A Cockamamie Collection Of Highkey Zhuzh

The Word Collector — Part 37

This is the latest in a series about new words and phrases, specimens collected during expeditions into the deepest, darkest literary and media wilderness, and displayed for your entertainment, elucidation, and enlightenment. These are new to me, but of course, you may know some or all of them already, in which case you are welcome to marvel at my ignorance.

Highkey — this describes something you want to brag about or emphasise. For example, “We highkey love scheduling Medium posts in advance”.

Highkey originated in African American Vernacular English (AAVE) as an intensifier to emphasise or confirm something that was already known or agreed upon. The term first emerged in hip-hop culture and has since been adopted by mainstream culture, but it’s important to recognize its cultural origins and significance.” The word was used by Yohan J in this article which is part of a series about words used by Gen Z-

cockamamie — Medium author Jay Squires uses the word in the following excellent article about the horrible experience of being scammed:

“They couldn’t be expected to know, though, that the only thing stronger than my self-loathing at that moment was my cowardice … … and this cockamamie hope — hope that all of us writers seem to be imbued with.”

So cockamamie is an informal adjective, meaning ridiculous or implausible.

zhuzh — this informal word is used in the preamble to a new Medium publication “Ink and Tears” started by zany zhuzhster Robin Wilding. As a verb it means to make something more stylish, lively, or attractive, for example “…. the bag is a cool but economical way to zhuzh up many an outfit”. As a noun it means an act, addition, or quality that makes something more stylish, lively, or attractive. To quote from the preamble of “Ink and Tears”:

“Being a writer takes time, effort, learning, elbow grease, and a little zhush. Ink & Tears is about helping you improve that written voodoo that you do. Laugh, or cry — but leave it all on the page.”

dysarthria — this word turned up in a progress report written about my younger daughter who is training to be a physiotherapist — at least my aches and pains will be tended to as the gradual decline continues! She treated a patient with dysarthria, which is where you have difficulty speaking because the muscles you use for speech are weak. It can be caused by conditions that damage your brain or nerves and some medicines. Speech and language therapy can help.

diorama — this word turned up in “Borderland: A Journey Through the History Of Ukraine” by Anna Reid, which I am currently reading.

A diorama is a model representing a scene with three-dimensional figures, either in miniature or as a large-scale museum exhibit; also a scenic painting, viewed through a peephole, in which changes in colour and direction of illumination simulate changes in the weather, time of day; also a miniature film set used for special effects or animation.

I have to say that while I have no doubt where my sympathies lie, the book does put the current awful conflict into a wider context. The territory that is modern-day Ukraine has been fought over by East and West for centuries, and Lviv for example has been in both Poland and the USSR at different times, with Odesa once the capital of new Rus.

apostasy — from the same book, this noun means the abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief or principle, for example:

“… the execution of their leader for apostasy brought widespread criticism.”

necromancy — a noun meaning the conjuration of the spirits of the dead for purposes of magically revealing the future or influencing the course of events. Also from “Borderland”.

mark — yes, I know, I am not a complete imbecile: I came across this word in “Numbers Go Up”, by Zeke Faux, used in a colloquial context. In urban slang, a “mark” is a person who believes everything he or she hears or is so out of place that they are easily targeted by people who mean harm or fair game for bullies. My review of this excellent book about cryptocurrency is on the link below if of interest:

blunt — from the same book, another urban slang term I had not come across. I really must try and get down with the kids more. It turns out a blunt is an amount of marijuana rolled with cigar wrapping. It can also be a slow-burning packed cigar (with marijuana) that has been emptied out of tobacco, or a very big joint of marijuana, commonly 2–3 grams in one blunt.

“Taking the orange pill” — this phrase comes from the same book, referring to people who are strong advocates of Bitcoin, the colour a reference to the coin’s logo.

