Recession slang: 10 new terms for a new economy

Sample sentence: "It seemed like a good idea to charge that pair of Louboutins/small boat/Caribbean vacation to my credit card when I got my tax refund. But when I got my statement a week later, it was clear I was in a haze of intaxication at the time of purchase."

6. Madoff’d, v. To get ripped off in a particularly offensive fashion.

Sample sentence: "Oh man, that cab driver totally Madoff'd me. I gave him a $20 and he only gave me change for a $10."

5. Recessionista, n. A consumer who has historically paid big bucks to look like a million bucks and who, unwilling to quit his/her fashion habit in the face of the recession, has found alternative ways to maintain a certain standard of wardrobe.

Such strategies often include shopping at discount and second-hand stores. More prevalent in the media than in everyday conversation.

Sample sentence: "The clerks at Barneys are suffering from withdrawal now that I'm a recessionista and rent my handbags online instead of buying."

See also: frugalista.

Related: "crisis chic" (adj.)

4. Mancession, n. A recession, such as this most recent one, which hits men harder than women.

Sample sentence: "The extent of this mancession became clear to me when I realized it was all dads in F-250s in the carpool line."

See also: he-cession.

3. Povo, adj. A two-syllable "abbreviation" for poor, often with a mocking or self-defacing tone that lacks any serious derision or the class implications associated with "poor" or "poverty."

Derivation: Australian (Aussie) English

Sample sentence (better if said with faux Australian accent): "We're living sans Internet and cable now that my povo roommate won't chip in for it anymore. It's like the 1980s around here."

2. Permatemp, n. The condition of being permanently employed as a temporary worker.

This could be due to lack of motivation to seek permanent employment, inability to find permanent employment, or the permatemp's belief that a company will eventually hire him/her for the job s/he is currently doing for lower pay and without benefits.

Sample sentence: "Wake up, Joe. You've been here for six months, your cubicle is decorated better than your living room, and the hiring manager still doesn't know your name. You're officially a permatemp, my friend."

1. Decruited, adj. To be fired from a position one has not even started yet.

Sample sentence: "At first I felt really bad about being decruited from that corporate law firm after spending two summers of law school interning for them. But then I decided to make the most of my funemployment and use my signing bonus to travel around Europe."

See also: uninstalled, prefired

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