Barry Ronge

Slick and sour with a twist, 'Hollywords' have once again found their way into popular culture. Er, that's until the fad passes

I love watching the evolution of language, the creation of new words that communicate new styles and perceptions that allow us to describe how the world around us changes and moves on.

I had never, however, heard of the important sounding Global Language Monitor, an organisation which does not necessarily create new words for the existing vocabulary but tracks the way that old, established words come back into fashion or go out of style.

They do not track the ever-expanding category of jargon and new words coined to describe new objects. For example, a "flash-drive" is a piece of technology, a device for storing information outside your computer.

Instead of using some technical term or a mundane, plodding description they called it "a flash-drive" because it conveys data in a flash and it flashes onto your computer screen. That's a classic example of a new concept and new word finding each other.

But the Global Language Monitor is also in the verbal resurrection business. It seems to focus on Hollywood, the tabloids and the music scene, and prefers to use existing words that are revitalised by a slick and often sour twist.

When these style-words hit the pop-media and the Internet, they take off like verbal rockets. In most cases they seldom last much longer than the style or the object they describe but while they are in use, they are everywhere.

Remember the "mods" and "rockers" of the '60s in the UK? Or the entire disco-era which had its own little dictionary until disco and glam-rock faded, and a new vocabulary slid into place.

It is from those fads that we recently acquired words and phrases like "anti-fit", which means baggy clothes that are deliberately not meant to fit your various body parts.

There's also been a "hauterfly", a person who ranks high in the world of haute couture and is seen everywhere. Lindsay Lohan and Heidi Klum are "hauterflies".

Then there's a "whale tail", a fad in which the waistband of a thong or G-string is visible over the top of jeans or a mini-skirt.

I enjoy flimsy, disposable words like that. They are verbal candy-floss, a reminder of "the twist", a long-forgotten dance; beehive hairdos and the "sack-dress", as well as the faded lustre of "bling" in all its forms. They are like tinsel on a Christmas tree that will end up on the garbage heap by the end of the week.

So let's look at the latest choices of the Global Language Monitor in its annual post-Oscar list of the best and most prevalent "Hollywords" in pop-culture. The number one choice is "Pandora" which I think is cool.

It is the name of the planet on whichAvatar plays out. The word has been dislodged from the old Greek myths, and has been used in millions of reviews, stories and conversations over the last six months.

I also like the symbolism of it. The myth of Pandora features an inquisitive nymph who opened a box she was told to keep locked. By doing so, she unleashed a plague of misery and ill-fortune on the world, but in that process, she also released hope and faith. That symbolises the plot of the movie, so with all the mythological and cultural roots and a shower of trendy Hollywood glitz, Pandora is back in business.

They also list "the hurt locker" as a current phrase that derives from Kathryn Bigelow's celebrated film. The term has now been picked up by people to describe the emotional place in which they hide their most personal fear, anxiety and guilt. A "hurt locker" is a vault of hidden emotion that can only be unlocked when there are no other possible solutions.

The list acknowledges the new vitality of the word "vampire" in the wake of the Twilight films and books, and also the other sundry TV series about vampires that have completely re-designed "crypt couture".

Another word that drew praise is "squeakguel" as used in the second Alvin and the Chipmunks film. I think "squeakquel" is a useful word. It aptly describes any movie starring Miley Cyrus or Vanessa Hudgeons and also any future attempt at a come-back from Brittany Spears.

Other words on the list include "barley pop" as a synonym for "beer" as it was used in Crazy Heart. I can't really see that catching on in the boozy pubs of the world but I'm sure Zac Efron might admit to drinking "barley pop", just not in public.

I think the smartest of the words came from District 9 and that word was "prawn", a disparaging term for the stranded aliens. With a second film already in pre-production, it looks as if these prawns will be on the menu for quite a while.

In previous years Slumdog Millionaire won with "jai ho" which means "let there be victory!" a phrase that became popular around the world. But the guys who selected the "hollyword" word of the year are not snobs and they have allowed themselves a little poetic indulgence.

They selected a verse that was used in The Blind Side. It came from the poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Lord Alfred Tennyson that reads: "Ours not to reason why, ours is to do or die." They posed the question: "When was the last time you recall the words of Tennyson being recited in a football movie - or anywhere else for that matter?" It suggests that under all that goofy playfulness there are some sharp ideas at work.

• Have a look for yourself at their site, pjjp@post.Harvard.edu