catchword, we're controlling the situation for ourselves. We attempt to define and control and make sense of the world.

In particular, "clever words such as "staycation" help people approach grim realities - like not being able to afford a vacation -- through humor”, said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, the director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

"When people start becoming playful with language, that's a coping mechanism," she said.

Source: Do you speak recession-ese?

Read other recession posts

She-covery

A term that similarly indicates that women have been doing better at getting jobs than men since the economy began to improve.

But why are women faring so much better than men?

It's due in large part to a few key industries dominated by one or the other of the sexes doing well or poorly.

Source: The Atlantic

See also:

Mancession

Womenomics

Sputnik moment

A Sputnik moment is a point where people realise that they are threatened of challenged and have to redouble their efforts to catch up.

Obama followed his Energy Secretary Steven Chu in declaring that the United States stands at a new "Sputnik moment" in the development of such technologies as clean energy and high-speed rail. The idea has been percolating for several years now: Robert J. Samuelson of Newsweek and Mort Zuckerman of U.S. News & World Report both used the expression in 2005. It's unclear whether Americans listening to Obama will be moved by the historical reference, particularly those too young to appreciate the threat that the Soviet launch of the Sputnik satellite represented during the Cold War era. Obama continued the aeronautical allusions by referring to new energy innovation projects as the "Apollo projects of our time."

Sources: Using English

"Commander in Speak: Parsing Obama's Speech", CBSNews

"Choice Words from the State of the Union", Visual Thesaurus

Downshifting

The act of reducing one's standard of living for an improved quality of life. Downshifting assumes a tradeoff between standard of living, such as level of wealth, and quality of life, which relates to well-being. People who downshift are looking to improve their personal lives. These changes could take the form of more spare time, a reduced workload or a lower stress level. To achieve these goals, the person must be willing to give up his or her current standard of living and look to reduce the cost of living. For example, someone may attempt to downshift by reducing monthly expenses, moving to a smaller house or selling unnecessary possessions.

Source: Investopedia

“Semplicità volontaria” è il neologismo che definisce quello che, principalmente nel mondo anglosassone, viene chiamato all’interno del mondo del lavoro la scelta da parte di diverse figure di lavoratori – particolarmente professionisti – di giungere ad una libera, volontaria e consapevole autoriduzione del salario bilanciata da un minore impegno in termini di ore dedicate alle attività professionali, in maniera tale da godere di maggiore tempo libero (famiglia, ozioso relax, hobbystica, ecc.).

Source: Noi Risparmio

The Grandparent Economy

The spending power of the older generation.

Reporting for McClatchy Newspapers, Anita Creamer highlighted a term associated with grandparents’ growing economic clout. Interviewing grandmother Mary Hopp about her gift-giving, Creamer wrote:
Her contributions to the so-called “grandparent economy” are carefully considered yet generous – a prime example of how America’s 70 million grandparents divvied up the $52 billion they spent on their grandkids in 2009, according to a study that was commissioned by Grandparents.com.

Source: Schott's Vocab

Staycation

The term, a blend between “stay” and “vacation”, refers to the trend of spending vacation at home to save money.

Restacanza

Discutibile italianizzazione dell’acronimo americano “staycation”, da “stay” e “vacation”. Viene utilizzato quando si pianifica una vacanza stanziale con attività da turisti. Esempio: prendere il sole restando nella propria città.

fonte: Wired

source: Englishfor

See also: New edition of ODE

Mancession

Definition: The current recession, which has hurt men more than women.

Usage: In the Great Mancession of '09, 80 percent of jobs lost were held by men, and unemployment rates neared postwar records. No change in percentage of household chores completed.

Source: Entrepreneur

See also:

She-covery

Womenomics

Womenomics

The increasing role played by women throughout the world of labour.


E’ un blend composto da women + economics che indica il crescente ruolo delle donne in ambito economico come forza lavoro che assume un sempre maggior peso nell’economia mondiale.

Source: EnglishFor

Ispirazione:

Sole 24 Ore: Le donne manager conquistano la finanza italiana

Economist: Womenomics

Laptop zombie

At a coffee shop or similar establishment that offers free wireless Internet, a person who is oblivious to everyone and everything except the screen in front of them.

source: WordSpy

Double Dip Recession

A double-dip recession refers to a recession followed by a short-lived recovery, followed by another recession.

The causes for a double-dip recession vary but often include a slowdown in the demand for goods and services because of layoffs and spending cutbacks from the previous downturn.

A double-dip (or even triple-dip) is a worst-case scenario. Fear that the economy will move back into a deeper and longer recession makes recovery even more difficult.

Source: Investipedia

SOBER

Acronym to describe the financial characteristics of Britain’s next decade: Savings, Orderly Budgets, Equitable Rebalancing.

