At a loss for new ways to insult? The latest edition of a major dictionary has made the quest easier by highlighting insults, some of which are very old with Shakespearean roots and some coined recently.
Get ready to use innovative insults like gerund-grinder (a pedantic teacher), two-pot screamer (a person who gets drunk on a comparatively small amount of alcohol) and a bed-swerver (an adulterous person). However, do exercise extreme caution!
Get rid of anger by opting for nipcheese instead of a miser, or even a benign-sounding man-milliner for a male with frivolous interests or concerns).
Insult a persistent journalist by calling them a tripehound or an inquisitive and gossiping person a quidnunc. For a wannabe computer hacker with no skills, script kiddie just sounds the right letdown.
Or else fall back on jobernowl instead of using the very boring and overused word stupid. Humgruffin gives an extra bit of meanness to calling someone terrible.
The new edition of the Chambers Dictionary, 1,900 pages long, which was released Thursday, has hundreds of new words reflecting the current worries facing people, from financial meltdown to environment, and the growing obsession with social networking.