The English dictionary, as you may know, is a highly mutable entity.
While removing words such as irregardless might be considered a good thing, others, such as
snollygoster (n.): a shrewd, unprincipled person
are considered obsolete and will be missed, at least by me.
Other words have actually changed due to constant misuse. The one that disappoints me most is the fact that "literally" does not necessarily have to relate to its primary root definition:
literal (adj.) in accordance with, involving, or being the primary or strict meaning of the word or words; not figurative or metaphorical
It used to be fun to ask someone "Did you literally or metaphorically have your head in the toilet 'all night?'" Now, the correct answer might be "Both."
With this time-tested tradition of inventing new words and changing existing words "willy nilly," I propose the following twelve new definitions of existing words.
Your goal is to
determine the words being defined, and
discover the word that literally (I swear!) presents itself as a moniker for this type of word (the name of this puzzle).
- Uninspired mobile phone photograph (6)
_ _ _ _ _ _ ☑
- Background checks on the key people in a company (8)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ☑
- Adorable (condescending?) term for an inexperienced user of the World Wide Web (8)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ☑
- An athletic protective cup (8)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ☑
- Blog about electric, wrought, and farm items (9)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ☑
- Spasmodic contraction caused by imprecise puzzle postings(8)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ☑
- Marijuana prescribed for an STD* (9)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ☑
- A Preggo's painful ped part (9)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ☑
- Donation by a celebrity look-a-like "baby daddy" (9)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ☑
- A trail to avoid in NYC's Central Park (10)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ☑
- What I'm doing when someone throws poop at me** (9)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ☑
- Discounted feminine product for everyone. (7)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ ☑
*Possibly not technically an STD
**Happens more often than you'd think
☑ indicates a correct answer has been found
Note: Please create a chatroom and offer invitations if you want to discuss the concept, as opposed to discussing the solution to the puzzle.
***Hint Regarding Title:
substr(0, 1) || substr(-1, 1)