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This month, the word experts at New Oxford American Dictionary announced their choice for 2008’s word of the year:
Hypermiling: attempting to maximize gas mileage by making fuel-conserving adjustments to one’s car and one’s driving techniques.
A very timely choice considering this year’s astronomical fuel prices and many Americans’ desperate attempts to lower their fuel costs.
New York Times columnist William Safire weighed in with his choice for word of the year taken directly from Oxford‘s shortlist of runners up – a word that he believes will have more staying power during the coming recession now that gas prices have plummeted:
Frugalista: a person who lives a frugal lifestyle but stays fashionable and healthy by swapping clothes, buying secondhand, growing own produce, etc.
According to Safire, the word “frugalista” will come to be “the nom de guerre of the ‘recession warrior.'”
If you’re a word nerd like me, you’ll enjoy the entirety of Safire’s column on the etymology of the word frugalista.
If you’re just here for the money saving tips and not so much for the vocab, you’ll still enjoy his column’s closing statement:
Concerned about your budget in this year’s market debacle? Sharpening your pencil and tightening your belt, foraging for bargains but not altogether abandoning good food and good screens? Join the frugalistas!
Don’t you just love being ahead of the curve? :)
Frugalistas are all the rage these days! I say it’s a great thing!
I can definitely say that I’m a frugalista! I’m so glad to see that it’s actually a word :) BTW, LOVE YOUR BLOG!!! It’s been very helpful!
From a fellow word-nerd,
Tamerut
Me too, I’m jumping on the band wagon. I’m a proud frugalista!
I’m just glad frugalista’s are a very exclusive group, so there’s not much chance of the rich and famous getting in :-)