Neologisms – September 2017

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Dear TermNeologists!

We are back with our series of posts on neologisms, which we launched last month. Considering the prominent role, gastronomy plays in our everyday life by connecting cultures and people, this time we present you a selection of neologisms related to the mesmerizing world of food.

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The following neologisms, definitions and contexts are taken from wordspy.com, a website that tracks new words and phrases as they enter the language.

  • Gastroporn

This neologism derives from the combination of the words gastronomical and pornography.

Gastroporn is defined as “the suggestive pictures and prose used to describe recipes in upscale cookbooks or menu items in fancy restaurants.”

The term was first used in a review in the 8 December 1977 issue of the The New York Review of Books written by Alexander Cockburn: “True gastro-porn heightens the excitement and also the sense of the unattainable by proffering colored photographs of various completed recipes.”

Gastroporn

  • Gastronaut

Gastronaut derives from the combination of gastro- (“stomach”) and -naut (“sailor”) and is defined as “an adventurous eater.”

The earliest usage of this neologism dates back to 1985 in the article Let’s ring out the old year on a dubious note written by Michael Hirsley for the Chicago Tribune.

Here is an example of context using the neologism from The Guardian: “this is a snack for even the most cautious gastronaut, as all the steaming makes for a safe mouthful. The fillings are bit parts compared with the steamed dough itself, which should sing of maize, with a texture that subtly succumbs to the bite.”

Gastronaut

  • Pistachio principle

The neologism Pistachio principle refers to “the tendency to eat less food given certain visual cues, particularly evidence of the amount of food consumed, such as pistachio shells; the tendency to eat less of a food that takes more time and effort to consume, such as nuts that must be shelled”.

Sarah Wildman was the first to use the term in 2008 in One-Bite-at-a-Time Diet Makeovers: “another strategy is what he calls the pistachio principle. Given the same number of nuts (walnuts, peanuts, pistachios), people eat 45 percent less when they have to remove the shell.”

Pistachio principle

  • Cookie talk

Cookie talk describes “a low-key, informal chat, particularly one where cookies are served”.

First used in 1996 by Kay Harvey in Support group offers nourishment for the soul: “ ‘When you bring cookies, then you have a cookie talk, so others can benefit from what you tell them,’ says Pastor Rod Anderson, who gets the two-hour meeting rolling about 11:30 a.m.”

cookie_talk

For more neologisms on a variety of topics, check out TermCoord’s collection of neologism websites.

Moreover, if you want to find out more about neologisms and terminology, we invite you to read our previous article Neologisms – their origin and how they reinvigorate language.


Written by Iris Rinner – Terminology trainee at the Terminology Coordination Unit of the European Parliament, BA in Modern Foreign Languages and Cultures from the University of Sassari and MA in Specialized Translation from the University of Vienna, and Serena Grementieri – Terminology trainee at the Terminology Coordination Unit of the European Parliament, BA in Intercultural Linguistic Mediation and MA degree in Specialized Translation at the School of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Interpreting and Translation (ex-SSLMIT) of Forlì, University of Bologna.

Sources:

  • Cockburn, A. (1977) “Gastro-Porn”, New York Review of Books, http://bit.ly/2fb7fHc (Accessed 21 August 2017)
  • Harvey, K. (1996) “Support group offers nourishment for the soul”, Saint Paul Pioneer Press
  • Johnson, R. (2012) “The world’s best street food”, The Guardian, 24.2.2012 http://bit.ly/2xszynK (Accessed 21 August 2017)
  • Kalinowska, I. (2016) “Neologisms – their origin and how they reinvigorate language”. Available at : http://bit.ly/2xcAU72 (Accessed 21 August 2017)
  • Wildman, S. (2008) “One-Bite-at-a-Time Diet Makeovers”. Available at: http://bit.ly/2xcv9WO (Accessed 21 August 2017)
  • WordSpy, http://bit.ly/2w2ahBc (Accessed 21 August 2017)