My students are using the word “phubber” increasingly often; I’ve seen it on signs here as well. Is this actually becoming a word in normal English, or is it another term like LOHAS, that somehow takes off here but is as best I can tell almost completely unused in Anglophone countries? Is “phubber” a word that young people would use in North America?
And… what does it mean?
It’s a Taiwaner word.
Add oil taiwan!
check urbandictionary.
Presumably they’re using the word because 98% of young Taiwanese people are phubbers.
A phubber is someone who gives all their attention to their smartphone, and no attention to things like the person they’re having lunch with; I assume it’s portmanteau of “phone” and “snub”. It was coined in Australia a few years back, and it appears on signs here in Taiwan (“Don’t be a phubber”, or something like that). But I don’t know if anyone is actually using the word.
No. Don’t be so stupid.
It exists outside of Taiwan though
So does the word ‘askmeballz’.
It does now anyway.
The crap spelling and Engrish are somewhat ameliorated by the writer’s no doubt gleeful use of “lurch” in re: Zombies
It seems that word is used in other countries. It’s just one more “cool” neologism.
Yes it appears in the daily mail so its got some good references.
It appears to mean something other than what the Taiwanese use it for though.
How do they use it? I thought it was in the same way: a person who ignores people around/with him because he’s using his phone.
Relationships dude…relationships.
My impression is that the “original” meaning was for when people were being rude (ignoring - snubbing - whoever they were having dinner with). But the word is also sometimes used for when people are being dumb, like for example walking into traffic.
“Phubber” is certainly being used in newspapers and on signs, but my general sense is that it’s not a word that’s entered “normal” English at all. However, I hear native English speakers between the ages of 15 and 40 approximately, oh, twice a year, so, golly-gee-whilikers, I’m just not hep to what the swell cats are saying back in the hood these days. Hence my question. Sick, eh?
Some of my Canadian friends’ kids are now in their teens and when I talk to them I feel like an anthropologist. “OK, do you say ____? And what about _____? And what does ‘sick’ mean this decade? Actually, just what DO you call this decade?”
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It was on the news last night as one of those year of the word things.
While we’re at it, how about these?
hygge, n.
[mass noun] a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being (regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture)
Brexiteer
British informal a person who is in favour of the United Kingdom withdrawing from the European Union
Latinx, n. and adj.
Noun: a person of Latin American origin or descent (used as a gender-neutral or non-binary alternative to Latino or Latina)
Adjective: relating to people of Latin American origin or descent (used as a gender-neutral or non-binary alternative to Latino or Latina)
coulrophobia, n.
extreme or irrational fear of clowns
adulting
[mass noun] informal the practice of behaving in a way characteristic of a responsible adult, especially the accomplishment of mundane but necessary tasks
chatbot
a computer program designed to simulate conversation with human users, especially over the Internet
glass cliff, n.
used with reference to a situation in which a woman or member of a minority group ascends to a leadership position in challenging circumstances where the risk of failure is high.
alt-right, n.
(in the US) an ideological grouping associated with extreme conservative or reactionary viewpoints, characterized by a rejection of mainstream politics and by the use of online media to disseminate deliberately controversial content.
woke, adj.
US informal alert to injustice in society, especially racism.
And the winner? Post-truth. 
CNN just had an article on this:
I don’t think it’ll be a daily word, but it’s a common problem especially in Taipei. I can kind of understand if students are on their phones during dates or what not, but sometimes I see middle aged couple at dinner using their respective phones throughout. Not one word or any interaction. I know it’s my own business and I’m guilty of it at times, but this reminds me of an owner of a mom/pops restaurant that banned any use of phone during eating.