Words of the Year: binge-watch, dadbod, clean eating, manspreading

Words of the year reveal big changes: 'binge-watch' change in TV viewing habits, 'dadbod' beauty in fat & out of shape men, 'clean eating' new concern for healthy food.

WORDS

'Binge-watch' dubbed Word of the Year

6/11/2015
Reuters News agency

LONDON - The practice of watching an entire season's worth of a television series in one go has made "binge-watch" [ binge + watch TV ] the "Word of the Year 2015" for the British dictionary Collins, the publisher said on Thursday.

Other terms of recent vintage and growing usage featuring on the annual list include "clean eating" for a diet that contains only natural foods (avoiding processed food and eating mainly raw, sugarless and saltless), "dadbod" [ dad or father + body ] for a male physique that is untoned but still attractive (see here & here for more info), and "manspreading" [ man + spreading legs ] to describe hogging space on public transit by draping legs over two seats.

"Transgender" is not a new coinage but made the list due to the huge amount of attention paid to the sex change by Bruce Jenner as she became Caitlyn, and the popularity of "Orange Is the New Black" transgender actress Laverne Cox, Collins said.

BINGE-WATCH

But "binge-watch" took the top honour because of the growing appetite for watching hours upon hours of television series such as "The Sopranos" or "Breaking Bad" and then discussing the shows with friends, work colleagues or on social media, the publisher said (See history of binge-watching in Wikipedia here).

"The rise in usage of 'binge-watch' is clearly linked to the biggest sea change in our viewing habits since the advent of the video recorder nearly 40 years ago," Helen Newstead, Head of Language Content at Collins, said in a statement.

She cited the growth of Netflix and digital video recorders that allow fans to watch programmes when, where and for as long as they want.

NEW ONLINE DATING WORDS

Two other words making the list arise from dating practices on the website Tinder, whose users may "swipe" someone they find attractive but can break off a relationship by "ghosting" a onetime paramour.

The trending words and their definitions can be found on Collinsdictionary.com and those which remain in currency will appear in the dictionary's next print edition, the publisher said.

OFFICIAL DEFINITIONS

binge-watch: to watch a large number of television programmes (especially all the shows from one series) in succession

dadbod: an untoned and slightly plump male physique, especially one considered attractive

clean eating: following a diet that contains only natural foods, and is low in sugar, salt, and fat

manspreading: the act or an instance of a male passenger in a bus or train splaying his legs in a way that denies space to the passenger sitting next to him

ghosting: ending a relationship by ignoring all communication from the other person

swipe: to move a finger across a touchscreen on a mobile phone in order to approve (swipe right) or dismiss (swipe left) an image

shaming: attempting to embarrass a person or group by drawing attention to their perceived offence, especially on social media

For more on this topic, see the Collins dictionary website here, here, here & here. 

Get Collins dictionary apps here.

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