Bad words! And what they mean

Prof. Anatoly Liberman visited The Daily Circuit to discuss new and continuing occurrences of words that he sees too frequently, not frequently enough, or in contexts that are inappropriate.

Following is a lexicon of such words, as suggested by the professor or listeners.

• Selfie (Self-portrait, esp. one taken with a cellphone)

• Conscience-laundering (When a guilt-ridden wealthy person makes a charitable investment)

• Twerking (Dancing while bent double, with back turned to the intended observer)

• Vom (Vomit)

• Literally ("A very good word if it's connected to something literal," the professor said)

• Ratchet (As in, "Ratchet up the pressure")

• Cray-cray (Crazy)

• Trending (When a number of discrete events create a pattern)

• Sharknado (A tornado comprising sharks)

• So... (When used as a meaningless preamble)

• Kick the can down the road (To leave a final resolution to a later time)

• Granular (Highly detailed)

• Folks ("People," esp. when used condescendingly by a politician affecting a rustic manner)

• I know, right? ("Indeed")

• Swag, swaggy, swagger ("Cool," "pretty cool," "cooler")

• It is what it is (Something to be accepted as inevitable)

• Impact (An overused synonym for "influence")

• Morph (Change)

• Sunsetting (Ending)

• Cascading (Distributing)

• In my wheelhouse ("Within my skill set")

• Interlocutor (Conversation partner)

• Pibjas (Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches)

• YOLO ("You only live once;" alternately, "You only love once")

• ASAP ("As soon as possible")

• LOL ("Laughing out loud")

• From the ... perspective (As in "From the requirement perspective," or "From the recruitment perspective")

• Transparent (With nothing to hide; whose meaning is clear)