Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The Public Address Word of the Year 2010

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  • Megan Wegan,

    So if one of you is the other’s alibi for a heinous crime…?

    I think the word you are looking for is when, not if.

    Welly • Since Jul 2008 • 1275 posts Report

  • Tom Beard,

    can you provide a pronunciation guide please?

    I definitely hear it with "a" as in "hat", but there's no definitive version.

    I think it was Emma who suggested it goes best when preceded by the Batman theme: "Duhnuh duhnuh duhnuh duhnuh Duhnuh duhnuh duhnuh duhnuh ... Twatock!"

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Tom Beard, in reply to Jackie Clark,

    it was coined by one of our own

    After I used "twatcock" and some others repeated it, I googled to check, and there have been instances of its use before, so I can't quite claim neological rights. However, I don't think it's ever achieved such sustained and resonant use as on PAS and now Twitter, and it never had the ideal combination of signifier and signified until it was used to describe P**l H***y.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • giovanni tiso,

    They said what about Perl Healy?

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • adPro, in reply to andrea quin,

    Liquefornication - People wanking on about liquefaction.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2008 • 5 posts Report

  • Emma Hart,

    So if one of you is the other's alibi for a heinous crime...?

    Um... could you define "heinous"?

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report

  • Rich Lock,

    Given that ‘twatcock’ is going to walk it, perhaps we should just stick it out of the way over in the corner and focus on the fight for second place.

    My leftfield nomination is ’HoSteria!!!!!’, coined by our gracious host in the wake of the front page of the first HoS after the earthquake. For me, it neatly encapsulates that paper’s editorial line on….more or less anything and everything, really.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

  • Tom Beard, in reply to Rich Lock,

    HoSteria could also work for moral panics over skirt lengths at Newlands College. #slutskirt

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Tom Beard,

    "Twatock"? Is there a word to describe the acute embarrassment that comes from misspelling one's own word?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • James Butler, in reply to Tom Beard,

    I have always heard "twatcock" to rhyme with "hot rock", but "twatock" clearly rhymes with "mattock" (a sadly underused word itself).

    Auckland • Since Jan 2009 • 856 posts Report

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    Twatcock Ness Monster.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Simon Bennett,

    'Nudity Clauses'

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 174 posts Report

  • Zippy Gonzales,

    My intended entry for Word of the Year was going to be cowtoe, which was a mash of kowtow and camel toe. What with the Nats' naked simpering to Warner Brothers/ Hillary Clinton/ Allan Hubbard, etc. it seemed apt. However, my vote goes to twatcock.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 186 posts Report

  • Jolisa, in reply to Tom Beard,

    Tom, I just figured you were getting a jump on the eventual pronunciation shift. Just as "bloody" was once "by Our Lady," so too twatcock => twattock, over time.

    (I've been pronouncing it with two similar vowel sounds and enjoying the assonance, as well as the glottal stop in the middle. Will experiment with rhyming it with hat-block, but new habits die hard).

    Auckland, NZ • Since Nov 2006 • 1472 posts Report

  • Steve Reeves,

    I've recently come across "Whoroscope", pronounced as you would around Whanganui, i.e. with the "Wh" as "hhhwa" as in an old-fashioned English "hhhwat" for "what?".

    Alternatively you can say "hooo-roscope.

    So, it's NOT whore-o-scope!

    The word describes the viewing of one's life chances as associated with when your day of birth falls relative to the original transmission of episodes of Doctor Who. (People born before 23rd November 1963 will all have the same significance attached to their day of birth and therefore their subsequent lives.)

    It is not to be confused with exactly the same word used by Samuel Beckett in 1930 as the title of poem. That IS "whore-o-scope", I bet!

    Near Donny Park, Hamilton… • Since Apr 2007 • 94 posts Report

  • Ian MacKay,

    "Transparency" = what you can't see.

    Bleheim • Since Nov 2006 • 498 posts Report

  • elsketcho,

    The problem is, I'm struggling to remember events and phrases from the beginning of the year. 'Bailout' should be up there though. "In time for the world cup" was still being chucked about until recently. Folk tend to nominate/vote for events of recent relevance. It's a bit like all those 'top albums of the last 50 years' polls. (Speaking of folk, Obama has busted that one out a fair bit of late).

    Auckland • Since Aug 2007 • 35 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to James Butler,

    I have always heard "twatcock" to rhyme with "hot rock"

    Same - the alternative just doesn't flow the same, to my ears

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Jolisa,

    "bloody" was once "by Our Lady"

    Didn't know the Strayans had been messin with the Queen's English for quite so long..

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Jolisa, in reply to Sacha,

    Shakespeare himself was Australian, yo.

    Auckland, NZ • Since Nov 2006 • 1472 posts Report

  • Mellopuffy,

    "vajazzling"

    naahhhh. "Twatcock"

    Dunedin, NZ • Since Feb 2007 • 63 posts Report

  • Judi Lapsley Miller,

    IMNSHO "twatcock" and "#eqnz" are the only contenders - but which to choose!?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 106 posts Report

  • Jolisa, in reply to Mellopuffy,

    Arguably, a twatcock comes pre-vajazzled.

    Auckland, NZ • Since Nov 2006 • 1472 posts Report

  • Kyle Matthews,

    I'm thinking outside the square in that the WOTY isn't a word in itself, but the bit that came before so many of them: #eqnz, #pikeriver, #outrageousfortune, #allwhites.

    To me it felt like the year when twitter hashtags became part of the parlance, even for those of us who don't really use the thing.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report

  • Luke Williamson,

    I also nominate twatcock because 1) it was coined by one of our own 2) it is a multipurpose word suited to all situations and occasions 3) I am innately scatalogical.

    I'm feeling a bit icky at the thought of a scatological twatcocks - I mean, where have they been!!!

    Warkworth • Since Oct 2007 • 297 posts Report

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