Word: shorthands
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...team as "nappy-headed hos"). Just as blond has implicit associations with sex appeal and smarts (or lack thereof), black-hair descriptors convey thick layers of meaning but are even more loaded. From long and straight to short and kinky - and, of course, good and bad - these terms become shorthand for desirability, worthiness and even worldview. (See pictures of Michelle Obama's fashion diplomacy...
...also credits Twitter for the resurgence of terms like heigh-ho and hey-ho - exclamations of happiness, disappointment or surprise - that had fallen into disuse. Words popular in e-mail shorthand and text-messaging such as OMG (oh my god) and WTF (what the f___) also made...
...different outfits and equipment. The original strategy called for a different figure for each branch of the military, but seizing on a 1945 film called The Story of G.I. Joe, the toys were eventually genericized. (The term itself comes from World War II, where it was used as a shorthand symbol for the typical serviceman, or "Government-Issue Joe.") (See pictures of Barbie's 50th birthday...
...lack of decently paid jobs for young Europeans is one of the continent's great failings, a phenomenon so broad that in country after country people have coined shorthand terms to describe a generation frustrated by its plight. In France that term is jeunes diplômés. In Greece, Generation 600. And in Spain its members are called mileuristas. "The mileurista," explains Daniel Lostao, president of the Youth Council of Spain, "is someone who earns €1,000 ($1,300) a month, despite all their education and training. They've got master's degrees and speak multiple languages...
...positive growth for the year too, although outside forecasters don't quite buy it. Let's call these three countries the BICs. BRIC - for Brazil, Russia, India, China - is the better-known acronym, coined in 2001 by Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O'Neill as shorthand for the globe's emerging economic giants. In mid-June, leaders of the four BRICs even held their first summit meeting. But Russia, a resource-rich land with an otherwise feeble economy and a shrinking population, is in a different boat from its BRIC brethren. It's having a horrible year, with the World...