Prof. Anatoly Liberman visited The Daily Circuit to discuss new and continuing occurrences of words that he sees too frequently, not frequently enough, or in contexts that are inappropriate.
Following is a lexicon of such words, as suggested by the professor or listeners.
• Selfie (Self-portrait, esp. one taken with a cellphone)
• Conscience-laundering (When a guilt-ridden wealthy person makes a charitable investment)
• Twerking (Dancing while bent double, with back turned to the intended observer)
• Vom (Vomit)
• Literally ("A very good word if it's connected to something literal," the professor said)
• Ratchet (As in, "Ratchet up the pressure")
• Cray-cray (Crazy)
• Trending (When a number of discrete events create a pattern)
• Sharknado (A tornado comprising sharks)
• So... (When used as a meaningless preamble)
• Kick the can down the road (To leave a final resolution to a later time)
• Granular (Highly detailed)
• Folks ("People," esp. when used condescendingly by a politician affecting a rustic manner)
• I know, right? ("Indeed")
• Swag, swaggy, swagger ("Cool," "pretty cool," "cooler")
• It is what it is (Something to be accepted as inevitable)
• Impact (An overused synonym for "influence")
• Morph (Change)
• Sunsetting (Ending)
• Cascading (Distributing)
• In my wheelhouse ("Within my skill set")
• Interlocutor (Conversation partner)
• Pibjas (Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches)
• YOLO ("You only live once;" alternately, "You only love once")
• ASAP ("As soon as possible")
• LOL ("Laughing out loud")
• From the ... perspective (As in "From the requirement perspective," or "From the recruitment perspective")
• Transparent (With nothing to hide; whose meaning is clear)