THE rich and beautiful English language of Shakespeare, Donne and E L James is increasingly a thing of the past. Here are yet more words that should be fired directly into the sun.
Doomscrolling
Refers to the endless bad news you wallow in on social medial. And it’s spreading faster than ‘the Rona’, which is also annoying. So here’s a tip: put the phone down. Go for a walk. Enjoy the fresh air and listen to the birds. Come home and start angrily tweeting about how no one was wearing a mask.
Stan
People don’t just like things anymore, they ‘Stan’ them. Yes, what better way to show your approval than referencing a fictional crazed fan who killed his wife and unborn child? Also every time you say it, it reminds someone of that awful Dido song Eminem sampled on the track.
FOMO
Slightly obscure, forcing many of us to stop reading and go ‘Uh, what does that mean?’ while feeling old and out-of-touch. It does of course mean ‘fear of missing out’. Considering we’re all missing out on most things right now, it’s a bit redundant. And using abbreviations as normal words makes you look like a wanker. You’d have thought people would have learned from OMG and ROTFL.
Hangry
A combination of ‘hungry’ and ‘angry’, it’s the kind of word you’d expect a toddler to use by mistake. Instead actual adults do. Usually ones with a ‘Don’t Talk To Me Until I’ve Had My Coffee’ novelty mug. And if you can’t control your emotions because you’re peckish, what are you going to do when something actually quite bad happens, like your car failing its MOT? Get a gun and start taking hostages?
That’s a bit of me
As with so many cultural touchstones, this one shot to prominence on Love Island. Where instead of liking someone or something, he, she or it became ‘a bit of me’. Sounds faintly sinister, like the Borg assimilating people in Star Trek: The Next Generation, which the Love Islanders probably don’t watch because it makes their brains hurt.
