Still, excellent word.  I think I'll find a way to adopt it into my regular vocabulary...

Hmm... Got it. I can tell all these cougars who keep hitting on me on dating websites (sadly, I get far more of this than I do people my own age) that it's not that they're too old for me; it's that they live 150 miles away, and I'm a locavore. And if they offer to move closer, then I'll just hope they don't make me tase them.

"Upcycle" also is very good, a portmanteau of "upgrade" and "recycle."  It would be helpful to have an example.  Maybe, Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain"?

"Aging in place" is an excellent concept, but that expression is rather dismal.

"Locavore" is similar: great concept, stupid word.  You might think it meant, "someone who regularly feeds upon women who are crazy."

"To tase" (or, not so good I think, "to taze") is a back-formation from "Taser" that was waiting to happen.  "Taser's" suffix, "-er," regularly used to identify an agent who performs the action of a verb, already strongly suggests that the verb "to tase" exists.

"Taser" itself is brilliantly overdetermined.  The Wikipedia article on "electroshock weapon," or something scary like that, says:

<<
The trademarked name Taser is an acronym for "Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle".[10] Arizona inventor Jack Cover designed it in 1969 and named it for the science fiction teenage inventor and adventurer character Tom Swift.
>>

Says he!  This sounds like only the contrived official explanation.  Obviously Jack Cover liked the rhyme with "laser," and with that favorite Star Trek handweapon, the "phaser."  You know things are getting serious when an officer such as Kirk or Riker orders the troops, "Set phasers on maximum stun!"  Which makes one wonder how many settings there are: "slap across the face"?; "tickle under the chin"?; "kiss on the nose"?

"Bro," by the way, not one of the new words, strikes me as about as weak and unconvincing and embarrassing as "Dude," the resort of a lazy, feckless, frightened young man trying to assert his coolness and power.  ("Hey, Bro, give the guy a break, they were fixin' to tase him!")  But neither is as falsely and cynically manipulative as John McCain's "my friends," which he have been hearing more and more often lately.

Last but not least, of course, the word that most obviously requires further research is "cougar."  Among gay men, there is a similar metaphorical usage of a predatory animal, "chicken hawk," meaning I think an older man (but how old?: 30?; 40?; 22?) who pursues younger men (but how young?: 25?; 18?; 12?)

Since the first definition of "cougar" is an alternative name for a mountain lion used mostly in the Western US, its secondary meaning, an older woman on the prowl, probably was given to it by someone in a Western state -- which sounds right, given the social dynamics, and the constant temptation there, according to the stereotype, not to act one's age.  And two famous "cougars" of the cinema, Norma Desmond and Mrs. Robinson, happen to be Californians.

But who actually came up with the term "cougar"?  The stunned, barely breathing young victim of one of these women, describing his assailant to the police with his last gasp?  How thrilling!

Notice in the definition that "woman" is singular, but "men" is plural.  We are given the lurid suggestion that she makes her kill, then drags the unresisting body back to her cave or treelimb, where she takes from it what she wants, then tosses it out to the carrion-birds; and then she stalks forth, to make another kill.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

Canis,

I have to say, I love your posts. I can usually tell by the second paragraph that it's you without looking down; your style is that unique. I can't think of anyone else on Grist who's that readily identifiable (other than a few of our more noteworthy board trolls, but don't think I'm making comparisons there <grin>). And your posts are always so full of awesome trivia and tangent observations that no one else would think to make.

That said... Okay, if bacn tastes anything like spam, I don't think I'll ever use it, either. The carnivore in me considers turkey bacon to be sacreligious; using the leftover chicken parts that go into spam in a food as awesome as bacon would just be an abomination.

What's wrong with feeding on women who are crazy? (Um... You know, "feeding on" in a more metaphorical sense. See your note on "cougar," above.)

I disagree with you about the spelling of "tase." Etymology aside (you know, as much as a back-formation of a made-up word has "etymology"), I think "taze" looks better. Seeing an "s" where I'm expecting a "z" always makes me hear the word with a gentler, overly dignified pronunciation--possibly appropriate for "advertise," depending on what you're advertising, but for zapping some hapless sap with gods-know-how-many volts of malicious electricty and leaving them in a paralyzed, twitching heap on the ground...  You need the "z." The "z" looks like action.

Yeah, I thought "chicken hawk" when I saw "cougar," too. I suppose the desparity between the prowess and general coolness of the predators invoked just goes to show that hetero's respect their elders more than gays... Or maybe that a promiscuous older woman might be a MILF, but a dirty old man is just a dirty old man no matter which way he swings. (Nothing against any dirty old men who might be reading. If I'm lucky enough to live long enough, I plan to go into the field myself some day.) By the way, your description of the cougar in action was absolutely awesome.

And I'm pretty sure I agree with all the rest. But I'm not going to check now, because I'm too lazy to go back and read it again.

On "s" over "z," or "z" over "s": The relevant criterion is based in history and etymology.  Hence, "to tase" is better than "to taze," only because it comes from "Taser."  Similarly, "analyse" is better than "analyze."  And "advertise" is better than (the non-existent) "advertize."  And for precisely the same reason, but with a reverse conclusion, "theorize," say, is better than "theorise," and "euthanize" is better than "euthanise."  But all that would require a bit of ancient Greek, on top of French, to explain.

On the problem with cute young men, straight or otherwise: The problem with cute young men, straight or otherwise, is that they are so often foolishly squeamish and skittish and fastidious.  They act as delicate as second-grade girls at Saint Bernadette's, in their white dresses and mantillas, on the day of their First Holy Communion.

No wonder they need a cougar to knock some sense into them: one pounce, one swift bite to the neck, and it is all over.

The few who are more clever, and sound-minded, in employ as waiters and bar-tenders, know that by flirting with the lively fantasies of the toothless white-haired crowd, they can increase their take in tips remarkably.  And no doubt the same goes for young women in the same lines of work.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

EarthE as noun represents the eco money, eco kisses, eco art, eco bracelets and eco parties that we can give our friends and others to encourage them to keep taking those crucial eco actions. (Even spiritual schools give awards to their students, why not honor people for their environmental choices too.)  

Not sure why this EarthE verb/noun did not hit the charts in 2007.

More on this deep (but not yet broad) eco wordage is at www.Earthe.org .


Stele Ely www.EarthE.org