2005 was the year of truthiness:
A panel of linguists has decided the word that best reflects 2005 is “truthiness,” defined as the quality of stating concepts one wishes or believes to be true, rather than the facts.
The American Dialect Society chose the word Friday after a runoff with terms related to Hurricane Katrina, such as “Katrinagate,” the scandal erupting from the lack of planning for the monster hurricane.
Michael Adams, a professor at North Carolina State University who specializes in lexicology, said “truthiness” means “truthy, not facty.”
“The national argument right now is, one, who’s got the truth and, two, who’s got the facts,” he said. “Until we can manage to get the two of them back together again, we’re not going make much progress.”
Truthiness it is, then. The linguists also began to sound like the folks at the Urban Dictionary when the discussed some other words:
In a runoff for the most creative word, “whale tail,” the appearance of a thong above the waistband, beat out “muffin top,” the bulge of flesh hanging over the top of low-riding jeans.
I had heard of whale tail, but not muffin top.
*** Update ***
Jim Treacher
We’re calling it “differently authentic.” For “truthiness,” I mean, not “muffin top.” For that, I usually say “cleavass.”
Stormy70
Muffin top is extrememly unattractive. The girls wear their jeans too tight, and the flesh has to go somewhere. What’s sad is it can be seen on very fit girls who think jeans that cut off their circulation looks sexy. I don’t think the males of the species prefer an excess of squished flesh over too tight jeans. I could be wrong, though. Good news is that the low rise is going out of style.
The Disenfranchised Voter
Didn’t Stephen Colbert have “truthiness” as “the word” on his very first show?
I thought he made it up.
Mary
The American Dialect Association gives full credit to Colbert at their site. They have the full report (PDF) there, too.
Mary
Whoops — American Dialect Society, not Association.
Jim Treacher
Yes, that’s how words enter the language. People make them up. Then other people decide one word is the best out of all the words made up that year. And mostly nobody cares.
The Other Steve
Was Drownie a contender?
Krista
Stormy – I’m also glad that the ultra-low-rise is going out of style. Nasty. Any jeans that require a wax job are not good. And for any girls with curvy figures, they were an absolute nightmare.
The Disenfranchised Voter
Thanks, Mary!
jg
As much as I hate the muffin top I am vey much in favor of low cut jeans. Especially on skinny hotties with pierced belly buttons. Yummy!
capelza
I love the low rise jeans, not the super low rise, but the middling ones. They fit better on girls with curves, otherwise you get that bunchy waist thing, because the high waist is too big around.
Anyway…I had no idea any of these words even existed…is it too late to start using them now?
Mary
I like moderately low rise jeans, but now I hear that they’re going out of fashion again and high waists are back. Who knew that low rise would become the new Mom Jeans?
joshua
I was disappointed to learn that “muffin top” refers to fat rolls at the waist, because I’ve been using the term “muffin tops” to refer to the excess breast flesh that come out of the top of bras that are too tight for a while now.
Stormy70
I think mid-rise is ok. I will not go back to the high waisted jeans, because they are not that flattering. The low-rise I was referring to was the wax job kind.
Stormy70
Krista and Capelza – Have you seen what our Naveen has been up to?! He needs to be punished and I think we are just the gals to do it.
Whip snap!
Barbara Hershey?! Nooooooooooooooooo!
Pooh
Stormy, surely you can out-whatever Barbara Hershey (BTW, dude, you are a BIG star now. Date younger, not older, you can always trade up….)
Please, not the whip…
The Other Steve
wax jobs are not a bad thing
Mary
Show us your naked pubes first, Other Steve. Don’t forget to include an mp3 proving that you stayed manfully silent as hot wax was applied to your nether bits and the hair ripped off. And don’t try to substitute anything by John Cage, OK? We need to hear that ripping sound and the accompanying grunt from the waxer.
capelza
Seconded Mary…
Stormy, you didn’t know about Barbara Hershey? Speaking as a slightly older woman (49) I am so damned proud of her. Go team!
Krista
Mary – you got it. Jeans should not require a wax job. That’s just wrong. Mid-rise jeans are good. I like them about an inch below the belly-button. That way, I do get to display the navel piercing without getting muffin top, plumber butt, or any other such misfortune. A lot of fashion, however, requires women to be shaped like boys (from the waist down, anyway.) I like the fact that I’m curvy as hell, but it’s hard to find clothes that work with that. If only 1940’s fashion could be in style forever…
And Naveen needs a good spanking (with a velvet paddle, though. Not a whipping — I don’t like leaving permanent marks.) Frankly, I think the whole older-woman thing is cool. Men who like older women usually have a high appreciation for sensuality and subtlety. Pooh, darling…Barbara probably has tricks up her sleeve that would put any of the generic young starlets to shame.
Ken Hahn
It worries me when university professors begin to talk about truth and facts. They both seem to be in very short supply in any college faculty I’ve seen.
demimondian
Somehow, a thread which contains both this:
and this:
gives me serious cognitive dissonance.
Stormy70
I do admire her mojo.
The Other Steve
I didn’t say it was easy being this good looking!
moflicky
neatly trimmed is plenty. no ingrowns.
you don’t want an old growth forest, but you also don’t want to look like a 9 yr old.
Krista
moflicky – ewww…no kidding.
Stormy – I also admire her mojo. I just hope that she lost the over-collagened-lips thing she had going on in Beaches.
The Other Steve –
It never is. Like my dad used to say, “It hurts to be beautiful.” The amount of hurt it requires seems to be cyclical, though. I seem to recall that women of my mom’s generation, who came of age in the 60’s – 70’s, were able to be a bit more au naturel than women in my generation.
The Other Steve
Now be honest…
You wouldn’t want guys today looking like Edward M. Stanton.
The Other Steve
Er, did you mean 1960s and 70s? I thought you meant 1860s and 70s. :-)
Krista
No, some basic grooming is nice, and one should be so hirsute as to lose spare change, jewellery, etc. in one’s overgrowth. However, nor do I appreciate the Barbie-and-Ken aesthetic that exists today, where women are supposed to have hair on their head, eyebrows and eyelashes, and nowhere else, and men are rapidly approaching the same predicament. I think waxed chests on men are icky, and pine for the days when Magnum P.I. was the beau ideal of male pulchritude. Goddammit, men should look like MEN, not like mannequins.
Stormy70
Hear, hear!