Trend Watch

Abattoir

After an article about Brooklyn provoked a backlash ...

When:

Lookups spiked on May 1, 2013.

Why:

The word appeared in a New York Times article ("How I Became a Hipster") that poked fun at Brooklyn culture and provoked a strong backlash online.

The middle-aged author spent a weekend in Williamsburg pursuing a lifestyle of flannel shirts, beards, fixed-gear bikes, locally sourced foods and handmade goods. After taking a do-it-yourself butcher class, he impressed another student by confiding, "I'm thinking about turning my spare guest room into an abattoir."

Abattoir means "slaughterhouse." It comes from the French word for "to strike down" or "to kill."


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