Buzzwords of 2006

Words and phrases reveal much about our national concerns and interests. Here are a few of the terms that became prominent in 2006, courtesy of the New York Times.

• Food Miles: the number of miles food has traveled to get to your plate. This generates more decision making: Are organic grapes really worth the jet fuel that carried them from Chile? Is it better to support the local garlic farmer or the one in China?
• Hummer House: an overly large single-family residence. Synonyms from earlier years are starter castle and McMansion.
• Internet Courage: boldness of character that comes from the anonymity and distance inherent in Internet communication.
• Katrina Brain: forgetfulness, lack of concentration and failure to follow through on activities, characteristic of the post-traumatic stress of Hurricane Katrina.
• Seven-thousand-mile Screwdriver: micromanagement of a situation from afar. Lately used to describe the difficulties of managing the war in Iraq.
• Sneeze: a television advertisement shorter than 15 seconds.
• Snowflakes: term used by Pentagon employees for memos sent in blizzards from the third-floor executive suite of Donald H. Rumsfeld. Ironically, Rumsfeld, who vowed to push technological transformation on the military, dictated his snowflakes into an aged tape recorder to be typed onto hard copies by his assistant.
• Sudden Jihad Syndrome: an outburst of violence from a seemingly stable and normal Muslim.