Word games. I love them, and with the Internet, smart phones, and other advancing technologies, our English language is growing – word by word.
I wrote the word “Googled” in a sentence the other day, and my word processor told me it was misspelled and there was no alternative spelling. But we know what it means, don’t we?
I “Googled” more strange words, and found some on PCAdvisor.com and other places. Here are the results of my findings (you might be familiar with some of them, but I doubt you know all of them – especially the first one):
1. What’s anti-poopsocking? Poopsocking refers to the phenomenon where a user becomes so engrossed in an activity, such as online gameplay [i.e. “Candy Crush”] that they prioritize the game over all other functions, such as visiting the toilet. Anti-poopsocking features force the player to stop playing periodically, perhaps by requiring them to ask other users for assistance and wait for a response before they’re able to proceed to the next level. (And you thought you were just stuck! Get up and use the bathroom!)
2. What’s a retweet? The practice, on Twitter, of forwarding a message or link from someone else to your followers. Users can either formally retweet to make the forwarded message appear exactly as written by the original user or use the informal convention of “RT@username:” to share the tweet, edit, or comment.
3. What’s a hashtag? A hashtag is a word, phrase, or just a collection of letters preceded by a hash (#) symbol. It’s simply a way of creating a label by which people can refer to the same thing. The # means “this is a tag,” and enables other users to search for content marked with the same label by searching for the same hashtag. No space is used between the number sign and the accompanying words. They are used on services such as Instagram and Facebook. There’s no official directory of hashtags, as they can be invented by users at any time and inserted into posts. Promotional hashtags in the media can be a good way of creating a buzz. For example, displaying a hashtag on a TV show can be a handy way of initiating group discussion and generating fan interest.
4. What’s a Google Hangout? A function within Google Plus that allows users to have live, face-to-face, multi-person video chats with chosen participants. These can be on the Google Plus profile page of the user who launched the chat, on YouTube, or on a Website.
5. What’s Instagram? Instagram is an online service for capturing and sharing photos and video. Acquired by Facebook in 2012, Instagram runs primarily as an app on iOS and Android devices and, as of February 2013, served over 100 million active users.
6. Last but not least, this is from Oxford Dictionary Online Blog: “People who spend too much time using computers should be aware that they are risking a host of previously unknown ailments. They could end up with “computer face” (frown lines that result from staring at a screen), “gorilla arm” (a painful hand and arm caused by holding the arm up to operate a touch screen), “laptop thigh” (a rash or discoloration of the skin caused by heat from the laptop), or “qwerty tummy” (a bug picked up from someone else’s infected fingers on the keyboard).
Ewww ... #I’mgettingcomputerface so #i’mouttahere! #Haveagreatday!