Lyndse, Andrew and I were having a conversation regarding words that drive us crazy, and we came up with a list of terms that have been in use over the last year that we really want to see die a quick, and permanent, death. The only thing that makes me wince slightly about reproducing these terms is the fact that I have recently used some of these myself in a very public way…

Most of these terms can be found in the Urban Dictionary. It’s a good way to figure out what the kids are sayin’ these days, or a great timesink when you can’t focus on your to-do list.

Staycation: When you can’t afford gas, hotel charges or plane fare and you need to burn vacation time.

Funemployed: The term that is used to describe the period of time between receiving a pink slip and the time when you notice the severance package cash running out.

Depressionista/Recessionista: Someone who, despite significant financial hardship, manages to look like they have money to burn on style, culture, fashion and/or entertainment.

Vlog: Sure, we use them here; we just don’t like the word. A compound of the terms “Video” and “Blog”, a Vlog just sounds like one of Douglas Adams’ alien races from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series… or perhaps it’s the semblance to the word “flog.”

Blogosphere: Again, it’s the sound of the term itself that drives us nuts; a Blogosphere sounds like a Star Wars Death Star designed and built solely by Sci-Fi convention and Comic-Con attendees. Which perhaps it is, now that I think of it…

McJob: Lyndse has more of the aversion to this term than I do; McJob refers to any of a genre of entry-level, per-hour wage type jobs in the restaurant or retail industry.

Cankles: Fat lower calves on women. (Please, no emails concerning those people you believe to sport the archtype Cankles. That includes Hillary Clinton. And, God forbid, don’t send me pictures.)

Man Cave: I simply find this one a little demeaning. Sure, my personal space at home consists of a slightly damp, dimly lit space full of humming electronics that is, technically, located below grade under my house. But I utterly reject any comparison of my basement and a cave. Apart from the gnawed bones and potsherds in the back of course- that’s entirely coincidental.

Fauxhawk (this one bugs Lyndse especially badly): I hadn’t heard of this one before today, but Die Lyndse is apparently well familiar with it. Fauxhawks are full heads of hair that are simply combed upwards from the sides to create a pseudo-mohawk. She decries the lack of dedication to a mohawk a fauxhawk allows.

Lyndse, who has some experience in hairstyle commitment.

Emo: Here’s one of those terms, unlike Blogosphere and Vlog, where I don’t mind the term so much as the people it denotes. Emos, or Emo Kids, etc. are trash-fashion, depression-prone late teens and early twentysomethings that, in place of a job, sport a nihilistic streak, access to a healthy trust fund and a propensity to whine or cry over any damned thing that so much as smacks of the lack of inherent self-worth. These weak-kneed softcore punks can usually be identified by a bulimic look, dark clothing (wearing their sister’s jeans apparently delivers extra “points” in Emo couture), hairstyles that double as camouflage (if theymake a habit of standing in front of a black-dyed Yeti) and enough eyeliner to cause a stumbling instability in walking gait due to being topheavy.

Driving While Texting (”DWT”): Again, it’s not so much the term as what it refers to. there have been such a rash of news reports, insurance industry studies and legislative initiatives concerning distracted driving that if I see another Blackberry poised in front of a steering while on my morning commute I’m going to spew (while keeping my hands on the steering wheel, of course).

Twitter/Tweet/Tweeting, etc.: Neat service, but it’s approaching a near religious status with many people. While I’m not asking for a cessation in the service, there are those that believe I should be receiving vital information, gained only from “following” and then intensely monitoring, their Twitter account- which is something I just don’t have time for. “You didn’t know about the meeting?!? But I tweeted it!”

Bromance: The plutonic, but overly-close, affection between two males. The mental image of repeated amicable shoulder-slugs and extensive and overly developed and refined semantic uses for the word “dude” abound.

Sexting: Most people know and understand that the use of portable electronic devices by teens (and sometimes younger… gahh!) to deliver naked and/or sexually explicit photos to their paramours is both illegal and prone to significant social stigma if they’re passed around, which they inevitably are. At the same time, there is also a small but undeniable wistfulness in the realization by most adults that decry this dangerous fad that they, themselves, were sorry they didn’t have similar things going on when they went to high school.

ProTip: Generally defined as expert advice on any particular subject, a ProTip seems like it would be better defined as an overpriced screwdriver.