"Sorry I'm late, got caught up in a Boston Legal anotherism." New words to express those hard to express contemporary experiences

Credit Vuth / Our Books

Technology, so the truism goes, is always ahead of the law; similarly, it has a way of advancing ahead of language. Consequently, the technologists and marketers have the first go at naming things, and generally make a complete hash of it.

Similarly, there is a long time lag between the arrival of a new technology and words to describe the new experiences that the consumer population encounters.

For example, in the land of the $1.50 DVD the expat is often faced with a serious inability to express particular sensations, emotions and situations that arise from everyday life experiences. In the spirit of public service, I humbly offer the following words (with suggested usages).

Indigitagestion: the slightly ill feeling one has after getting to the very end of all the additional extras included with DVD(: having listened to all the commentaries, watched all the mini-documentaries, viewed all the galleries, and even read the DVD production credits. In chronic conditions this is known as anorakitis. Not common in Cambodia unless you use Amazon a lot.
"I had to finish it, the whole thing, I knew I'd never come back to it again. Trouble was, by the end I had severe indigitagestion."

Digisomtion: from the Latin somnus, for sleep. The use of DVDs to overcome sleep deprivation due to overstimulation, alcohol-induced depression or broken air conditioner.
"I was wide awake at 3 am last night so I had to do some digisomtion."

Anotherism minor: the irresistable impulse to watch just one more episode before going to bed, usually only overcome when you reach the end of the disc and have to get off the couch anyway.
Anotherism major: the irresistable impulse, on completing the viewing of an entire season of a particular show, to return to the beginning and start again. In extreme cases (anotherism mammotha) this will transfer to the show's complete history.
"Sorry I'm late, got caught up in a Boston Legal anotherism."

Menuslap: describes the sensation of waking up and finding the menu page blaring from the TV when you have fallen asleep while indulging in anotherism minor or digisomtion.
"I fell asleep on the couch last night until I was menuslapped around midnight."

Digilurch: the odd sensation that occurs when you start thinking that you are actually a character in the film or TV series you are currently watching, until you leave your house and someone attempts to speak to you (particularly speaking Khmer). Frequency increases when engaging in anotherism major.
"Whoa, man, that was a digilurch and a half!".

Audioslopica: foolishly suffering through poor quality audio commentaries. Poor quality is here identified as, but not limited to, commentarians who: read essays, indulge in self congratulatory back-slapping, argue with co-commentarians about insiginficant production details, and/or insist on telling the story of the film that we already know because we've watched the damn thing already (e.g. "This is the scene where we find out where she has been hiding the money … (prolonged pause) … So now he knows where the money is, and he has to figure out a plan to get hold of it.").
"I'm so lonely I'll even do some audioslopica for company."

Spoo: a technical term for reviews reprinted on the back of the DVD cover, usually taken from online guides and in many cases not particularly complimentary of the movie inside. Also classic spoo, such as the popular "Two Thumbs Up".
"Don't believe the spoo. The movie is crap."

Randomata: small details relating to the DVD you purchased in the shop that turn out to be different when you get them home: it's season 3 not season 4; it's a different movie with the same name; the long list of Extras is replaced by a trailer for a Hong Kong splatter movie.
"I thought I bought the right one, but the devil is always in the randomata."

Swappilia: the process of determining which of your appliances a given disc will play on.
"It was all swappilia until I tried the work laptop! Success at last!"

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