Language is an evolving creature. It’s a social structure plucked from the minds of millions, and each hand that touches it forms a tiny but ineffable shape. And like all living things, eventually we must give way to the natural order and do what we are all destined to do.
As it happened, just a few hours earlier today, I was told that an ignominious death had taken place in English. At the time of the American Dialect Society— A gathering of “linguists, lexicographers, etymologists, grammarists, historians, researchers, writers, authors, editors, professors, undergraduates, and independent scholars” — “-ussy” Word Of 2022 decided to invest their comprehensive academic insight into naming them. Year.
In other news, we are in hell now and will be in the near future.
For those who have been lucky enough to dodge -ussy bullets so far, a) I’m sorry. b) As you might guess, this is a slang suffix based on the word “pussy”.Further explanation work a Vulture article Quoted in today’s official ADS press release, but before doing so, I must warn you that it’s only seconds before you read the word “pizoosie” and your life is irrevocably changed. I feel that there is. (Sorry again.)
Here’s an illustrative quote from a Bethy Squires article asking linguists about this trend: A calzone is a pizza. The wine bottle has Winucy. ” on the other hand, 2018 academic paper It was quoted under the innocuous title “A Corpus Study of Phonological Factors in New English Blends”. And seriously: this next sentence, in a little quote box?
This paper presents another class of such words from the recent language game, Pussy Blend (e.g. (Margaret) Thatcher + pussy > thatchussy).
Bow down, linguistics researcher Michael Dow.
ADS Nomenclature of the year since the early 1990sHowever, the organization has been around for over a century and has a long history of embracing modern trends in language. (Among other things, today’s release mentions all the ways the rise of TikTok culture has facilitated language fusion and permeation.) , and other topical additions to the dictionary as words of various years.
And hey: at least See full poll resultscan be reassured that “Dark Brandon” (19 votes) or “Quiet Quit” (32 votes) did not emerge victorious, and that our collective language has at least a fraction of the remaining minimal dignity. A few fragments remain.
dignity.
Oh my god