“Pig butchering” — a rather cruel-sounding scam, in which vulnerable people are targeted with romance or other scams to fleece them of real money, with the lure of large gains in monopoly-money cryptocurrencies. Zeke Faux’s investigation finds that many of those contacting victims are being kept effectively as slaves by gang masters in Cambodia and elsewhere.

JOMO — an acronym meaning the Joy Of Missing Out, and the opposite of FOMO. For example, if you see your favourite sounding cryptocurrency has crashed, you might experience JOMO if you made the wise decision not to invest. Also from “Numbers Go Up”.

“The Torino Scale” — I heard this referred to in the BBC Show “University Challenge”, or universally challenged in my case. If I get a single question correct, it is a brief triumph to be celebrated with a victory lap of the lounge.

The Torino Scale is a tool for categorising potential Earth impact events. An integer scale ranging from 0 to 10 with associated colour coding, it is intended primarily to facilitate public communication by the asteroid impact hazard monitoring institutions. The trouble is I will have forgotten this by tomorrow.

OG — this acronym can also mean “exceptional” or the best in a particular field. In this use case, OG is synonymous with GOAT, or “greatest of all time.” You might say “Tiger Woods is an OG” to refer to his excellence in the field of golf, for example.

OG, is sometimes considered to be short for “original gangster” or “original gangsta,” and to be a slang term for someone who’s incredibly exceptional, authentic, or “old-school”. So it seems that OG was originally used in gang culture, but it is now used as a general term to praise someone who is an expert at something. The acronym is used in a great article called “Shark Bait”, about films featuring sharks, by Medium writer Heather Lawrence, in which she rightly refers to “Jaws” as the OG.

“A sliding doors moment” — this term became a term popularised in the late 20th century meaning seemingly inconsequential moments that nonetheless alter the trajectory of future events. I heard the expression in an interview with TV Cook Jamie Oliver talking about giving advice to his younger self.

I hope you enjoyed this collection, and do share any favourites of your own in the comments.

As always, thank you for reading.

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Previous articles from The Word Collector:

Part 36 — Keggers, Kerning, Çay and Crickets

Part 35 — Murmuring judges and anhedonia

Part 34 — A-quomodocunquizing-borborygmus

Part 33 — Going Monk Mode In Taumata­whakatangihanga­koauau­o­tamatea­turi­pukaka­piki­maunga­horo­nuku­pokai­whenua­ki­tana­tahu

Part 32 — Turpitudinous Tourons

Part 31 — Hurkle durkle, medicanes and misophonia

Part 30 — Immortal earworms

Part 29 — Government on the RAAC

Part 28 –Saved by a deus ex machina

Part 27 — Pre-Lapsarian Yakers

Part 26 — Fegans, Jorts, Rababs And Scotch Bonnets

Part 25 — Fissiparous Hegemony

Part 24 — Lollygag And Booktok

Part 23 — Patronymics And Samovars

Part 22 — Medium Is No Chronofage If YRMIRY

Part 21 — Everything Is Eellogofusciouhipoppokunurious

Part 20 — Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia And The Matthew Effect

Part 19 — A Nappuccino And Some Typo-Squatting

Part 18 — Yeeting Detritovres

Part 17 — An Inverted Pyramid Of Piffle On The Bed Of Procrustes

Part 16 — Having The Jones And Partisan Acrimony

Part 15 — Spycops In The Boondocks

Part 14 — Harlots, Stochastic Parrots, And The Devil’s Cufflinks

Part 13 — The Things We Make Exceptional

Part 12 — “Semper Fidelis” And Semantic Symbiosis

Part 11 — Heliophobic Hikikomori

Part 10 — Lenticular Clouds And Peque Peques

Part 9 — Big Red Boots And Nepo Babies

Part 8 — A Patina Of Smilies

Part 7 — Atavistic frou frou

Part 6-Mouth Breathers And Pearl Clutchers

Part 5 — The Lexophile’s Latest List

Part 4 — Revenge of the word collector

Part 3- An Etymological Extravaganza

Part 2- Return Of The Word Collector

Part 1 — A Moment In The Sun