Geodog

If you love words, especially neologisms

Check out WordSpy. It is a site that is clearly driven by a love of language and words. It features a ongoing compendium of new English words. The words are defined, and used in examples. Where known, the first use is given. It also has a wonderful Word about Word section. There is lots of fun stuff here.

A few of my favorites:

Wal-Mart effect n. The economic effects attributable to the Wal-Mart retail chain, including local effects such as forcing smaller competitors out of business and driving down wages, and broader effects such as helping to keep inflation low and productivity high....

Modern English is the Wal-Mart of languages: convenient, huge, hard to avoid, superficially friendly, and devouring all rivals in its eagerness to expand. -- Mark Abley

arachnerd noun. A person that spends way too much time either surfing the Web or fussing with their home page.

warm-chair attrition n. The loss of workplace productivity due to employees who dislike their jobs and are just waiting for the right time to quit and move on to something better.

Example Citation #2:
''Most employees are corporate cocooning,'' said Joyce L. Gioia, president of the Herman Group, a consulting firm in Greensboro, N.C. ''They don't like their jobs, they don't like their co-workers, they don't like their bosses, but they're scared. When the economy heats up-and we know that it will-and more jobs are created around the country, these same employees are going to spread their wings and fly away. Right now, we have an epidemic of what we call 'warm-chair attrition,''' she said. ''Physically, they're still warming the chairs, but mentally and emotionally, they're history.''
—Judy Greenwald, "Few companies preparing for impending labor shortage," Business Insurance, October 27, 2003

And the best one I have found so far, which I dedicate to my friend from Blogistan, stavrosthewonderchicken, is:

wave a dead chicken verb. To attempt to resolve a problem by taking steps that one believes to be futile but are nevertheless necessary so that others are satisfied that an appropriate degree of effort has been expended.

Gorgeous stuff. A lot of great words and great definitions, and some thought has gone into the choice of words. As the site author says, "My interest is in new words, phrases, and meanings that aren't yet in the dictionary but that have some traction in the culture, meaning they've appeared in several books, media articles, scientific papers, Web sites, Usenet posts, etc."

The site doesn't have an RSS feed yet (something I hope to change), but there is a mailing list that one can sign up for. Highly recommended.