Play Dolls Like It’s 1999

The 82nd annual Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sports Show will take over Wisconsin State Fair Park’s Expo Center March 9–12. Stephen Buzza, Event Director of the Milwaukee Sports Show, joins us to talk about what you can expect from this year’s expo. Then we discuss Dictionary.com’s new words. And how the new American Girl Dolls are really showing Kristin’s age.

The 82nd Annual Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sports Show

The 82^nd annual Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sports Show will take over Wisconsin State Fair Park’s Expo Center March 9th–12th. 

Find it all at State Fair Park for the 82nd year of the Sports Show. There will be fishing tips at a 5,000-gallon aquarium, a trophy deer contest, a fastest retriever contest, and an archery tournament. You can also expect to see some traditional favorites, like the huge Trout Pond and Lumberjack Show. And don’t forget the more than 100 vendors showcasing the best they have to offer. There’s so much to explore, you just might want to attend multiple days!

Dictionary.com adds 313 new words

Throughout the year, Dictionary.com’s lexicographers document language changes. Wherever words start to change, they are there to help, “define the terms that help us to understand our times”. 

The reference website has added 313 new words, 130 new definitions for existing entries and revised 1,140 definitions. Many of these newly-added words and phrases reflect the way the Internet has added to or changed the English language.

Some of our favorites include:

• Cakeage – The fee charged by a restaurant for serving a cake brought in from outside. It’s modeled after corkage, the term for the fee charged to bring a bottle of wine to a restaurant.
• Cyberflashing – The act of sending unsolicited, unwanted sexually explicit images or videos online.
• Digital nomad – Someone who works remotely while traveling, especially one who has no fixed, permanent address.
• Fan service – Material added to a work of fiction to appeal to its fans
• Hellscape – This word isn’t new, it actually goes back to the late 1890s, but it’s become much more popular in recent years. It means a place or time that’s hopeless or unbearable.
• Microdosing – Taking very small amounts of a psychoactive drug, like cannabis or LSD, to improve mood or enhance cognitive functioning, without hallucinogenic effects.
• Nearlywed – Based on newlywed – someone who recently married – this is a person who lives with someone in a life partnership with a person, possibly engaged with no wedding planned, possibly with no plans to ever marry.
• Petfluencer – A person who gets a large Internet following by posting photos of their pet or a pet who has achieved Internet fame.
• Rage farming – Intentionally provoking political opponents, usually by posting something on social media in order to get an angry response.
• Trauma dumping – Unsolicited, one-sided sharing about traumatic or intensely negative experiences or emotions in an inappropriate setting or with those who aren’t prepared for it.

1999 is now historical enough to get its own American Girl Doll?

For most girls who grew up in the ’80s, ’90s, and ’00s, we remember what a huge deal American Girl dolls were. The outfits. The accessories. The history. Emphasis on history… Does 1999 feel like HISTORY to you? 

American Girl’s historical collection has spanned from Kaya (whose story is set in 1764) to Courtney (set in 1986. Until now. While Courtney references recent enough history to inspire some raised eyebrows, it was nothing compared to the recent announcement that the newest additions to the “historical collection” are Isabel and Nicki Hoffman, twin sisters living in Seattle in… 1999. 

Regardless of how old it made Kristin feel, hats off to American Girl for nailing the accessories—from the blow chair bought from Spencers to the Tamagotchi, it really brought her back to middle school. 
In the meantime, if you were an American Girl girl, definitely check out The Dolls of Our Lives podcast.