LOOKING ASKANCE

The year is winding down, and the verbose geeks are already trying to jockey for relevance. It’s time for the Word of the Year (“WOTY”) announcement, and some dictionaries have made their picks.

- Joseph T. Gonzales [e-mail]

From dictionary.com comes the word “six-seven”, which is apparently something that western kids have latched on to, and are using incessantly in front of their elders. We are told that it actually means nothing, in particular. It’s just a device to respond, but not really respond. In short, an annoying tactic, a source of amusement.

Six-seven didn’t quite catch on in this part of the world, so it’s mighty irrelevant for us, except perhaps for trivia quiz nights sometime in the distant future. What might be more relevant in this tech age is the choice of Collins Dictionary: “vibe coding”.

I have yet to encounter this, but it has something to do with letting artificial intelligence take on the task of writing code by catching your “vibe”. Vibe, of course, means your intentions or your desires, or perhaps your natural tendency to be lazy and let someone else do the heavy lifting.