It was Ma'am Jan's birthday last Thursday. She is my PI boss. I am using boss loosely here because with her laid back supervision and cheerful disposition, an onlooker may look at us as colleagues.

I've always thought that "boss" is a fairly modern term. Aside from the current association with adjective+color perfumes, the word itself is very succinct and minimalist. According to Etymonline, "boss" was coined in 1649. Notable people during the 17th century include Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare. "Boss" doesn't fit in this era. Don Quixote didn't say "My boss, my boss, my kingdom for a boss". In Hamlet, Polonius never called Claudius his boss... Juliet never said to Lady Capulet "Alas, Thou aren't the boss of my life!" in Act I.

Further reading makes my previous statements ridiculous. First of all the term was coined in America, a long ship ride away from Spain and England... and unless they had internet access then, the proliferation of this word would have taken a century and a day. Second, and more importantly... Both Cervantes and Shakespeare died in 1616, a good 3 decades before "boss" came to existence.

Am I boring you yet with this pointless etymology of "boss? Anyhoo... It came from the Dutch word "baas" which translates as master. In the theoretically classless democracy of the States, the term "boss" became very popular. It served as a egalitarian euphemism for "master". Now, we don't call our superiors masters unless:

1. You're being sarcastic
2. You're learning jujitsu, judo or some other form of martial arts
3. You're into S & M
4. You're playing Dungeons and Dragons

Now, bossy is an adjective we use for people who like to bark out commands. "Bossy" was first recorded in 1882 as a common cow name. How appropriate.


I have only gone through 3 companies when I started working. In the first two, I developed a friendship with both my bosses, I seem pretty lucky (or picky) with companies I apply to. In the third company (my current employer), I have 3 bosses. My PI boss, my boss from Guam and The Godfather from Oregon. They vary so much in their manner of administration that I feel like I'm three different employees switching skins depending on who I'm talking to. I get along pretty well with all three of them, but if my current job has taught me anything about bosses, there are 3.5 million species of them:


Random Boss Sampling:

The Charles Montgomery Burns
He is rich, powerful and above the law. He owns a huge corporation where employees don't usually know each other. He is pure evil and would steal candy from a baby if he were strong enough to do so. He wouldn't think twice before pushing a button underneath his desk that opens a hatch where you fall into and later find yourself in Timbuktu.


The Dr. Miranda Bailey
She is "the Nazi". She is frank, brutally honest and remarkably talented. She knows everything that happens in the workplace. She doesn't want people sucking up to her and treats her subordinates impartially. She is a mom and a professional. She is a tough boss but she always protects your best interests and you learn a lot from her.



The Donald Trump
He is rich. He is influential. He has a comb-over. He is business-savvy, successful and isn't inhibited to tell you so in a robotic cadence. He is conceited but you can't blame him... but you could hate him. He likes to exaggerate. He doesn't like any form of failure and wouldn't think twice before saying "You're fired" in the boardroom.



The David Brent
He wants to be everyone's friend and mentor in The Office. He thinks people find him hilarious and would give anything to be around him (yeah right). He is irritating and hovers above your work station. He is totally oblivious of what employees think of him. On a good day he is tolerable, but on most days... you just wanna stab him with your #2 pencil.


The Gil Grissom
He is eccentric. He is very intelligent. He doesn't believe in politics in the workplace. He has a collection of bugs in his office. He develops intimate relationships with his employees without being touchy-feely. He doesn't mind sharing the limelight. He is very passionate about his job and as a result has a semi-existent personal life.



The Horatio Crane
He is very good with his job to the point of impossibility. He seems to always have the answer and know everything which is quite sickening. He is always in the spotlight. He makes everyone one he is the boss. He delivers alot of puns and cliches and always wears sunglasses regardless of weather conditions or amount of sunlight.

end of sampling...


Trivia: A number of countries celebrate National Boss Day on October 16.

Labels: B-days, I (heart) words, idiot box, list-o-rama

Last night, my mom celebrated her __th birthday. She has selective amnesia when it comes to such numbers. When I was younger, a birthday party is a birthday party. The number of candles on a cake never really interested me then, all I paid attention to were the candy flowers placed on its corners. When my mom started changing the topic whenever a question about her age was raised, I took a peep at her driver's license and noted the year in one of my journals.

All day yesterday was spent tidying the house up. My dad, sister and our housekeeper Lisa were stationed at the kitchen. Me and my brother were in charge of the "physical arrangement", moving furniture, adding some from my sister's house, and placing indoor plants which were never really permanent fixtures in the house on a regular day.

My mom had a couple of visitors from the land down under, her amigas and the entire choir from her church. Introductions were made (I'm not gonna remember anyone's name) It's a good thing I ate early... The pianist took his perch on our aging, rarely played piano. He made a signal and the whole choir started singing "Halle, Halle, Hallelujah". There were singing faces everywhere in the living room and nowhere to avert my eyes to. I retreated to my room and in order to drown the kumbaya songs... I put on my headphones and played Jeopardy 2003.

When I was younger, I took an immediate liking to Jeopardy. Who new that at a young age, a show hosted by a man with a Hitler moustache would awaken my inner nerd. I didn't answer a whole lot of questions then but I did learn a lot of Potent Potables and how to pronounce Potpourri. Plus, I became skilled at mentally computing a wager that would, if everything turned out as planned, made me win 1 dollar over my nearest opponent.

Other game shows then, during the FEN (Far East Network) era, that I also watched included Wheel of Fortune and Family Feud. Together with Jeopardy, these three have names that could have been popular and violent soap operas. Fate, Fighting and Fear...

