Oh Ick

witch fulfillment (wich foo l-fil-muh nt), n. the symbolic gratification of the desire to believe in magic, experienced through an exercise of the imagination (as in books, cosplay, neurotic symptoms, religion, etc.). Ex.: The “Harry Potter effect.”

sufferage (suhf-er-ij), n. the condition of one whose right to vote has sustained a setback, decline in effectiveness, or even loss, due to suppression, intimidation, or imposed disadvantage.  Ex.: Dodge City, Kansas:  “For this November’s election, local officials have moved [the only polling site for 27,000 residents] outside the city limits to a facility more than a mile from the nearest bus stop, citing road construction that blocked the previous site.” —The Wichita Eagle

karma splice (kahr-muh splahys), n. Education, informal. 1. a teacher’s suspicion that she must have done something very bad in a previous life to deserve the grammatically incoherent essays turned in by her students. 2. a student’s suspicion that a teacher’s obsession with grammar indicates that the teacher must have been an authoritarian despot in a previous life.

manplain (man-pleyn), v. Informal. (of a man) to express dissatisfaction, annoyance, or resentment at the perceived injustice against, or victimhood of, men. Ex.: “It’s a very scary time for young men in America”; “If it could happen to him, it could happen to any man.”

wish hunt (wish-huhnt), n. a strong desire to dismiss reasonable inquiries into alleged disloyalty, dishonesty, subversive political activity, etc. as politically motivated and unjustified campaigns, based on slight, doubtful, or irrelevant evidence, against honestly held, unpopular opinions. Ex.: Trump’s and his supporters’ dismissal of the Mueller investigation.