matthew lake's definitions

plug seeking

The often desperate plight of the smartphone user. Said users are always looking for another hit of electricity to sustain the user's ever-increasing demand for power to support 3G and other intensive battery-draining device activities. Plug seekers can often be identified publicly in airports, coffeehouses or sitting along the walls of conference sessions.

A: Why is Barbara sitting all alone in the corner? Is she being anti-social today?
B: Nah -- she's plug seeking, and it's the only place she could find an open outlet. Another half-hour and she'll be forcibly powered down. Then you'll see anti-social.

by Matthew Lake February 26, 2010

egocasting

The act of intentionally constructing and promoting an idealized self in a very public way, and often obnoxiously. It's critical to note that the projected self is not always received as idealized, but more often as immature, angsty, self-involved and attention-seeking.

Judd: Did you see the new cast of The Real World?
Pam: I did. It's so disappointing that the producers can't see beyond the fakery and the posing. I thought The Real World was about getting beyond labels, smashing the superficial, and seeing the process of individuals' identity construction in the context of diversity.
Judd: I know, and it's sad. Now it's just a bunch of egocasting in the context of drunken hookups.
Pam: Pathetic.

by Matthew Lake May 12, 2007

auf'd

Used as a verb to describe getting voted off of popular reality show Project Runway. A twist on the word 'offed' that refers to German Host Heidi Klum's final words to every contestant, 'Auf Wiedersehen,' followed by an air kiss to each cheek.

Who will get auf'd this week on Project Runway? Tune in to Bravo on Wednesday night at 9 to find out!

by Matthew Lake August 27, 2006

borientation

Training sessions, corporate videos, processing meetings, human resources intakes; borientation involves plunging headfirst into the esoteric excrement of your new institutional identity. Its sole purpose is to wring the last vestiges of individualism from your soul before you begin your corporate, educational or other insipid journey.

Freddy: When do you start work?
Velma: Well, I think I'll probably start working on Wednesday, but first I have to endure two horrific days of borientation.

by Matthew Lake December 8, 2007

riskscape

A way of visualizing a certain set of risks, throughtfully drawn from the domain of all possible risks, and how they are associated with any given set of plans or circumstances. Imagined topographically, for instance, risks with a higher elevation would have a greater likelihood of manifesting negative consequences than risks at a lower elevation.

The planners of the Iraq invasion failed to fully describe the riskscape, and plan for all possible contingencies, relying instead on platitudes, such as 'we will be hailed as liberators.'

by Matthew Lake April 30, 2007

rantumentary

A documentary that advocates a particular, often strong, stance on an issue -- a film that is both a come to Jesus and a call to action.

George: Did you see Gore's 'An Inconvenient Truth'?
Dick: It was amazing. Quite the rantumentary, though it lacked some of the passion of Michael Moore's masterpiece 'Fahrenheit 9/11'.

by Matthew Lake October 3, 2006

cake-up

A word used to describe the excessive application of facial cosmetics

DAMN ... that skank's foundation is so thick it might as well be called cake-up.

by Matthew Lake June 11, 2006