The Best Words Trivia Quiz

Answer: Reject overwork

Lying flat comes from the translation of the Chinese phrase "tang ping". The phrase reflects a cultural movement in China whereby employees are rejecting the demands/pressures/workloads that are being placed upon them by their employers, generally for inadequate reward. Members of the movement are, primarily, the younger generation of Chinese workers moving away from the pressures of competition and adopting a much more minimalistic lifestyle.

The Chinese government is not impressed and has deemed it a counter-culture and are seeking to repress it as efficiently as possible. The movement is seen as something akin to the anti-work movement that is localized in the United States, however, is not quite the same. Anti-work, which also made the new list of words with Dictionary.com, is a distinguishing of labour. In other words, it separates the labour that is employed to generate the production of goods and services, and the work that merely generates wealth without doing much. The movement rejects artificially incentivized work and gives the thumbs up to work that is essential.

Answer: Churn rate

In the example above I have utilized "churn rate" in relation to the number of employees leaving their workplace. This is measured over a period of time. However, it need not be limited to counting the drop off rate of workers. It can also be applied to the number of subscribers leaving a service, the number of members leaving a club, along with the loss of customers and also the revenue that has been lost as a result of this movement.

This can prove to be valuable data to an organization, assisting to identify shortcomings or problem areas, morale, pricing, competition, customer satisfaction and provide an impact into forward planning and decision making.

Answer: Golden handcuffs

The Merriam-Webster dictionary indicates that this phrase was first used in 1976 and it relates to compensations given to highly valued employees to ensure that they stay with the company rather than being "guns for hire" and selling themselves to the highest bidder. These incentives, which are not the favourites among shareholders because they're usually so generous, are generally provided to those employees whose skills are of a rare or specialized nature or if the job market is really tight and highly skilled labour is difficult to find.

Whilst the incentives are very generous it is likely to be stipulated in the employee's contract that, should they leave, the enticements would need to be paid back. Golden handcuffs should also be differentiated from "golden parachutes", which are bonuses agreed to be paid to an employee upon termination of their services.

Answer: Pawternity

Believe it or not, this is a legitimate benefit and one that is gaining traction in the employment marketplace. In some places, it also goes by the name furternity. Suddenly, in the background, I can hear hear echoes of Donny Osmond "... and they called it puppy love" (1972).

Whilst this is a relatively new concept in town, it is not a silly idea. Let's face it, pets enrich our lives and they become a part of the family. Giving them the attention they need, bonding with them, getting the opportunity to tend to them when they become ill or, worse, grieve when they pass on, is important. It also requires time. The advantage to an employer is that providing the leave can boost morale, it makes employees feel cared for, shows the employer has heart and it may make them an employer of choice by job seekers. There is a strong chance that this goodwill can also increase productivity.

There are downsides to this and the major one is that not all employees will be pet owners. They may come to resent the extra flexibility pet owners enjoy or, worse, have to pick up their workload. Customers may begrudge the fact that someone else's pet is a priority to the company and not them.

Answer: OOO

OOO stands for Out of Office. It is a more professional way of informing clients that you're not available at this present time than telling them that you're out to lunch or vacation. It may well be that you're working off-site, at a meeting elsewhere, or even working from home. One of my previous employers allowed us to use an OOO code when we had a particularly difficult task to complete and needed some uninterrupted time to focus on it. All staff would be made aware of the fact and, while your office door was closed, they fielded all telephone calls and enquiries on your behalf. It was a great perk that increased the productivity and flexibility of the office, but one we made sure we didn't abuse.

TBH means To Be Honest, FTW is For the Win and a SRO is a School Resource Officer. The latter, most likely, is a security officer.

Answer: Peanut butter & marshmallow sandwich

The creation of this sandwich harks back to the early part of the 20th century. It was about this time that one of the key ingredients, marshmallow crème, was created. Archibald Query, from Massachusetts created his version of it in 1917 but, a few years earlier, there was Snowflake Marshmallow, created by Amory and Emma Curtis, also from the same state. Emma created what she called the Liberty Sandwich, out of peanut butter, their marshmallow crème and pasted the two on barley bread. She'd publish her recipe in 1918.

The sandwich was christened the fluffernutter by an advertising agency in 1960. The term has also been used to describe deserts that contain the marshmallow crème, but it has also been used to disparage something that is lacking in substance.

Answer: At

Richard's exact words were "The boss is always AT me".

Yes, "at" is an old word, but this is a new context for it and that's why it got a nod from Dictionary.com as a new word for 2022. In the above usage it now becomes a verb, indicating being told off, spoken angrily to or down to. The real point of interest here is "how do you write the past tense of "at" as a verb. The lexicographers at Dictionary.com chose to use at-ed.

The origin of this use of "at" seems to have been the @ symbol that has been used in social media to tag someone or to call them out on something they may have said.

Answer: Shadow ban

Administrators of discussion forums and social media platforms can prevent damaging information from leaking by using this technique. It doesn't stop the post from going to air, it simply limits the people who can see it to the original poster... in other words, you post it, you get to see it, no one else does.

Shadow banning is also known as ghost banning, comment ghosting and stealth banning. The term is believed to have been created by the administrators of a site called "Something Awful", a US comedy website, created by Richard Kyanka in 1999.

Answer: Yes

A sock puppet is an on-line term for someone using the safety of a false identity to broadcast their views. Alternatively, it may be someone being used (or controlled) by a third party, which could be another person or an organization, to gain an advantage for the controller. Once again this is likely to involve someone, most likely the manipulator, trying to keep their identity secret.

The term is linked to the item, the sock puppet, in which a (hidden) hand inside the sock does the manipulation.

Answer: Lavender

For decades the term "glass ceiling" has been used as a metaphor for an invisible barrier that prevents a certain graphic, generally women, from reaching the upper echelons of an organization or hierarchy. In much the same way the "lavender ceiling" is now that barrier for members of the LGBTQ+ umbrella.

The term first appeared in an article in the Los Angeles Times during the 1990s. It is built around the fact that a ceiling is a barrier preventing upward movement and lavender has been the representative colour of the LGBTQ+ community since the 17th century. The term highlights how a person's orientation presents difficulties to them within their workplace.