Open Dictionary Word of the Month: domestic engineer

Submissions to the Open Dictionary in May were similar in

number to Aprils, with around one third of submitted entries
again being approved for publication. The new entries were the
usual mix of recent coinages and new meanings, specialized or
technical terms, rare words, abbreviations, and a few standard
words and phrases that had just not previously been included
the dictionary for some reason.
One of the most popular ways of forming new words is the creation of new blends or
portmanteau words, and several of Mays entries fall into this category, including
bestimate, doomeranger, gazillionaire, promposal, sexposition, and smombie. On a
recent trip to Shanghai I saw plenty of smombies, though none who were unfortunate
enough to suffer an accident as a result of this dangerous habit. While portmanteaux
are popular with journalists and can be very pleasing, they often tend to be shortlived.
It will be interesting to see if any of these survive the next few months and years.
Mays clutch of new entries includes the usual crop of technical and scientific terms,
including holophote, neonicotinoid, neurodiverse, phytotherapist and xanthosis. New
abbreviations include DSL, NCGS , NLU, and TLA itself, as well as the topical and more
familiar PAC. As always the meanings are opaque, unless they come from an area you
happen to be familiar with.
Our citizen lexicographers often submit rare, dated or highly literary terms. While there
is a good reason why these have not been included in Macmillan Dictionary, which
focuses on current language that is most useful to learners of English, they are most
welcome in the Open Dictionary and some, of course, will in time be promoted into
Macmillan Dictionary. Words of this type submitted in May include freshet (from hamid
in Iran), homunculus (from KristinaBART in Russian Federation), Hudibrastic (from
Fatma in Egypt), noggin (from Ezzo in Mongolia), rapscallion (from Vesper in Germany),
sepoy (from Anjaly in Saudi Arabia) and ultracrepidarian (from Alarica in the US).
Excellent words all and welcome additions to the Open Dictionary.
My word of the month is domestic engineer. The term, which seems to have appeared
in the mid 2000s, was submitted by Aishwarya R Ranganath from India. It represents a
(humorous) attempt to elevate the status of homemakers to that of people engaged in
paid employment outside the home and, unlike terms such as stay-at-home mom and
housewife, has the benefit of being gender-neutral.
Thanks for all your submissions and do keep them coming. If theres a word or
expression that you think deserves inclusion in the Open Dictionary you can submit it

here. Dont forget to check first to make sure your word isnt in our dictionary already.
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