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Mikhail Epstein's definitions

ifnik (if + suffix nik)

someone whose life, habits and thinking are constructed conditionally.
Don't ask him what he's going to do. A typical ifnik, he will give you a dozen of "ifs."
by Mikhail Epstein October 2, 2003
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webbiage

webbiage n (web + suffix iage, like in verbiage) Ð excessive use of web tools and design beyond those needed to present a certain content or achieve a certain goal.
Why do you need all this webbiage? Simplify, simplify!
by Mikhail Epstein November 2, 2003
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ignorement

ignorement n ignore + suffix ment; cf. treatment, excitement - a noun that signifies ignoring something or somebody, corresponding to the verb ignore, but different from ignorance (which is derived from ignore, but has a different meaning, "lack of knowledge").
I hoped to receive forgiveness but instead was met with suspicion and ignorement.

Your son's continuous ignorement of his civil duties needs to be noticed and reprimanded.

The government shows the same ignorement towards human lives as towards human rights.
by Mikhail Epstein November 2, 2003
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chronosome

chronosome n (Greek khronos, time + Greek soma, body; cf. chromosome) Ð a unit of historical heredity, in contrast with a chromosome as a unit of biological heredity; a mental code of a historical period that is transmitted to next generations through styles, traditions and unconscious influences ("cultural air").
The chronosomes of the early 20th c. avant-garde have reached the generation of the 1960s and shaped its political views and artistic styles.

Nabokov's novel "Invitation to a Beheading" bears many Kafka's chronosomes, even if the author claims to have never read Kafka.
by Mikhail Epstein November 13, 2003
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happicle

happicle n (happy + diminutive suffix Ðicle, like in "particle," "icicle") Ð a particle of happiness, the smallest unit of happiness; a single happy occurrence or a momentary feeling of happiness.
There is no happiness in this world, but there are happicles. Sometimes we can catch them, fleeting and unpredictable as they are.

Like photons, happicles have zero mass at rest--the inertial mass that we identify with happiness. Happicles just flash and go out in passing. They may be as transitory as a fragrance in the air, or a yellow falling leaf, or a glance of a passerby on the street.

Happicles make life worth of living, even in the absence of stable happiness.
by Mikhail Epstein November 8, 2003
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infopause n. (information + pause)

staying away from computers, newspapers and other sources of information in order to recover from informational stress.
The infopause may take from several minutes to several months, depending on the gravity of the initial affliction.

Every business should introduce at least two five-minute infopauses during the working day. All computers and all lights are off. This will refresh employees' ability to process new information.
by Mikhail Epstein November 15, 2003
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equiphilia

equiphilia n (Greek aequi, equal + philia, love) - equal love to many persons or things.
It is difficult for Mary to make up her mind. Not that she is indifferent to her admirers but she is now at the point of equiphilia.

Sometimes equiphilia is dangerously close to indifference. Equal love to many means no love at all.
by Mikhail Epstein November 6, 2003
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