Words That Define A Generation

We all come up with creative excuses for procrastinating. These days I have been telling myself that technology simply does not work for me anymore. The world's to blame, I say, for I was not born a bum.
Because writing with a keyboard somehow seems to blunt my train of thought, I decided to try my luck with pen-and-paper. That is how I ended up sitting down at a desk with a candle (another power cut that night) and flipping through the pages of my Little Oxford Dictionary.
At the very end of this book, I came across a chapter entitled 'New Words Survey'.

"Words of the Nineties- A special new supplement highlights new words of the nineties including feel-good, hyperspace, short-termism, teleshopping, and videoconference."

This made me think, if etymology is a reflection of culture and history, will not the 'Words of the Nineties' be the defining keywords of who we- the saplings of the 21st century- have and will become? So I rummaged through these few pages trying to discover a hint of something that would define what we as a generation lack: purpose, meaning. And I must say I was far from impressed. Allow me to give you a taste of it, of these 'new' words that we have created, of the proud monuments of a bygone decade, our decade.

• air bag n. safety device that fills with air or nitrogen on impact to protect the occupants of a vehicle in a collision.
• alternataive energy n. energy fueled in ways that do not harm the environment.
• bailout n.  financial assistance given to a failing business, economy, etc. to save it from collapse.
• biocide n.  1. poisonous substance, esp. a pesticide. 2. destruction of life.
• biohazard n. risk to human health or the environment arising from biological work, esp. with micro-organisms
• bird-strike n. collision between a bird and an aircraft.
• body bag n.  bag for carrying a corpse from the scene or warfare, an accident etc.
• body piercing n. piercing of holes in parts of the body other than the earlobes. 
• breakfast television n. early morning television
• carjacking n.  highjacking of a car.
• cyberspace n. notional environment in which electronic communication occurs; virtual reality.
• and the list goes on..........dark matter, date rape, dialog box, differently abled, distance learning, eco-friendly, EPROM, Euro-skeptic, fandom, fruitarian, glass ceiling, global village, hate mail, HDTV, high-five, ibuprofen, internet, laser printer, lip-sync, mobile phone, monosaturated, multitasking, out-of-body experience, paint ball, rollerblade, post-traumatic stress disorder, rainbow coalition, road rage, saturation bombing, six-pack, super model, touch screen, World Wide Web

And I wondered, what will be the words of the early 21st century? LMFAO!