Keeping Up With the Jenners

I love modern languages and the way they grow and evolve on a day-to-day basis. English, unlike Latin, which is a dead language, has newly invented words and phrases constantly being added to the lexicon to reflect the fast-changing world in which we live. These novel words emerge from many sources: current trends, pop culture, the Internet, and from technological advances. Just in case you’re wondering, these newly coined words are called neologisms, until they actually become accepted into mainstream language.

For instance, in 2014, Merriam-Webster, the official keeper of the almighty word, added 150 new words to its Collegiate Dictionary. Three little viral words topped the list of new additions -- hashtag, catfish, and selfie.

Now, trust me; I’m not trying to keep up with the Kardashians in writing this blog; in fact, I’ve never even watched a minute of that show, but I am taking a cue from Kris Jenner, who coined and patented a word of her own – Momager. This got me to thinking: why should the privilege of coining words be reserved for reality show royalty? Why can’t a real life housewife from the suburbs of Suffolk County give Neolexia a try? After all, it’s a free country and I’m a red-blooded-English-speaking American. So I’ve decided to play the name game and have created a list of words and phrases that I’ve coined in honor of the Momager’s famous ex, who just launched a new Twitter account as @Caitlyn_Jenner, which became the fastest account ever to reach one million followers.

In getting my own words and phrases out so quickly, I really hope to beat the Momager to the punch line, before the former Mrs. Bruce Jenner goes and starts patenting some choice words of her own, also inspired by her ex-husband’s transition to Caitlyn, as publicly revealed on the corseted cover of Vanity Fair.

Here are My New Gender-Friendly Additions to the English Language

I. The Jenner Jeneration or Generation J: Noun 1. Of or pertaining to children being born today, whose parents are raising them gender neutral.

II. Jennified: Verb 1. To defy your gender 2. To switch genders. 3. Those rare souls, with Olympic-sized courage, who allow themselves to live a life of their own choosing. 4. Of or pertaining to those individuals who have achieved the concept of “The Hero’s Journey,” as outlined in the psychological works of Carl Jung and the mythic studies of Joseph Campbell.

III. Jenner-Neutral: Adjective. 1. a person, place, or thing free of explicit or implicit reference to gender of sex.

IV. Jenner-Bias: Adjective. 1.Unequal treatment or gender discrimination based on a person’s sex or gender.

As for Caitlyn, herself, Carpe Diem. Latin, dead as it may be, can still tell it like it is. Now, ain’t that the veritas.

Cindi Sansone-Braff, the Romance Whisperer, is the author of Why Good People Can’t Leave Bad Relationships and Grant Me a Higher Love. Visit her web site at: www.grantmeahigherlove.com and listen to her radio show every Thursday night, 7:00 pm EST: www.blogtalkradio.com/higher-love.