# Can We Get a New Word? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 17, 2009, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702 "2009-08-17T05:47:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/21 "2009-08-18T15:47:00Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > There’s a similar thing going on with “-y”, albeit perhaps with a less formal tone. > Your professor’s response is highly dependent upon your professor, I’m afraid. (To be graded down for a single idiosyncratically vexing word choice is ridiculous, but, I know, it happens… But if your professor’s the sort who would do that, then there’s really no telling what would provoke them, and not much you can do to guard against it) Yeah, I guess I’ll find out. I haven’t really “tested” her yet. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/22 "2009-08-18T18:00:52Z")
Also, could someone fix this country’s use of the word “hipster”? I’ve heard it about 10 times in the last 3 weeks, and it’s the most nebulous, non-descriptive, randomly and arbitrarily used word I’ve heard in several years. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/23 "2009-08-18T18:33:55Z")
“Angsty” is one of those words coined for the purpose of being clever. Its use of a readily-identifiable suffix makes its meaning immediately obvious, while being obviously non-standard and seemingly made up for the occasion. This gives the speaker the appearance of one of those witty people who invents new words that get instantly adopted, like William Shakespeare or Joss Whedon ;). That first citation mentioned in the OED apparently didn’t “take,” because it still seemed witty in the '90s, but when enough people adopted it, it quit being witty and became merely “cool.” By the time it appeared in the OED, it wasn’t even cool – it was just slang. Slang, no matter how well established, is rarely welcome in formal writing, whether academic or professional. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/24 "2009-08-18T18:45:16Z")
So should we use ‘angstesque’ instead? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/25 "2009-08-18T22:03:18Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Also, could someone fix this country’s use of the word “hipster”? I’ve heard it about 10 times in the last 3 weeks, and it’s the most nebulous, non-descriptive, randomly and arbitrarily used word I’ve heard in several years. Which country? Here in New Jersey (USA), it has a pretty clear meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/26 "2009-08-19T13:04:34Z")
> [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](#): > > Which country? Here in New Jersey (USA), it has a pretty clear meaning. I’m in Indianapolis. Why don’t you give your definition, and I’ll see if it makes sense compared to how I’ve been hearing it.q ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/27 "2009-08-19T19:24:23Z")
I love the word “hipster”. We’ve got this rather old-fashioned term “hip” (originally “hep”), that isn’t actually that frequently used anymore (or, at least, which keeps getting superseded by newer terms for the same thing), and yet every generation keeps resurrecting that word in the one niche role of the term du jour to describe trendy youth; “hepcat”, “hippie”, and now “hipster”. I can’t wait till the 2080s, where after the Great Automata Uprising and subsequent merger of the human race and its robotic overlords, we’re still referring to the cool kids as “hipmatons”. (Disclaimer: Nothing in this post is based on anything like a responsible, scientific examination of the linguistic facts and history referred to.) ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/28 "2009-08-19T19:31:18Z")
Interesting… [“hipster” originally predated “hippie”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipster_%281940s_subculture%29), as a term from the 1940s. Well, that doesn’t really invalidate my view of things, just adds some new flavor to it. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/29 "2009-08-20T03:36:12Z")
I expect that Microsoft is extremely anxious about getting a new Word, given that they are probihited from selling Word 2003 and Word 2007 in the USA. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702.md?page=1)