Your hissper stranged me out

I like new words. Here are some that have recently come to my attention:

In a recent CBC radio interview about UFO sightings in a town north of Prince Albert, SK, Kenny Lapratt says of the sighting, "It stranged me out." Listen to the interview hosted by Sheila Coles here and you can hear it for yourself at the end of the program, along with liberal use of the word "eh."

Michael and I went to see a play called J Mclaughlin's Apocalypse a couple of weeks ago. It was a solo play starring a drunk (no acting here) middle-aged woman (or here) who suggested the audience have an orgy - we didn't take her up on the suggestion. It was a very entertaining show, but then I was sold when we got free cupcakes with pink icing as we took our seats. During the show, McLaughlin introduced a new word: hissper (rhymes with whisper). I can't recall the context of the word, but I think it really captures the notion that whispers are often louder and/or more abrasive than speaking in your normal voice, a subject that Zoe has brought up twice in recent days. This word is for her.

I never saw the first episode of the Colbert Report, but in it he coins the word truthiness - my Uncle John told my grandma and I about it last weekend. It is the quality by which a person purports to know something emotionally or instinctively, without regard to evidence or to what the person might conclude from intellectual examination. Since Colbert was on the discussion table, I told my uncle and grandma about the performance he gave at the White House Correspondents Dinner a month or so ago. He was ruthless in his roasting of George W Bush and other government higher ups, and he also laid into the press. You can watch the 24 minute show if you want, but if you don't have time, just know that it was an uncomfortable experience for everyone in the room (the tension becomes palpable 9 minutes in) - we even felt embarrassed for George as we watched him take the insults with a red face. My grandma didn't know if she approved of Colbert's lack of tact, but later that day she told me she pulled a Colbert when talking to a fellow about Irish history - meaning she called him on his stupidity. My grandma is so hip she also watches the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

I know this post is getting long, but I have to add one more word, if only to plug one of my favorite blogs. Heather Armstrong was dooced in 2002, meaning she was fired from her job for things she wrote about in her blog. The word comes from the title of her blog: Dooce. What about getting fired for using work time to update one's blog? What's a good word for that?