Nuke the Fridge - 23 Nov. 2008

We kick off our series on contenders for 2008's "Word of the Year" with a look at "nuke the fridge."<br/><br/>The American Dialect Society will hold the 19th annual "Word of the Year" vote in January. It's the granddaddy of all word of the year votes--the longest running, the most academic, and the most fun.<br/><br/>And as we approach January 9th in San Francisco, we'll be talking here, in these minicasts, about some of the likeliest candidates.<br/><br/>One very odd one that caught our eye was "nuke the fridge."<br/><br/>Putting it politely, it means to exhaust the possibilities or merits of a movie franchise. <br/><br/>Putting it negatively, it means to destroy a movie franchise through the hubris and arrogance of a successful producer or director. <br/><br/>The term was coined based upon a scene in the latest Indiana Jones movie, in which the hero survives a nuclear blast by hiding in a refrigerator. <br/><br/>"Nuke the fridge" is patterned after "jump the shark," which was coined a few years ago to refer to anything that had peaked in popularity or quality and was now on a downward slide. <br/><br/>Jumping the shark referred to an episode on the sitcom Happy Days in which Fanzine water-skied over a shark, a moment thought by Happy Days aficionados (there are such things!) to be the surest sign of the show's decline.<br/><br/>That's all about "nuke the fridge." Next time we'll talk about "ground game."<br/><br/>--<br/><br/>Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write 24 hours a day: (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673, words@waywordradio.org, or visit our web site and discussion forums at http://waywordradio.org. Copyright 2008, Wayword LLC.<br type="_moz"/><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~f/awwwpodcast?a=aaIjkQj2"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/awwwpodcast?d=41" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~f/awwwpodcast?a=DAQfVOn3"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/awwwpodcast?d=52" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.wayword