Some people say they get into PR because they are no good in math. Well, some of us ended up in PR because we love words. Not just written – but spoken – and that’s where I find myself: I love words.
Although I don’t fit in doing The New York Times Crossword every day, I do love to be up on current events, and part of that is monitoring what new words are on the scene.
Let’s take a look at some new words of late that seem to be formed from bringing together a combination of two words.
• Frenemy: not officially in the dictionary yet. It’s when two people act like friends but they actually dislike each other and many times are in competition. This word has even been used to describe the relationship between President-Elect Barack Obama and his primary rival Hillary Clinton.
• Ginormous: just made the cut into the dictionary in 2007. It’s a combination of gigantic and enormous. And, boy is it fun to say.
• Webinar: something we do frequently in PR to learn from industry leaders and stay on top of trends in the practice. It’s a live conference over the Internet. And in my experience, is one type of meeting that is famous for starting late due to technical problems.
And these are just a sampling.
Knowing the lingo is good business.
At Curley & Pynn, we use this type “strategery” to keep our clients ahead of the game.
(We’re crossing out fingers Merriam-Webster never puts that one in the dictionary!)
Taking Aim 
Ginormous is so much fun to say!
I have an admiration for people who love word…I bet you are a good Scrabble player. I personally don’t like them very much and it is just because I am not good at vocabulary. This is my own fault and I could do something about it. However, a few other dreams of mine will come first.
I also think the dictionary has reached its capacity of words. If a new word is going to be placed in the dictionary, then one word should be removed. This will eliminate the outdated words for the up and coming generation.
By the way, I am a big fan of combining two words to make one. It’s definitely good fun.
[…] This is just a term I came up with (inspired by Ashley Pinder’s post More than Words Can Say ) to put a name to an approach we like to take with our clients. It is ensuring we’re […]