Word of the day: smirting

Today's word is something that people in England are going to be a lot more familiar with come July 1, and which is already a common phenomenon in the rest of the British Isles and in certain other parts of the globe. Yes, it's smirting.

Smirting is a portmanteau word (another one!), a combination of smoking and flirting, and refers to the practice of smokers flirting outside public places where smoking is banned, such as pubs and restaurants.

According to Wikipedia, the term is thought to have originated in the Republic of Ireland some time after the public places smoking ban came into effect there in March 2004. An article the following year in the Observer suggests "having a quick drag has replaced speed dating as the best way to spice up your love life".

England, get ready to smirt!

Meal portmanteaux

Yesterday I mentioned portmanteau words - words that are a combination of the sound and meaning of two other words. 'Brunch' is a good example, combining the sound and meaning of 'breakfast' and lunch'.

But when I was in Moscow a few years ago I came across another meal portmanteau - 'linner'. Linner is afternoon meal somewhere between lunch and dinner which many of the more upmarket hotels in the city offered.

Having never come across linner in the UK, it was strange to see it regularly in a non-English-speaking country. Perhaps it is a word – and concept – the American expats brought over with them. Can anyone shed any light on this?

I think I'm done with portmanteaux for the moment – but if you're not, there are plenty of others to choose from...

Word of the day: webinar

Those of you who are internet-savvy will doubtless be familiar with the word 'webinar'. However I've chosen it as word of the day because it is new enough not to appear in many dictionaries, Google has just invited me to attend one, and I like the sound of it. So there.

'Webinar' is a portmanteau word, so it is made up of the sounds and meanings of two other words - in this case 'web' and 'seminar'. As you might expect, a webinar is a type of internet conference, which may be highly interactive or may be more like a presentation.

Another internet portmanteau I am sure you are familiar with is 'blog', a contraction of 'weblog' – which of course is a blend of 'web' and log'. It's interesting that my edition of the OED lists 'weblog' but not 'blog'. Dictionary writers must have a hard time with all these web words...

Word of the day: geofencing

The word of the day today is 'geofencing'. It sounds very sci-fi, doesn't it? It means:

restricting the movement of a vehicle or other object to within a specified area. The location of the vehicle is monitored by telemetry and an alarm is raised if it goes outside that area

Might be useful with cats, or toddlers.

There are some other great geo words, if you are interested...