Asked by a journalist at The Scotsman about whether credit crunch buzz-words that put a positive spin on tough times actually help us to face up to them and feel better about the future, I said:
“For many, it will be either business as usual or simply more stress… Using positive words to frame a situation makes people view it more favourably, but many of these neologisms sound too contrived to really catch on. Everyone is trying to come up with one that will stick. Thriftifarian, anyone?”
Well now I’m wondering how far “Thriftifarian” could actually spread. If I really worked at it, maybe I could pollute cyberspace with it. On the other hand, perhaps I have better things to do!
(We have a benchmark: Before The Scotsman piece was published, Google returned no search results for Thriftifarian or Thriftafarian.)