Wednesday Words: Touchception, Politico Hipsters and More

NewsFeed's weekly highlight of our vocabulary includes useful, new and surprising words (as well as some that are just fun to say)

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David McGlynn

politico hipster (n.): individuals who apply stereotypical hipster attributes–such as distaste for the mainstream and pretentious nostalgia–to a life in politics, esp. residents of Washington D.C. This incongruous term was first unveiled in a Forbes package about the best hipster neighborhoods in America. The sixth slide highlighted H Street, a D.C. area where “‘politico’ hipsters flock,” according to the publication. Soon #politicohipster was trending on Twitter, with people imagining what attributes this subset of hipsters might have. “Only listens to the ‘Watergate tapes’ on vinyl,” one person quipped. “You don’t get campaign buttons,” wrote another. “Only campaign tattoos behind your bottom lip.”

texterity (n.)the ability to ably compose a text message. This was a reader submission to the New York Times magazine, courtesy of New Yorker Rebecca Tobak. As in, “One’s texterity would likely be compromised by broken fingers, riding on a small boat in wavy waters or Cheetos.”

touchception (n.): in football, a play determined by officials to be a touchdown, though the ball appeared to be intercepted by the defensive team. On Monday night, officials called that the Seattle Seahawks scored a touchdown, though replays show the Green Bay Packers may have intercepted the ball in the end zone before the offensive team got its hands on it. Perplexed online commenters soon labeled the play a “Touchception!” It’s a neologism those referees will be dogged by until their clocks run out.

(MORE: You Lose, NFL: Why the Referee Lockout Has to End)

post-touch (adj.): describing the anticipated era when the dominant technology has moved beyond touchscreens. BuzzFeed’s Russell Brandom investigates what might be coming next, highlighting devices like gesture-tracking modules and near-field depth cameras. The post-touch world is one where we can do things with our eyes and voices rather than engaging our pesky fingers–where we browse the web not by clicking things but by waving our arms around like a symphony conductor. Brace yourself. Things could get weird, and awesome.

misclose (v.): to commit an error in sharing information, esp. when information not intended for a specific audience is nonetheless revealed to them. This definition is adapted from the work of psychologist Kelly E. Caine, who called Romney’s now infamous “47%” speech a misclosure: He intended to disclose his views on personal responsibility and entitlement to a bunch of wealthy donors in Boca Raton … and he accidentally told the world.

MORE: Romney’s 47% Video: Five Charts to Fact Check the Remarks