New words in business - 2003

The Dictionary of Business and Management published in 2003 gives new words and phrases from business people and their literature. Some of these words are striking metaphors, others are original blends of existing words - at least one is an acronym.

Which of these neologisms do you think will last?

Affluenza - stress induced by the pursuit of wealth

Alpha-geek - IT specialist, only person to understand the computer system

Anticipointment - the feeeling that high expectations are about to be dashed

Beepilepsy - the sudden jerks given by a person getting a lot of mobile phone mesages

Blamestorming - a meeting to find a scapegoat for failure

Bottom fisher - an investor who searches for bargains among stocks that have crashed

Chainsaw consultant - outside consultant who advises on who is to be sacked

Circle the drain - to be on the brink of complete failure

The Circular File - the waste paper bin

Glass ceiling - invisible barrier to promotion (especially for women)

Grass ceiling - invisible barrier to promotion caused by inability to do business while plainy golf (especially for women)

Dead cat bounce - a short term increase in the value of a stock following a precipitous drop in value

Digital hygeinist - the person emplyed to vet employee e-mails for obscene jokes and complaints about the boss

Fallen angel - a stock that was once very desirable but has now crashed

Ohno-second - the moment of realisation of failure, or the moment between sending an e-mail and regretting it

Permalancer - a permanent employee kept on a freelance contract to avoid giving them company benefits

Salmon days - making a lot of effort but getting nowhere

Seagull manager - executive who makes a lot of noise and leaves behind a pile of guano

Stress puppy - someone who complains a lot about stress but secretly enjoys it

Wombat - waste of money, brains and time

Language of the moment 2004

Alpha earner - wife who earns all or most of her family's income

Anglosphere - English speaking nations that support common law and civil rights

Darknet - Technologies that enable the illegal sharing of copyrighted digital files with little or no fear of detection

Marzipan layer - managers just below a firm's top layer of directors or partners

Parallel Parenting - in which a divorced couple assume or are assigned specific parental duties while minimising or eliminating contact with each other.

Weapon of mass distraction - something that distracts many people from thinking about important issues

See more examples at www.wordspy.com