traf v (back-formation from traffic) - to drive in heavy traffic, to be held in traffic, to trail in slow traffic.
Back-formation is the creation of a simpler or shorter form from a pre-existing more complex form: "edit" from "editor," "intuit from intuition."
Now, "traf" from "traffic."
I traffed for an hour before I could get home.
I've been traffing for two hours before I could even stop by a gas station to have a cup of coffee.
Now, "traf" from "traffic."
I traffed for an hour before I could get home.
I've been traffing for two hours before I could even stop by a gas station to have a cup of coffee.
by Mikhail Epstein November 08, 2003
Get the traf (verb, from "traffic")mug. 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.
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 08, 2003
Get the happiclemug. netscapist (net + escapism) - a person who escapes from unpleasant realities into the networld (see netscapism).
Netscapists are ubiquitous today. If you chat with a neighbor for hours from your computer instead of seeing him in a cafe, you are in danger of becoming a netscapist.
by Mikhail Epstein November 07, 2003
Get the netscapistmug. virtonautics n (virtual + nautics, from Greek nautikos, of ships, sailing, like in astronautics) Ð experimental exploration and development of virtual worlds.
Now virtonautics is still in embryo, but in the future it will become as common an occupation as aeronautics and astronautics today.
by Mikhail Epstein November 02, 2003
Get the virtonauticsmug. hibyer, n. (hi+bye+suffix er)
a marginal acquaintance with whom "hi' and "bye" are the most typical units of verbal exchange; the vocabulary of a minimal relationship.
a marginal acquaintance with whom "hi' and "bye" are the most typical units of verbal exchange; the vocabulary of a minimal relationship.
Do you know this woman? - Not really, we are hibyers.
They were married for ten years, but now they are only hibyers.
I was surprised when hibyer stopped for a more substantial conversation.
They were married for ten years, but now they are only hibyers.
I was surprised when hibyer stopped for a more substantial conversation.
by Mikhail Epstein November 16, 2003
Get the hibyermug. oneirogenic adj (from Greek oneiros, "dream" + genic; cf. photogenic, telegenic) Ð having a propensity to appear in somebody's dreams.
Some people are photogenic while others are oneirogenic. These characteristics rarely coincide. A person who is plain and unnoticeable in real life may haunt our dreams and imagination.
Have you noticed that cats are more oneirogenic than dogs?
To surprise your friends at a party, ask them: "Do you find me "oneirogenic"? If the answer is "yesÓ, ask them to recall your adventures in their dreams.
Have you noticed that cats are more oneirogenic than dogs?
To surprise your friends at a party, ask them: "Do you find me "oneirogenic"? If the answer is "yesÓ, ask them to recall your adventures in their dreams.
by Mikhail Epstein November 02, 2003
Get the oneirogenicmug. videocracy n. (from Latin video, I see + Latin cratia, from Greek kratos, power, rule; cf. ideocracy) Ð the power of visual images in shaping contemporary societies; the crucial impact of television, cinema, internet, and advertising on public opinion, political affairs, market strategies, etc.
by Mikhail Epstein November 14, 2003
Get the videocracymug.