Then there are new words . . . or neologisms if you want to get all linguistic about it . . . that hardly register with us any more because they're so commonplace, email being a particularly good example.

But every once in a while a new expression comes along, whose sheer brilliance must be applauded, and 2003's 'chugger' is one of them. At last, there was a word for those incredibly annoying, neon tabard-clad, smiling young ones asking for a moment of your time to support charity, whilst you lie through your teeth, say that you're in a rush and nearly cripple yourself trying to make an escape.

Naturally, chugger makes an appearance in Say What: new words around town . . . the A-Z of smart talk, by Keith Barker-Main. The author has carved out a niche for himself over the past three years as the chronicler and coiner of zeitgeisty terms in Metro newspaper in the UK and there are some immediate classics to be found within the pages. Bargainista (someone who manages to pick up designer looks at Penneys) has already made it into fashion magazines, and BOBFOC (Body Off Baywatch, Face Off Crimewatch) isn't especially nice but you know exactly whom it refers to. Other offerings however (madvert . . . a commercial so irritating it will drive you insane) seem over-worked.

Feargal Murphy, lecturer in the Department of Linguistics in UCD, says that there isn't any time period set in stone before a slang term crosses over into respectability. "Slang is just a term for language that isn't going to be used on the news, " he points out. "You can think of lots of terms: 'fan' for a sports fan, that's normal and that used to be slang. These terms just become used in normal language but there isn't any particular pattern that I could think of."

Anna Carey, assistant editor of The Glossmagazine, thinks Barker-Main's lexicon is just too contrived to be genuinely comic. "Much of this book doesn't contain neologisms but bad puns instead, which aren't necessarily terribly funny . . . things like 'tightmare' (where you snag your 30 tights on your way to a date) or 'celebrititty' for someone like Jordan, " she says. "Even if you think it would be great if there was an expression or word for some of the concepts he describes, he's not up to the job."

But humour, of course, is a personally and culturally subjective thing. As amusing as it is to describe someone as being Kate Moshed (ie to be in a bit of a state), what Say What lacks is the earthiness and drollness that seems to characterise Irish humour and phraseology. Colin Murphy, one of the authors of The feckin' book of Irish insults for gobdaws as thick as manure and only half as useful, which is published this week, thinks that a great many of our finest bon mots originate in pubs when people have had a few drinks.

"Irish people tend to be very creative and they tend to be particularly good at slagging each other so they come up with original and unusual ways to have a go at people, " he says. One of his favourite ones to date is "Her arse is as wide as a Leitrim hurler's shot". Truly, you can't say it plainer than that.

'Say What: new words around town . . . the A-Z of Smart Talk' (Metro) by Keith Barker-Main is out now TELLING IT LIKE IT IS Cross Dressing "So last season! Makes me look fat! He's seen it before, " you wail angrily. You're late for a date and still in your pants as the Cross Dressing reject pile becomes a mountain Multi Asking Desperate or brave? Six babes in the bar have knocked you back already, yet still you persevere. Who said women were better at Multi Asking?

ABC Anything but Chardonnay.

Simply no one is drinking it anymore Sauvignon Blank It started as a 'quick glass of wine after work' and ended up as another 'can't remember getting home last night'. A total Sauvignon Blank then?

Vendetta Bearing a grudge against or physically attacking an inanimate object that took your 1 and failed to dispense a Coke is irrational. It's just a vending machine, for Pete's sake Meercat Moment When every neck in the office simultaneously stretches up and swivels round to clock what's going on Bloatograph You pose seductively to camera, imagining yourself as Elle McPherson but what prints out looks more like Demis Roussos