The Governor of the Bank of England has warned that Britons face a decade of saving more and spending less, Philip Aldrick reported in The Telegraph:

"Alluding to the “Non-Inflationary Consistently Expansionary” [NICE] decade just passed and coining a new acronym to describe the years ahead, he warned: “The next decade will not be nice. History suggests that after a financial crisis the hangover lasts for a while. So the next decade is likely to be a ‘SOBER’ decade – a decade of savings, orderly budgets, and equitable rebalancing… A sober decade may not be fun but it is necessary for our economic health.”

Source: Schott's Vocab

Are You Fluent in Recession?

After you lost your "job-job," you've been "decruited" more than once—maybe that "job stopper" on your neck had something to do with it—and because your financial outlook is somewhere between "blark" and "Full Walton" lately, you've been alternating between "Wonderbreading" and the "Peanut Butter Challenge" and need to get "approval from corporate" before you buy even one lousy coffee. Does that sentence make any sense to you?
If so, there's no need to read Coupon Sherpa's 25 Recessionista Slang Terms, which would tell you that, for instance, "decruited" means:

To be fired from a position you haven't even started.
Usage: "Man, they decruited me before I finished the orientation."

Here, some other recession-era words and phrases:

Recession porn: With an apparently resurgent economy, the media genre known as recession porn may be gone for good. What, exactly, is recession porn? You know it when you see it. Basically, it's the fascination with all the weird ways the recession has affected different groups of people—the rich and privileged especially, because everyone knows the financial crisis has been tough on the working classes. In this look back, you'll see that recession porn stories include the economic downturn's impact on celebrities, the Queen of England, and workers in the actual porn industry.

Read more: http://money.blogs.time.com/2009/12/22/the-top-recession-porn-stories-of-2009/#ixzz11KDop9WC

Trashure: Referring to an item—perhaps a kitschy lamp, perhaps some reasonably fresh bread—that someone tossed in the trash, and that you take home and prize as a treasure.
Mentioned in the comments of a BoingBoing post on dumpster diving.

Read more: http://money.blogs.time.com/2010/04/14/word-of-the-day-trashure/#ixzz11KE4jPtS

Expensive urine: The phrase is used in a WSJ story about parents giving kids vitamins unnecessarily. Sometimes, the effects are harmless. But mostly, overdoing vitamins is just a waste:
Absorbing a bit too much of some nutrients, like the B vitamins, just results in "expensive urine," because the excess is excreted, says Kathi Kemper, a pediatrician at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
By taking vitamins that you or your children don't need, you are literally—excuse the phrase—pissing money away.

Read more: http://money.blogs.time.com/2010/05/05/amusing-phrase-of-the-day-expensive-urine/#ixzz11KEKO8eS

Unbanked: The Washington Post explains:
In the financial world, those without access to traditional financial services have been dubbed the "unbanked." With spotty bank records and thin or nonexistent credit reports -- documents often required to rent an apartment, buy a cellphone or even get a job -- they rely on storefront businesses that may charge a 4 percent fee to cash a check or a 995 percent annual interest rate for a short-term loan.

Read more: http://money.blogs.time.com/2009/10/13/word-of-the-day-unbanked/#ixzz11KEafxee

Mancession: The male ego is crushed. Men have reportedly accounted for 80 percent of job losses in the last two years. The disproportionate impact has brought about the coining of the word "mancession."

Read more: http://money.blogs.time.com/2009/07/17/deep-impact-10-ways-the-recession-is-hitting-home-in-lots-of-homes/#ixzz11KFGOKFB

posted by BRAD TUTTLE

Recessions-Era Words and Phrases

Are You a 'Nevertiree'? Or Are You Among the 'Accidentally Retired'?

The economic crisis has brought about a "new normal," in which Americans are adjusting their expectations concerning work, investing, spending, and one's "lifestyle." The recession has also brought with it new words and phrases, like "new normal."

Here are some others:

"Reluctant Breadwinner"

As defined recently by BusinessWeek, these are:
Women who wanted to stay home until their income suddenly became critical to the well-being of their families.

"Nevertiree"

As defined by Barclay's Wealth (via CR), this is:
a person who intends never to retire but instead enjoy a life of "nevertirement."
Hmmm… we may need a new definition of "enjoy," because the way the word is used here, it doesn't sound fun or "enjoyable."

"Accidentally Retired"

The NY Times describes this phenomenon as one that occurs when an individual over the age of 50 is laid off and faces the real prospects of never working again:
Because it will take years to absorb the giant pool of unemployed at the economy's recent pace, many of these older people may simply age out of the labor force before their luck changes.

"99ers"

The long-term unemployed who have exhausted their 99 weeks of unemployment benefits, and who, according to the LA Times, are trying to organize as together into a powerful political force.

