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Double-bacon geniusburgers compile list of Simpsonisms

Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 8:12 pm
by wjserson
An article in the Ottawa Citizen (with the above title) states that an online list of 'parlance' is making a list of phrases made popular by the hit show the Simpsons. It was not put together by lexicographers, but by fans of the show:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Made-up_wo ... e_Simpsons

Did you know that "d'oh" is so entrenched in pop vocabulary that it was added to the Oxford dictionary in 2001? :)

Wikipedia's explanations and etymology of the show's terms are generally more detailed than those in Oxford though. "Craptacular" (opposite of "spectacular"), "m'eh" (an interjection expressing apathy, indifference and boredome") and "retirony" (which would represent a cop getting shot three days before retirement).

The article explains that, although people invent words all the time, they usually are not as broadly adapted and lasting as words created by producers of tv programs like the Simpsons.

Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2006 11:02 am
by fluffyhamster

Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2006 6:05 pm
by wilderson
I am not trying to go off-topic but... :

Most Americans have an easier time naming members of the cartoon Simpson family than listing the five freedoms granted by the nation's founders, a survey by a museum released on Wednesday said. REUTERS/Rose Prouser
Reuters - Mar 02 5:40 AM

Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2006 7:33 pm
by fluffyhamster
Nothing's off-topic at the Language Log, at least:
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/language ... 02894.html