Welcome to Word Buzz Wednesday, in which we round up our favorite buzzworthy words of the week. The latest: watch out Tiger Mom; divine camping; and another generational acronym.
Bourbon virus
“US health authorities have just confirmed a second case of Bourbon virus, a rare illness doctors believe to be spread by ticks.”
Gwynn Guilford, “This rare bourbon that’s spreading across the US isn’t as tasty as it sounds,” Quartz, June 1, 2015
Relax, Jim Bean enthusiasts: the Bourbon virus has nothing to do with the drink. It’s named for where it was first reported in 2014, Bourbon County, Kansas. Symptoms include fever, acute muscle and joint pain, diarrhea, and a rash.
Cat Dad
“While Cat Dad may not be as well known as Tiger Mother, he’s actually been around nearly as long.”
“Tiger Mum or Cat Dad? Claws out over parenting styles,” BBC, May 28, 2015
Unlike the strict and ferocious Tiger Mother, the Cat Dad takes a softer approach to parenting, “preferring to be emotionally sensitive, gentle and relaxed about rules and discipline, in the belief that it will make their offspring self-sufficient and independent.” The name comes from a popular Chinese television show, Tiger Mom Cat Dad.
A real-life Cat Dad was a father from Shanghai who debated Amy Chua, author of The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, and despite having a very different approach to parenting, like Chua had a daughter accepted to Harvard.
Another parenting variation is the Wolf Dad who is even stricter than the Tiger Mother.
champing
“We’ve had such a positive response to our ‘champing’ breaks that we’ve decided to expand them to two more churches for the 2015 ‘champing’ season.”
Emma Mills, “Churches the new Airbnb as ‘champing’ proves popular,” The Telegraph, June 9, 2015
Champing is camping in churches, and plays on glamping, glamorous camping, or “roughing it” in fancy, comfortable tents.
hijra
“Bangladesh’s government is planning to recruit hijras, who have been officially recognized as a separate gender in Bangladesh since 2013, as traffic police in an attempt to rehabilitate and offer them new employment.”
Pantha Rahman Reza, “Bangladesh wants ‘third gender’ to serve as traffic police,” Public Radio International, May 31, 2015
Some male-to-female transgender Bangladeshis have adopted the feminine gender identity hijra, although the term may be considered derogatory in other languages.
yuccie
“Not all yuccies follow such a direct path. There are plenty of 20-somethings who take a few steps down the road of traditional employment despite the growing suspicion that their unique intellect deserves more professional fulfillment.”
David Infante, “The hipster is dead, and you might not like who comes next,” Mashable, June 9, 2015
Yuccie, a play on yuppie, stands for Young Urban Creatives, “a slice of Generation Y, borne [sic] of suburban comfort, indoctrinated with the transcendent power of education, and infected by the conviction that not only do [they] deserve to pursue our dreams, [they] should profit from them.”
[Photo via Flickr: “Der Kitten office assistant,” CC BY 2.0 by snaxor]