I also remember a short-lived gameshow (by our TV reception standards) named Classic Concentration, also hosted by Alex Trebek (I can't get Will Ferrell's impersonation out of my mind whenever I see him) You had a message encrypted in images, which was covered by numbered cells. To reveal the encrypted image behind, the cells need to be paired up and each pair has a prize of some sort. The other elements of the show didn't really interest me. Here is an example of an encrypted message I googled...



ST+eve R+eye+yawn = Steve Ryan
(I have no idea who heshe* is)







For lack of anything better to do I tried making a couple of CCC's (Classic Concentration Clue) blah, I'm still thinking of a better name. Here's a fairly easy one:

Who said it?

Burned a couple of brain cells yet? Here's a relatively harder one...

My Philosophy:

What a nerd does on hisher* free time is nobody's business. Oh and by the way, when I came out from my bomb shelter (my room), all the guests were nearly gone and my mom was near drunk. I love my mom.

*refer to previous post: I (Heart) Lexpionage

Labels: B-days, comics, flashback music please, I (heart) words

Fashionistas anticipate the latest line of Cavalli (PETA does a cameo) with drawn credit cards. Techies are itching to swap their so-called obsolete gear with the latest laptop, cellular phone or iPod models. Movie buffs pull every necessary string, blackmail even, to get premier tickets. Dorks, like me, anticipate the newest words that enter our lexicon.

My infatuation with new words is fueled by my longstanding petition to add heshe, hisher and himmer into our vocabulary. I have always found putting the "/" or the or" tedious. When a customer arrives, He/she will be standing here and you will take his or her luggage. Put the luggage in this shelf so that when he or she asks for it, you could return it to him/her easily. Now, the terms I'm proposing are compounded into one word, I always get confused if the slashed ones are read he or she... or he slash she. It would be a lot easier on a writer or speaker if heshe can add these words in hisher word list.


My little lexpionage produced these results:

Meanderthal
n. An extremely annoying individual moving slowly and aimlessly infront of you, especially when you are in a hurry. [from: meander + neanderthal]
i.e. "Get out of my way!!! You frickin meanderthal!"
Not only will you get your point across and vent your rage, but you might also possibly confuse the meanderthal and cause his nose to bleed trying to understand what you just said.


Earworm
n. A song stuck in one's head, more specifically an frustratingly awful one. [from: German Ohrwurm, credited to James Kellaris]
i.e. "Mmmbop is the worst earworm. Why can't earworms be good, tasteful songs?"
Sheesh... now that I've mentioned that stupid song, I'm hearing the high-pitched rubbish in my head. Arrgghh!!


Unibrow
n. A single continuous brow resulting from the growing together of eyebrows.
i.e. "You're starting to grow a unibrow, a little tweezing is in order"
The most famous woman sporting a unibrow is mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Other notable unibrowed charcters are Bert from Sesame Street, Groundskeeper Willy of The Simpsons and Count Olaf of the Lemony Snickets books. I personally do not believe in unibrows. On a guy it's distracting, but on a girl it's just downright horrendous.


Manscaping
n. The artful shaving and trimming of a male's body hair.
i.e. "Chris Cornell has one of the best looking manscaped beards"
A male tool for the unibrow.


Afflufemza
n. The tendency to assume that the anxiety felt by affluent mothers who have to choose between staying at home and pursuing a career is felt by every mother regardless of socio-economic status. [coined by Sandra Tsing Loh]
i.e. "Afflufemza sure is a mouthful"
This isn't a particularly beautiful word but its ugliness seems fit for the phenomena it describes.


Newsfasting
n. The deliberate avoidance of news media, particularly to relieve stress.
i.e. "I'm newsfasting, everytime I watch TV Patrol all I get is crap and a splitting headache"
Since the millenium started, I have been on a newsfast. They don't show the events that really matter, they sensationalize and regurgitate the "newsworthy" ones, and everything is just all too depressing. The highlight of the primetime local news is a large snake they found somewhere.


Drunk-dial
v. To make a phone call, usually embarassing, while inebriated.
i.e. "Before I get really drunk, please make sure I never, under any circumstance, drunk-dial my ex"
We've all been there, alcohol sure can make us say things propriety doesn't let us. Another version of this is drunk-text (SMS instead of a phone call) and pseudo-drunk-text (pretending to be drunk in an SMS so you can discuss taboo topics and have drunkenness as an excuse)


Bridezilla
n. A bride-to-be who, while planning her wedding, becomes exceptionally selfish, greedy and obnoxious.
i.e. "Honey, the dresses of the bridesmaids don't take the attention away from you... Don't become a bridezilla or you'll scare the groom"
Rawwwrrr...


Zipperhead
n. A stupid person or one with a closed mind.
i.e. "Jeepney drivers in traffic can be such zipperheads"
Closed mind... zippers... blah... Let's just tattoo "YKL" on their foreheads.


Himbo
n. A man who is extremely goodlooking but disappointingly unintelligent or superficial.
i.e. "I think being a himbo is a prerequisite when you wanna be an Abercrombie & Fitch model"
Him + Bimbo. Do the math.


Sometimes we can go too far with neologisms producing obscure and cheesy words like wordrobe, mouse potato, freemium or chillax. But then again, George Orwell's neologism then, Big Brother (which I personally find a tad unimaginative), has been integrated into the English language and is now a Reality show on its 7th season. Chillax may have a future... ullkk... Just saying it in my head makes me gag.

I love neologisms because they simplify something that would usually take a phrase to convey. New words keep the language from going bland. They engage your usually spoon fed brain and they immortalize certain events or works of cinema and literature. But most of all when the time is juuuuust right, adjectives like bootylicious, fugly, and half-assed are just simply, utterly, undescribably... perfect.



Sources:
Word Spy
Owlnet Neologisms
Ask Oxford
Merriam-Webster
Urban Dictionary

Labels: blah (3x), bloghopping, I (heart) words