Celebrinerd (2006)

[James Callan]

Ken Jennings was described in Time Magazine as a celebrinerd, which he mentioned in his blog on Sept. 18:

My favorite part of Grossman’s review: he calls me a “celebrinerd.” This is in line with the Time-honored tradition of inventing stupid mash-up words and hoping they catch on. When Time turned 75, the magazine actually ran an article about this annoying editorial tic. They claim to have coined “guesstimate” and “televangelist” and popularized “smog,” but their list of failed portmanteaus is much, much longer. My favorites include “cinemoppet,” “nudancer,” “sexational,” “twinsult,” and “politricks.”

So now I have my very own stillborn Time neologism! I’m a celebrinerd. Thanks, Lev Grossman–that’s sexational!
http://ken-jennings.com/blog/?p=170

Since then, he's tracking its spread in further blog posts:
Sept. 19:
Celebrinerd Watch, Day 1. I plan to track the progress of Time magazine’s new can’t-miss neologism, “celebrinerd,” about which I blogged yesterday. Although I’m honored to have inspired this coinage, it’s not just me I’m doing this for. What about Clay Aiken, or Bill Gates? Or that guy who played Urkel? We need this word. Sadly, no Google hits as of 10:30 a.m. this morning. I know, sometimes memes take time, but I can’t believe this hasn’t caught on by now. I’ll try again around noon.
http://ken-jennings.com/blog/?p=171

Sept. 23:
I had to wake up early to be on something called Satellite Sisters–and the sisters used the word “celebrinerd” in the intro! Not to mention we’re up to 78 Google hits, last time I looked.
http://ken-jennings.com/blog/?p=186

And people are mentioning on his message board that they're trying to popularize the word: http://ken-jennings.com/messageboards/viewtopic.php?t=393

The result? 687 Google hits as of 3:30 this afternoon (Pacific time). Could celebrinerd be this year's truthiness?

 -- James Callan

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