New food words for 2015

The language of food is ever changing. New terms are coined and, thanks in part to social media, many are quickly adopted. NY Times writers have compiled a list of the top 10 new food words or terms that have captured their attention this year.

Entries on the list included several words that you are probably already using, like hangry (being so hungry that you become angry or irritable, and mayo. The big question for the latter word is whether the word mayo is the same thing as mayonnaise. This controversy erupted when food giant Unilever (makers of Hellmann’s mayonnaise) and the lobbying group American Egg Board tried to force the vegan food company Hampton Creek to change the name of its popular eggless product called Just Mayo.

Another word on the list is the French Canadian replacement for the term foodie, cuisinomane.  Since the Office québécois de la langue française agency is particularly reluctant to adopt words from English, they decided this term sounded better than the widely-despised ‘foodie’. Cuisinomane follows balletomane and bibliomane, the -mane designating a person who is an obsessive fan of the art form.

Not all of the words have entered the official world of dictionaries, but some have been incorporated. The online Oxford English Dictionary has adopted several food slang terms this year, such as “cakehole” and “cheffy.” Do you think any of these terms have staying power?

Definition of cheffy from the Oxford Online Dictionary