What's That Word Again?

Eight terms that will bring you up to speed with new lingo

- Ishani Nandi

POP CULTURE, socio-political movements, the digital revolution: There are endless influences in the world that shape how we see it and communicate. From university students in London using ‘womxn’, a more inclusive term for women, to the Homer Simpson-inspired ‘d’oh!’, the pithy, yet effective, expression of one’s own stupidity, there are words being added to official dictionaries that can leave us scratching our heads. Here are a few:

GASLIGHT (v.) To manipulate (someone) by psychological means into doubting their own sanity

You’re too sensitive. I was just joking. Lighten up! Gaslighting is a form of manipulation in which a person seeks to make you question your point of view, the memory of an event or your sanity through misdirection, falsehoods and twisting of facts.

The term came from the 1938 play Gas Light by American playwright Patrick Hamilton, where a man convinces his wife that her noticing of objects missing from their home is only her imagination, when, in fact, he is stealing them. She is made to believe that she is a compulsive thief and comes close to losing her mind.

According to psychotherapist Aparna Balasundaram, “Gaslighters are motivated by the need for power and control. They use conditional apologies (I cheated on you, and I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help it. You were never there for me!), denial and lies (I was just trying to help. You are the one being dramatic and oversensitive.) and use an individual’s insecurities and weaknesses against them (You really are so hard to love. No wonder no one has ever stayed with you … except me.)

ADULTESCENT (n.) A middle-aged person whose clothes, interests and activities are typically associated with youth culture.