game-changer / ɡeɪm ˈtʃeɪndʒər /

If you want to create big expectactions about something or someone, say that it is a game-changer. Really. This is not only a cool, modern expression, but it is also applied to cool, modern stuff. So twice as cool.

Game-changers are supposed to be so different, that things will never be the same. Theoretically game-changers could turn situations worse, but I have always seen it used positively.

Example 1:

iPhone 4S Camera Hands-on Review (time 15:15)

From time to time, a new product comes along that completely changes the way we do things. Fifteen years ago that product was the compact digital camera, that changed the way we take everyday photos. Today, the iPhone 4S could be considered the game-changer

Example 2:

From the dialogue between a womanizer and his friend in the movie: Crazy, Stupid, Love

- I met a girl.

- Oh, really?

- She is a game-changer.

- A game-changer? No way.

- So much I want to meet her mother right now.

Example 3:

And if you want to learn who are today's game-changers according to Bloomberg, they have even created a documentary series (highly recommended, by the way):

http://www.bloomberg.com/tv/shows/game-changers/ 

The list contains the usual suspects (Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson, etc.) but also some surprises. You can watch it online, so check it out.

oftentimes /ˈɒf(ə)ntʌɪmz, ˈɒft(ə)n-/

This may not be a fancy new word but, quite the contrary, a very old one. However, I am amazed that I survived so many years without (consciously) knowing it, as now I hear it everywhere.

 According to the dictionary, it is an archaic word in Britain, but a rather normal one in the US. Probably I have already heard it dozens of times, and simply not realized because its meaning is pretty obvious, but I have the feeling that it may have become more popular in podcasts because it sounds good.

In my own language, Spanish, it often(times) happens that in journalism there is a tendency to use longer words because they just sound fancier or more intellectual (may I say wordier?).

Well, maybe I am wrong about this, but in any case 'oftentimes' is a word used quite frequently, so it is worth to be known.

Example 1: The Candid Frame #123 - Ryan Libre (time 3:28)

You identify yourself as a documentary photographer and, how does that develop? Because, for a lot of people, when they travel to South East Asia, they oftentimes think of travel photography [...]

Example 2: This Week in Photo (TWiP) #223 - F Cancer (around minute 41 - the transcription may be not accurate as I had trouble to understand part of it)

As Frederick said, you've got to come from the same demographics, so if you are of European descent your chances may be high, because they've got bigger registries and that but, oftentimes the process of starting to look forward to a disease starts costing more, and they kind of think that the person passes away before they find a correct match.



"Wisdom is oftentimes nearer when
we stoop than when we soar"
William Wordsworth



One comment about its usage: though it is basically an alternative for 'often', it doesn't work in the same way. You can say, for instance, that

'Oftentimes' can be heard very often.

but it would not work reversed:



'Often' can be heard very oftentimes

You could if, instead, you placed it at the beginning:

Very often you can hear the word 'oftentimes', but oftentimes you will hear instead the word 'often'

And tell me: after reading this, have you started to hear it?





super-duper /ˌsu:pəˈdu:pə /

This expression does not need, I think, much explanation. It may be my own language bias, but I would have expected this to be kind of child speech, so I found it funny to hear it in podcasts relatively often (less frequently would I find it in writing). It seems, however, that also adults resort to it, though it is obviously used as an informal or humorous way, especially when 'super' is just not enough.

I will show two examples, one from a podcast, the other from a forum.

Example 1:

New York Times - Book Review Podcast (Oct 7, 2011) (at around minute 20 of the show)

Sam Tanenhaus: Jennifer Schuessler is here with best-seller news. [...] What's super-duper new on this super-duper list, this super-duper week?
Jennifer Schuessler: Well, we have a new book on top of the fiction best-seller list. I cannot tell you if it is super or duper, I have not read it...

Super-duper: not to be
confused with Super Trouper

Example 2:

Micro Four Thirds, five years from now...
Of course by this time, the new Super-Duper-OLED screens perform so well in bright light that the EVF doesn't even get a mention until page 3 of the press release

I have seen it written hyphenated or separated, it does not matter.

And you know, stay alert... or just follow this blog

copycat /ˈkɒpɪkat/

My first post is about 'copycat', because it is somehow related to the blog title (both meme and copycat are sorts of imitation). It is a word I hear from time to time and, while the overall meaning may be easy to get, I was not sure to understand the differences with similar words.

Photo from Techcrunch

Here is an example:

Photographer LaChapelle can sue Rihanna over 'copycat' video

And another one:

Steve Jobs, former chief executive of Apple, has slammed Samsung as a copycat business

Ok, so copycat seems to be not just a copy, but a hardly legitimate one. And, since I read a lot about technology, and patent wars are all over the news, that can explain why I have found this word a lot lately :-)

But there is also a slightly different meaning, as I heard in the Freakonomics Radio podcast:

And some say they’ve proven that a widely publicized suicide — when described in a certain way — can lead to copycat suicides. A suicide contagion.

So copycat can also be used for behaviour imitation though, funnily enough, especially for suicide and crime.

Stay alert...