Over the last few days -- perhaps only in the last day -- I've noticed the use of the word "presser." Apparently this hip new noun denotes press conferences, like the one last Wednesday night in which Barack Obama discussed health care. This word is even so new Wikipedia has yet to hand out a definition; a search online reveals presser is fresher than any other word in this post.
Presser strikes me as just a little too hip, a little too self-consciously au courant, a little too intentionally insouciant or blasé. It's got the over-worked feel of planned spontaneity, if you know what I mean. It reminds me of those folks who go too far in proving their familiarity or mastery of certain things by speaking, dressing, or acting in a manner too casual for their standing or place. They present themselves as so involved or familiar that they could really care less.
It's all a bit like calling the president POTUS (a new hybrid oriental flower, I hear) or prezzy. Or yo.
I recently noticed, too, the seemingly ex nihilo creation of the word Norks, or norks, used in commentaries, blogs and headlines. This seemingly new noun denotes North Koreans. One day, well, there it was: Norks. For a moment I thought it might be some twist on a new type of dork, or even some queer reference to an underground secessionist movement in New York.
I swear, too, that Twitter, and more importantly, tweet, were not in my internal lexicon, at least as they are now, until just a few months ago. I do recall adoring the very lovely word twitterpated, first presented to me as a child watching one of the greatest scenes in Disney film history (see below). But tweet as a signifier for a type of human communication? Oiks!
Of course, I have readily absorbed blog as an effective noun or verb, but I admit I do not use it without feeling a tiny bit low-brow. And though I initially loathed 24-7 (or 24/7), I've come to use this without the slightest compunction.
But presser? I don't know. That word sucks. It is just too mule. It's not, at least for me, the least bit fly. It strikes me as even a bit of a diss, particularly since it emerged as a noun indicating an Obama press conference. Really, word! For some, I am sure it is totally chill, even downright dank. But for me, well, it ain't given props to the POTUS, that's for sure. There was a time I would have been up with being down with it. But not now.
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