[Ads-l] Ghost, v.

[Ben Zimmer]

On Tue, Jun 7, 2016 at 4:46 PM, Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com> wrote:

> I just encountered a verb use of "ghost" that initially threw me for a
> loop.  A mutual fund news service ran the headline, "Did This Subadvisor
> Just Get Ghosted?",
> http://www.mfwire.com/article.asp?template=article&wireid=2&storyID=54162&bhcp=1.
> There are no uses of "ghost" in the text of the story, which describes how
> a mutual fund subadviser (to use the more common spelling) has been
> replaced without explanation.
>
> Apparently this is an extension of the modern digital meaning of "ghost,"
> which Oxford Dictionaries says is to "End a personal relationship with
> (someone) by suddenly and without explanation withdrawing from all
> communication."  Collins has a similar definition.  One would think this
> meaning would be fairly new, but it's already made it into at least two
> mainstream dictionaries.  The extension to the business world seems to be
> new, although MutualFundWire did not even think an explanation was
> necessary.
>

It's new enough that it won Most Likely to Succeed in the 2015 ADS WOTY
voting:

http://www.americandialect.org/2015-word-of-the-year-is-singular-they

See "Among the New Words" in the Spring issue of AmSp (currently winging
its way to subscribers) for more.

Collins included "ghosting" in its own 2015 WOTY roundup, so it (and
Oxford) likely added the word within the past year.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/word-lovers-blog/new/binge-watch-collins-word-of-the-year-2015,251,HCB.html

--bgz

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