Tuesday, August 10, 2010

'Cankles' didn't make the cut


Just not any ol' word can make the Oxford English Dictionary.

From the you-learn-something-new-every-day department, there are thousands of words that are denied a place in the snobby dictionary, which describes itself as the definite record of the English language.

They didn't get it because, to the editors, they are too odd or haven't gained enough usage in common language.

"Tanorexia" didn't make it. Neither did "flashpacking." Never heard of either one of them. But "tanorexia" is the obsession of getting tan. I probably would have eventually figured that one out. "Flashpacking" is luxurious backpacking.

But "cankles" didn't make it. I thought everyone knew what a cankle was. It's the combination of the calf and the ankle where it's hard to tell the difference where one stops and the other begins. In other words, thick ankles.

As in, "Good night, check out the cankles on that gal."

Here's some other words still waiting to be chosen:

Burqini: a swimsuit intended to comply with Islamic standards of modesty. (think opposite of bikini).

Chimping: the practice of immediately reviewing each shot taken using a digital camera. (It is not the practice of a male monkey owning and getting a cut of money from monkey prostitutes).

Chin-strap: a type of beard along the jawline (not what a football player wears unless he has a beard along the jawline).

Clickjacking: the use of hidden buttons on a website designed to perform actions they do not intend to do, like revealing personal information. (no kin to carjacking).

Faboosh: fabulous (I've made that sound while sneezing).

Glamping: glamorous camping. (How is that different from flashpacking?)

Twetiquette: Twitter etiquette (in 140 characters or less, do course.).

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