"Mindful Spending"

The novel post-recession mindset, in which consumers actually think and consider value before they buy something. The phrase is used in a new book titled Consumed: Rethinking Business in the Era of Mindful Spending.

"Burrito Factor"

A means for analyzing an item's value, in which the cost of the item is measured by how many burritos you could buy with the same money. The system is used by Debt Ninja (thanks Consumerist), who uses the burrito factor to help him decide whether to buy everything from a salad to a sports car. Here's the Ninja's explanation:
Whenever I go out to eat and look at the menu, I run the burrito factor through my mental calculator. It looks a little something like this… "Okay, this salad is gonna cost me $12.50, which is the same price as 2.5 California burritos. Plus the salad is probably only going to fill me up 50%. So that means this salad is gonna cost the equivalent of 5 California burritos to get full. Death to salad!"

"Money Parker"

An investor who is not in the mood to take on risk in the stock market or real estate, and who for the time being, is content to park his money in CDs or bank savings accounts that pay off a measly 1% or so interest. The Boston Globe reported that bank deposits have increased 19% over the last four years, even though customers are getting pathetic returns on their money:
The rates are so low that many depositors are actually losing money after factoring in taxes and inflation, which is currently running at about 1 percent a year.

"Courtesy Pay"

Along with "buffer zone" and "debit card advance," "courtesy pay" is a phrase cooked up by banks to make overdraft fees sound palatable to customers, in the hopes of getting them to opt into coverage.

"Mortgage Worthy"

The roughly two-thirds of American consumers who currently have a prayer of qualifying for a mortgage. A report just came out revealing that 30% of Americans would not be able to get a mortgage today due to poor credit scores.

"Free Rent"

Closely related to the terms "strategic default" and the more folksy
"walking away," the "free rent" approach involves a strategic mortgage default but no walking away from the home until forced to do so after foreclosure proceedings. Until that occurs, the owner/defaulter enjoys "free rent."

"The Great Divergence"

Phrase describing the 30-year rise in income inequality in the U.S., resulting in the current state of affairs in which the richest 1% of Americans account for 24% of national income.

"Disposable Worker"

Also known as a "perma-temp," and known to exist in a "gig economy," the disposable worker is one who can be hired and fired quickly based on the whims of company needs, and who can expect no benefits, substandard hourly wages, and (obviously) no hint of job security.

"Hiring Workers"

An interesting "new" concept companies are considering to increase productivity and revenues, after productivity finally leveled off after businesses laid off employees and maxed out efficiency by pushing the (full-time and disposable) workers still on the payroll to the brink of exhaustion.

(by BRAD TUTTLE)

New edition of ODE

Other words and phrases introduced for the latest edition include 'toxic debt', 'staycation', 'cheesebal' and 'national treasure'
by Sam Jones

The Guardian

The Oxford Dictionary of English has added words such as vuvuzela to the latest edition.

The World Cup in South Africa, climate change, the credit crunch and technology have all left their mark on the way we talk, the new edition of the Oxford Dictionary of English reveals, as the latest crop of new words to be added to its pages is published today
.
Football fans will perhaps be unsurprised to learn that the vuvuzela, whose apian drone soundtracked yet another summer of hurt, has blared its way into the dictionary's pages. By being ushered into the dictionary, which is based on how language is really used, the metre-long plastic horn has cemented its immortality as well as its ubiquity.

Climate change, an issue only marginally less controversial than refereeing, has also made its mark. Even the most ardent sceptics will no longer be able to deny the existence of "carbon capture and storage" – the process of trapping and storing carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels — or "geo-engineering", better known as the manipulation of environmental processes to counteract the effects of global warming. The new words appear today in the third edition of the single volume dictionary, which was first published in 1998.

Two of the buzzwords of this economically squeezed epoch also figure: toxic debt, used to describe a debt that has a high default risk, and the rather less snappy quantitative easing: the introduction of new money into the national supply by a central bank.

The virtual world, as ever, proffers plenty of its own jargon. The new edition has finally cottoned on to social media and microblogging. Slightly less quotidian is the phrase dictionary attack, which describes an attempt to gain illicit access to a computer system by using an enormous set of words to generate potential passwords. The new edition also dusts off and polishes a couple of terms – staycation (a holiday spent in one's home country), national treasure (someone or something regarded as emblematic of a nation's cultural heritage, normally Judi Dench or Stephen Fry) – that feel as though they have been in common usage for some while.

To balance them out among the 2,000 or so new items there are a few more left-field choices.

Among them are cheeseball, which refers to someone or something lacking taste, style or originality, and the more disturbing phenomenon of hikikomori, the Japanese word for the acute social withdrawal that occurs in some teenage boys.