New Words - 12 March 2018
The Oxford Dictionary Online is a warehouse of over 600,000 words. Despite this large arsenal, we continue to coin, clip, and blend new words into existence, and the Oxford folks pump some of these new words into their dictionaries. Here are some more recent additions with their official definitions.
Coffin cubicle noun [C] :
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A very small living space for one person made from an apartment that has been subdivided into units.
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The cost of living in a coffin cubicle? Over half of their monthly income. Few have their own bathroom facilities and virtually none have any sanitary space for cooking, washing or eating. Facilities are shared or, worse still, kitchens share space with bathrooms.
Broken-heart syndrome noun [C] :
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A temporary medical condition which affects the heart and is usually caused by a stressful or upsetting situation.
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Death cleaning noun [C] :
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The practice of throwing away things you don’t need as you get older, so that after your death your friends or family do not have to deal with a large number of possessions you have left behind.
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Once medications stabilized Simpson, the physicians talked to her about the stress in her life, and they told her about broken-heart syndrome. It “made complete sense,” Simpson said. She was sent home after two days, and though she still takes two heart medications, she is doing fine.
Magnusson says people should start thinking about death cleaning as soon as they’re old enough to start thinking about their own mortality. “Don’t collect things you don’t want,” she says. “One day when you’re not around anymore, your family would have to take care of all that stuff, and I don’t think that’s fair.”