There's a term that some of us use...

For years, a fellow researcher (we'll call him Z) and I have discussed important linguistic developments that we have observed. I would like to start sharing them with you. I'll begin with a classic and two brand new entries.

In 1994, during post-college study, Researcher Z and I started using the portmanteau "dramastic", a combination of "dramatic" and "drastic". Imagine our excitement when, in a post-game interview several years later, Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls used this word. Anecdotal reports by other researchers confirm this occurrence as well as others. t.h.u.g.g comments on AJ's MySpace page:

Do you remember during that post-game interview we were watching when Scottie Pippen said 'dramastic'? I'm sure you do. Well, I was watching an infomercial at like 5 this morning, and during one of the testimonials some random guy said it. It was like my life had come full circle somehow. I was gonna call you, but I don't know what time you get rollin' on Saturdays. Dramastic.

The 2010 Winter Olympics have yielded some excellent entries. During the men's snowboard halfpipe competition, one announcer said, "There's a term that some of us use: it's called 'tapping into the eye of the tiger.'" While I know that the term in question is called "tapping into the eye of the tiger", I still don't know what the term actually is. Perhaps, for example, the term is "hooktramping", and the announcer's implied sentence was: "There's a term that some of us use [, hooktramping, and that term is] called 'tapping into the eye of the tiger.'"

Another thrilling moment came after Seth Wescott won his second consecutive gold medal in the snowboard cross event. Teammate Nate Holland said, "I'm fired up for Wescott's two-peat." This back-formation from the portmanteau "three-peat" (itself a combination of "three" and "repeat" to mean a third consecutive win) yields many interesting tangents. My wife and I wondered whether a first win was a peat or a one-peat. Z mused that four consecutive losses might be a negative four-peat, replacing the clumsy "four-peat loss". I was forced to draw the conclusion that a zero-peat is the state an athlete occupies before ever competing in a particular event, series of recurring competitions, or sport in general. For example, Seth Wescott may have two-peated in snowboard cross at the Olympics, but would have been said to have zero-peated if a new event had been introduced in these games (up until competing, of course, at which point he would have either a one-peat or negative one-peat).

We'll see if I keep up with this blog.