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mikhail epstein's definitions

the booming 1990s, the dooming 2000s

a nickname for our decade
American culture likes to divide itself into decades: the prosperous fifties, the rebellious sixties, the egoistic seventies, the greedy the eighties, the booming ninetees… Finally, the dooming
2000s
by Mikhail Epstein October 8, 2003
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dreadvertise (verb; dread + advertise)

to advertise by dread, to engage in military propaganda.
There are skilled dreadvertisers in our government.
by Mikhail Epstein October 2, 2003
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uchronia

uchronia n. (Gr. ou, not + Gr. khronos, time; literally "no time"; cf. utopia, "no place) Ð a historical period when "nothing happens," a time of stagnation.
As soon as utopia finds its fulfilment in history, it turns into uchronia, a disruption of history itself.
by Mikhail Epstein November 13, 2003
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amortify

amortify verb trans. (Lat. amor, love + Lat. mort, death + suffix ify)

to act both with affection and ruthlessness, to inflict suffering or ruin by love.
Dostoevsky's novel "The Idiot" is the story of four principal characters who consistently attempt to amortify each other and eventually succeed.
by Mikhail Epstein November 15, 2003
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egonetics

egonetics, n. (ego+net+ics)

weaving a network of self-references, increasing one's presence on the interne.

Egonetics is different from "ego surfing" - a search of your name on the internet (using search engines). Egonetics is an active electronic dispersal of your name, making links to your homepage, using various interactive sites and open forums. It can be done for the sake of an idea or a commercial promotion, but in the absence of ideological or professional motifs, this is a clear case of egonetics.
I am afraid that my colleague uses her office hours for egonetics.

He is not an egoist in the classical sense, he is simply an egonetic.
by Mikhail Epstein November 16, 2003
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philophobia

philophobia n (Greek philia, love + phobia, fear) - a persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of love and intimacy, of deep relationship with smbd.
It seems Stalin suffered from philophobia. He never had a deep personal relationship with anybody, a man or a woman, either friendship or love.
by Mikhail Epstein November 7, 2003
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dislove

dislove verb transitive (prefix dis + love; cf. dislike, disapprove) Ð to have a deep negative feeling, attraction-through-aversion to smbd.

"Dislove" is a deeper feeling than "dislike," it is not just a matter of taste, but of personal relationship. It is addressed to individuals rather than to inanimate entities. Dislove implies a strong negative emotional connection to its object.
I don't hate Andy. I just dislove him. I wish him to be happy with somebody else.
by Mikhail Epstein November 7, 2003
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