After what mobile gaming company Zynga is calling a “successful launch” of the Words with Friends Social Dictionary in 2017, Words with Friends 2 is adding eleven regionally specific words to its dictionary. They come with the launch of a new in-game feature, Road Trip with Friends. Among the additions: hella (an informal adverb that means "extremely" and is native to California) and Minnesota's hotdish, a must at any potluck.
Another new word was inspired by Colorado: Fourteener, which in hiking vernacular refers to a mountain over 14,000 feet — as if you didn’t know that already. It’s right there in the glossary that everyone gets when they cross over the state line.
What else should be in that glossary? Here are ten words that Zynga might consider next time around.
Marijuanapology (noun): 1. A regretful acknowledgment of your behavior last night after that third bowl. 2. What you owe your friends when you share a candy bar with them without letting them know beforehand that it’s an edible.
Dobsonification (noun): The inexorable conservative and religious slide that one experiences simply by living in or within close proximity to Colorado Springs and the organization Focus on the Family.
Sabinevolence (adjective): Any presumptive geniality, kindness or friendship suggested by the on-air personality of a local TV meteorologist, without benefit of concrete knowledge or personal familiarity. (See also: Arakawabunga.)
Gentrifiasco (noun): 1. The community fury that erupts in situations arising from the displacement of longtime residents of an area to make room for high-end (and more profitable) housing. 2. The act of self-destruction by thinking that poking fun at gentrification is a good marketing strategy.
Stapletoned (adjective): That ineffable trait an adult physically displays upon relocating to a child-focused, monied, largely Caucasian suburb purposefully disconnected from the rest of the surrounding community. Example: “Dude, did you see that Kevin posted something about it not really bothering him much that his neighborhood was named for a guy known for KKK connections? And seriously, what is up with the golf shirts and visors? He’s been totally Stapletoned.”
Melanbucolia (noun): The sorrow and/or resentment one feels for having no desire to enjoy outdoor activities when one lives in Colorado. Most commonly experienced while reclining comfortably, usually on a sofa, and feeling intense guilt simply by looking out the window. See also: snowbligation (q.v), trailethargy and Ilovenotcamping.
Snowbligate (verb): The responsibility Coloradans feel to ski, snowboard or even possess the willingness to travel up the I-70 corridor from November through May. Term can be applied multi-directionally: One can snowbligate one’s children or co-workers, for example, or one can feel snowbligated, either by a deliberate act of another, or by one’s own guilt for living in a state where one could ski but chooses not to do so.
Patioddicted (adjective): The state of being unwilling to patronize any Denver establishment without a rooftop or outdoor patio. Related terms: mimosamania, dining al beersco, etc.
Hickenloopy (adjective): A quality of a situation or personality that succeeds or turns out positively against all odds, especially when complicated or enhanced almost completely by folksy charm. Currently a regional term, but has possible national implications in 2020.
Carnitas Interruptus (noun): The act of being forced to go cold-turkey on your regular diet of Chipotle for various reasons, including but not limited to: several food safety issues, terrible queso and personal objections to the corporate abandonment of Denver in favor of Newport Beach, California.