Howdy !
How is your weekend going ? Today's entry will pay tribute to a hilarious piece of news appearing on the media throughout this week, no other than manspreading. Well, just in case you are isolated and you don't know about its impact in the media, manspreading is the apparent tendency of a great deal of men of opening their legs while they are seated in public transports or in other places, occupying more room than necessary. Some feminists have asked the local government to do something about it and place some signs and notices to remember men, you know, to close their legs... much like it's done in other countries.
Anyway, this gave me an idea for the writing sake, what if I compile some of the activities and new tendencies in the world that, like manspreading, are coined by using the English influence and the suffix -ing ? Here the ones I found :
1. Manspreading : It is a compound of the word 'man' and the verb 'spread' (extend): It is the tendency of some men to spread their legs while seated in some means of transport or other places.
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| From : http://skepchick.org/2016/03/sexy-manspreading-dont-fight-the-feeling/ |
2. Twerking : Believe it or not, the word 'twerk' doesn't exist in English. Its origin is blurred but it might be a blend of the words 'twist' (shake) and 'jerk' (move suddenly). Want it or not, 'twerking has become outstandingly popular these days. As I'm sure you know, twerking is kind of dance where the dancers dance to the rhythm of the music in a provocative or sexual manner, suggestively moving the hips and the buttocks ! What is the origin ? Well, apparently, it all goes back to an African body-shaking dance and it also has to do with New Orleans rap music.
3. Wardrobing : This is one of my favourite new words ! Lexical creativity will never cease to surprise me. What is wardrobing ? It's the action of buying an item in a shop, then use it, and then, take it back to the shop for a refund. Yes, you heard right. It seems no one spends money on clothes anymore.
4. Bullying : Sadly, bullying seems to be quite trendy nowadays and it is really difficult to put a halt to it. I'm sure you know that bullying is basically children / teenagers harassing other peers just to humiliate them and make them look meaningless for the rest of the world. This includes not only physical violent, but also insults, scorn and rejection. Probably one of the cruellest diseases in the twenty-first century, very difficult to eradicate. Other new ways of bullying are springing up such as cyber bullying.
5. Mobbing : This is related to bullying. Mobbing consists of harassing any person, usually in the work place. This attitude usually has to do with hierarchy. One's boss or superior isolates the subordinate by isolating them or by not asking them to do anything at all.
6. Couchsurfing : Do you want to travel but you have no money ? That's not a problem anymore, thanks to couchsurfing. You can stay at other people's homes for free and sleep on their couch (or extra beds). An ideal way to make new friends and to have some locals show you around a given city. A new tendency in tourism ! Here you have a video explaining all the advantages of couchsurfing :
7. Car sharing : This new tendency aims at sharing your car with other people that are making a similar trip to yours. Very popular among workmates, each day a different person will drive to work and that person will give the rest a lift. However, nowadays, this tendency is used for long journeys and people even pay to get to their destination. Much cheaper than a bus ticket or a train ticket and, what is more, you get to know interesting new people !
8. Overbooking : This outrageous, unthinkable practice is very common (and legal !) in the travel industry. It is a business strategy consisting of selling more tickets than the tickets available, with the hope that some customers will cancel their trips later. This ensures that 100% of the tickets are sold. Problems ? When some customers do not cancel and there is actual overbooking, the companies are expected to fully compensate that customer. However, last month, a customer would refuse to abandon a plane and he was beaten and taken out by force. Amazing, isn't it ? Here you have the video of this depressing story :
9. Dumping : This marketing technique intends to lower the prices below the normal price or even below its cost of production to drive out all possible competition. That is, when big companies sell goods at incredibly low prices just to prevent other similar, newly-formed companies from thriving.
10. Jogging / running : A very popular exercise nowadays. People love running along different parks to keep fit and be healthy. This increasing sport has become trendy and most people have gone jogging, haven't they ? P.S. The Spanish word 'footing' doesn't exist in English. 'Jogging' or 'running' are the correct words.
11. Bungee jumping : This is an extreme sport. A person will jump off a bridge, with their feet tied by a rope. The Spanish translation 'puenting' doesn't exist in English.
12. Balconing : Another extreme sport, only this time it is forbidden and way more dangerous than bungee jumping. It involves jumping off the balcony of a hotel room to a swimming pool. A lot of people have died after wrongly practising balconing.
13. Body shaming : Has your mum or grandma ever told you that you're getting fatter and fatter (or thinner and thinner) ? I bet so ! Then, that's a case of body shaming. It entails making critical comments about a person's appearance, embarrassing and humiliating them. So, keep your mouths shut and keep those comments for yourselves if you don't want to body shame a person !
