Language trends in 2005 are 'crunked-up'

Language trends in 2005 are 'crunked-up'
at 16:14 on October 6, 2005, EST.
LACEY KRAUSE

LONDON (AP) - "Crunk" is good? Among the hot new words, it's "ova-wicked," even "uberbuff." They're just some of the entries in a book published Thursday that lists newly coined words as well as jargon used in technology, politics and the media.

"Crunk" - the American hybrid for crazy and drunk - is an example of how words evolve from popular culture, according to Susie Dent, author of "Fanboys and Overdogs: The Language Report."

"Crunk is generating all sorts of offshoot terms in the U.S. - crunk 'n' b, crunk rock, crunkster - and looks set to catch on in Britain, too," Dent said. "New words travel from one variety of English to another and at a rapidly increasing rate, thanks to the way language is exchanged today over e-mail, chat-rooms, TV, etc."

Dent's new book also discusses the tendency "big up" our language. Nothing is ever good or even great anymore - instead, we opt for "ova-wicked" and "uberbuff." Government appointees are tsars, and experts are meisters.

Job titles also reflect this kind of inflation. The head of verbal communications is really just a receptionist, while stockboys have been promoted to stock replenishment executives, she said.

As for the "fanboys" in the book's title, Dent said they're guys who are absorbed by a passion for comic books or computer games.

The book also looks at vocabulary shifts from the past century. The year 1905 saw the introduction of "peace economy." With the next year came "tyrannosaurus." Many words on the list are related to events - 1940 introduced "Jim Crow" and 1980 brought "Reaganomics."

"Podcasting" was last year's word. The frontrunner for the 2005 word of the year is "sudoku," the logic puzzle that has replaced crosswords as a favorite way to kill time over lunch break.

"Fanboys" is Dent's third annual language review book, publicist Sarah Kidd said. Dent is a resident word expert on London's Channel 4's "Countdown" program.

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