[Ads-l] WOTY candidate: "twalking" = 'texting while walking'

[Andy Bach]

I've heard folks walking and talking on their phones called "walkie
talkies" on a bike list (as in "Riding along the Lakeshore path yesterday,
I had to dodge walkie talkies the whole way through.")

On Thu, Nov 14, 2019 at 11:54 AM Mark Mandel <markamandel at gmail.com> wrote:

> I've seen "digital zombies", but can't remember where.
>
> MAM
>
> On Thu, Nov 14, 2019 at 12:24 PM Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Here’s a candidate that seems likely to stick:
> >
> > https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Texting%20Zombie <
> > https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Texting%20Zombie>
> >
> > BB
> >
> > > On 14 Nov 2019, at 07:58, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> wrote:
> > >
> > > "
> > > "People who text while walking need a word to describe them"
> > > --I guess "dearly departed" or "corpses-in-waiting" aren't sufficiently
> > > specific.  But I agree that "twalkers", like its referents, doesn't
> have
> > a
> > > promising future.
> > > LH
> > >
> > > On Thu, Nov 14, 2019 at 10:33 AM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > >
> > >> On Thu, Nov 14, 2019 at 9:36 AM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu
> >
> > >> wrote:
> > >>
> > >>> Not sure how brand new it is, but I encountered it (the term, not the
> > >>> activity) for the first time today, in a piece on the first page of
> the
> > >>> Times Business section. Not a brilliant coinage, but I suppose an
> > >>> inevitable one, especially since it seems to conjure both "tweeting"
> > and
> > >>> "talking" as well.  Maybe for the "unlikely to succeed" category?
> > >>>
> > >>
> > >> Back in 2015 I wrote a Wall Street Journal column about suggested
> terms
> > for
> > >> the walking-while-texting phenomenon, including "wexting" and
> > "distracted
> > >> walking." Those who text while walking have been called "petextrians,"
> > >> "pedtextrians," or "digital deadwalkers."
> > >>
> > >>
> >
> https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-do-you-call-a-reckless-texter-1451407390
> > >>
> > >> None of those have caught on since then, and I can't see "twalking"
> > being
> > >> any more successful. But keep in mind that we've retired the "least
> > likely
> > >> to succeed" category in our WOTY voting (along with some other unloved
> > >> categories).
> > >>
> > >> --bgz
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


-- 

a

Andy Bach,
afbach at gmail.com
608 658-1890 cell
608 261-5738 wk

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