“Vape” Wins Oxford’s Word Of The Year

What is “vape”?

It’s a verb, an abbreviation and, more recently, Oxford Dictionaries 2014 Word of the Year.

Meaning, “to inhale and exhale the vapour produced by an electronic cigarette or smaller device,” it originates from the 1980s — “in reference to an experimental ‘non-combustible’ cigarette” — and is abbreviated from the words vapour or vaporize, according to Oxford’s Word of the Year announcement.

“It’s definitely been the word of the year for me,” said Shane Stringer, who opened e-cigarette store Colorado Vapors on South College Avenue last April.

Calling it an “all-encompassing term,” Stringer said the word vape can refer to the act of smoking from an e-cigarette as well as refer to the e-cigarette or smoking device itself.

Vape, according to Loveland-based language consultant David Firth, is interesting in two ways. First, it’s a created word.

“Words get created to reflect new experiences or activities,” Firth said. “Language is always a living, changing, evolving thing.”

Also, vape is a denominalization, Firth said, meaning that a noun (vapour) has been made into a verb.

“It has always happened in language, but seems to be happening faster and faster now. To impact, to dialogue, to microwave are all examples. They usually start by annoying us, especially the purists, but it’s surprising how quickly we get used to them,” Firth said.

In a Coloradoan report this summer, Stringer said there are about three e-cigarette stores in Fort Collins and, “more opening all the time.”

Even after Fort Collins City Council extended the city’s outdoor smoking ban to electronic smoking devices back in July, Stringer said he’s noticed a increase in sales.

“Just the fact that they’ve released that (word of the year) shows that it’s on everybody’s mind,” he added.

Other words that were considered by Oxford this year were:

•bae (n.): a term of endearment for one’s romantic partner

•budtender (n.): a person whose job is to serve customers in a cannabis dispensary or shop.

•contactless (adj.): relating to or involving technologies that allow a smart card, mobile phone, etc. to contact wirelessly to an electronic reader, typically in order to make a payment.

•indyref (n.): an abbreviation of ‘independence referendum’, in reference to the referendum on Scottish independence, held in Scotland on 18 September 2014

•normcore (n.): a trend in which ordinary, unfashionable clothing is worn as a deliberate fashion statement

•slacktivism (n.): informal actions performed via the Internet in support of a political or social cause but regarded as requiring little time or involvement