One of my new favorite websites is www.wordspy.com

"This Web site is devoted to lexpionage, the sleuthing of new words and phrases. These aren't "stunt words" or "sniglets," but new terms that have appeared multiple times in newspapers, magazines, books, Web sites, and other recorded sources. "

I love it! Here are a few along with my observations about how a librarian like myself might put them into use...

office spouse n. A co-worker with whom one has a very close but nonromantic relationship. Also: workplace spouse.

As 90% of librarians are women, this would be difficult to apply as a heterosexual woman. I identify with the concept and have enjoyed this type of working relationship in other environments...hmmm....

continuous partial attention n. A state in which most of one's attention is on a primary task, but where one is also monitoring several background tasks just in case something more important or interesting comes up. Also: CPA.

Oh my gosh! This is a description of my job! As an auxiliary I spend most of my time on reference working on little projects but secretly waiting for a really interesting person to walk up to the desk and sweep me off my feet (NO, just kidding!)...but this is actually a good description of reference desk coverage. CPA sounds like a disorder though...

social jet lag n. Tiredness and disorientation caused by forcing one's body to sleep at unnatural times because of work commitments. Also: social jet-lag, social jetlag.

Yes, this sounds like post-exam week last term. At one point a kindly co-worker and friend said, "Go home, turn off your phone, unplug your computer and just sleep!!!"...recognizing how truly strung out I had become...at that point difficult reference questions made my left eyelid jerk (weird eh? that always happens when I'm tired, or when I lift things that are too heavy). I was hoping that this weekend, full of library school graduation events would be a grand opportunity for social jetlag, but alas, I was safely home by 10:30 pm each evening. I'm going to get a lot of flack for this, but sometimes it is hard to get social jetlag with fellow librarians...we need more parties...we need more wild parties....