Well, as you can see the suffix -ing can create a wide range of new words in English. This is why Spanish use it to create new anglicisms (sometimes incorrectly, such as 'puenting', 'camping', 'parking' or 'footing'). Anyway, I'd like you to share other -ing words that i have probably missed. Please, post them in a comment !
See you around.
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| From : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvaGAwlkG4Y |
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| From : https://www.estarguapas.com/225735-wardrobing-el-fenomeno-que-preocupa-a-la-tiendas-de-ropa |
4. Bullying : Sadly, bullying seems to be quite trendy nowadays and it is really difficult to put a halt to it. I'm sure you know that bullying is basically children / teenagers harassing other peers just to humiliate them and make them look meaningless for the rest of the world. This includes not only physical violent, but also insults, scorn and rejection. Probably one of the cruellest diseases in the twenty-first century, very difficult to eradicate. Other new ways of bullying are springing up such as cyber bullying.
 |
| From : https://studybreaks.com/2017/05/26/bullying/ |
5. Mobbing : This is related to bullying. Mobbing consists of harassing any person, usually in the work place. This attitude usually has to do with hierarchy. One's boss or superior isolates the subordinate by isolating them or by not asking them to do anything at all.
 |
| From : http://www.canstockphoto.com/images-photos/mobbing.html |
6. Couchsurfing : Do you want to travel but you have no money ? That's not a problem anymore, thanks to couchsurfing. You can stay at other people's homes for free and sleep on their couch (or extra beds). An ideal way to make new friends and to have some locals show you around a given city. A new tendency in tourism ! Here you have a video explaining all the advantages of couchsurfing :
7. Car sharing : This new tendency aims at sharing your car with other people that are making a similar trip to yours. Very popular among workmates, each day a different person will drive to work and that person will give the rest a lift. However, nowadays, this tendency is used for long journeys and people even pay to get to their destination. Much cheaper than a bus ticket or a train ticket and, what is more, you get to know interesting new people !
 |
| From : http://www.mgaadi.com/category/car-sharing/ |
8. Overbooking : This outrageous, unthinkable practice is very common (and legal !) in the travel industry. It is a business strategy consisting of selling more tickets than the tickets available, with the hope that some customers will cancel their trips later. This ensures that 100% of the tickets are sold. Problems ? When some customers do not cancel and there is actual overbooking, the companies are expected to fully compensate that customer. However, last month, a customer would refuse to abandon a plane and he was beaten and taken out by force. Amazing, isn't it ? Here you have the video of this depressing story :
9. Dumping : This marketing technique intends to lower the prices below the normal price or even below its cost of production to drive out all possible competition. That is, when big companies sell goods at incredibly low prices just to prevent other similar, newly-formed companies from thriving.
 |
| From : https://www.slideshare.net/PrashantMirgule/dumping-final-c |
10. Jogging / running : A very popular exercise nowadays. People love running along different parks to keep fit and be healthy. This increasing sport has become trendy and most people have gone jogging, haven't they ? P.S. The Spanish word 'footing' doesn't exist in English. 'Jogging' or 'running' are the correct words.
 |
| From : https://okdiario.com/vida-sana/2016/03/06/diferencias-running-jogging-11898 |
11. Bungee jumping : This is an extreme sport. A person will jump off a bridge, with their feet tied by a rope. The Spanish translation 'puenting' doesn't exist in English.
 |
| From : http://paradoxoff.com/bungee-jumping.html |
12. Balconing : Another extreme sport, only this time it is forbidden and way more dangerous than bungee jumping. It involves jumping off the balcony of a hotel room to a swimming pool. A lot of people have died after wrongly practising balconing.
 |
| From : http://www.a1-solutions-spain.com/content/en/paul-whitelocks-andalucia-blog/566-balconing.html |
13. Body shaming : Has your mum or grandma ever told you that you're getting fatter and fatter (or thinner and thinner) ? I bet so ! Then, that's a case of body shaming. It entails making critical comments about a person's appearance, embarrassing and humiliating them. So, keep your mouths shut and keep those comments for yourselves if you don't want to body shame a person !
 |
| From : http://www.reviewmantra.com/2016/08/body-shaming-its-time-to-get-over-it.html |
Well, as you can see the suffix -ing can create a wide range of new words in English. This is why Spanish use it to create new anglicisms (sometimes incorrectly, such as 'puenting', 'camping', 'parking' or 'footing'). Anyway, I'd like you to share other -ing words that i have probably missed. Please, post them in a comment !
See you around.
