Hangry time

Ben just said, "Mom, could you get me some more milk? Before I get hangry."

I won myself a fabulous dictionary, the New Oxford American Dictionary, by touting the not-quite-a-real-word word hangry at the New Word Open Mic held during the Dictionary Society of North America meeting a couple weekends ago. I sure as heck didn't coin the word—a blend of hungry and angry, a mood well known to many people—but the lexicographically inclined people in attendance voted for hangry's aptness and utility as a word, so I won the dictionary. (Which, if you pay attention to such things, has really hawt introductory sections.)

If you want to read more about the New Word Open Mic, see here.

Bizarre experience: Being asked afterwards, "What dictionary are you with?" I...I'm referentially single. I'm not going steady with any particular dictionary. I am exactly the sort of geek who's secretly thrilled to be mistaken for a lexicographer, and acutely disappointed to 'fess up that I'm not a lexicographer at all. (Sigh.)

So, hangry is not a word that is listed in the dictionaries...yet. I like to think it'll gain wider use in the next couple decades and earn a slot in the dictionary. Because it's so perfect! Some people have no grasp of the word's meaning, and those people are incredibly fortunate. Being hangry means going a little too long without a meal or a snack, and losing your coping abilities. Road rage, hollering at everyone in the household, being inordinately frustrated by the small hitches in life, losing the ability to keep your voice from being a shriek, finding the world conspiring to make things difficult for you. And then you eat a little something, and the world is a much brighter place. My, wasn't it silly to get so upset about those things!

The savvy hangry-prone individual will take precautions. One friend has begun carrying a spare Luna bar at all times, just in case hunger hits. I have been known to eat a snack immediately before going out to meet someone for lunch or dinner, because if I'm already hungry before I leave the house, I'll be a wreck by the time the waiter delivers my food. Best to nosh on something and stave off the hangries, no?

Hangry. Name it. Use the word. And ward off hanger.