Devon Brady created the closed group for anyone wanting to come up with a word for an uncharacterized occurrence, usually a situation that involves post-Information Age quandaries, First World problems, inconveniences, annoyances, anxieties and general responses to situations borne of living in the modern world. Portmanteaus have been concocted for an assortment of phenomena, such as Stefanie Kalem’s “asspirational” — “buying clothing that’s too small in the hope that you will get in shape so it it fits” or Amy Jo Evje’s “espanoia,” a response to Kevin Siebel’s post asking for a word that describes “when gringos are convinced they are being badmouthed by a group of people speaking Spanish.”
This article appears in Sep 24-30, 2015.