The langers are making a hames of our language... it's gubu, like

It was hip in 1904, pop in 1921, megabucks in 1946, miniskirt in 1965, karaoke in 1979 and bling bling in 2000. This year it's 'chav' - the noun which describes young men who wear cheap gold jewellery and baseball caps and tend to hang around in shopping centres. Like hip, pop, megabucks, miniskirt, karaoke and bling bling, chav is a buzzword - a word or expression that has become fashionable by being used a lot, especially on television and in newspapers. And a new book out this week lists 101 of them - one for every year from 1904 until now. Larpers and Shroomers: The Language Report (Oxford University Press, ?14.70) by linguistics expert Susie Dent, aims to provide a snapshot of the vernacular of today by showing how words such as mobile phone (1945) and hypermarket (1970) stayed in the language while tiddly-om-pom-pom (1909) and snafu (1941) died out. But unlike many of the buzzwords of recent years, such as text message (1998), google (1999), bling bling (2000), 9/11 (2001), axis of evil (2002) and sex up (2003), chav is rarely used in Ireland. Thought to have come from the mid-19th century Romany word 'chavi', it's a term very specific to Britain. A Hiberno-English equivalent might be 'skanger' or 'knacker'. Prof Terry Dolan of UCD is fascinated by words such as these that are used specifically in Ireland. The editor of the most respected text on the subject, the Gill & Macmillan Hiberno English Dictionary, says both 'skanger' and 'knacker' are rarely used outside Ireland and the former is derived from a West Indian word while the latter is likely to be taken from the old word 'knack', meaning a trick. The professor says new words enter the vernacular in Ireland every year. The new edition of the dictionary, which is published next week, adds a further 1,000 entries. Among them are the terms 'Bertie Bowl' and 'Teflon Taoiseach' - buzzwords that are widely understood today but, he believes, will carry less resonance in the future. "It's a bit like 'Gubu' [grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre, unprecedented] - the term which Conor Cruise O'Brien used to describe the circumstances surrounding the Malcolm MacArthur story in 1982," he says. "For older generations, that term is well-known. Not so for younger people." That said, the term inspired the name of a popular Dublin pub. Words are changing with the generations. "'Culchie', a word used to describe people from the country, seems to be less fashionable these days than it was. 'Bogger' seems to be a more popular choice. Maybe it's something to do with the urbanisation of the country." Some fear that Hiberno-English words are in danger of extinction as a result of Americanisation. 'Like' is used as a comma by younger people, a la Californian soap operas, while Dublinese slang such as 'mot' don't have the currency they once did. Prof Dolan believes that terms such as 'een' (as in 'maneen'), 'pass remarkable' and 'tallyman' are unlikely to stand the test of time. He believes terms such as 'Celtic Tiger' (first used by the London-based economist Kevin Gardner), 'feck' and 'skanger' will survive. More colloquial terms such as 'how's she cutting?' and 'hames' (as in 'to make a hames of something') are in danger with modern life being more homogenised than before. "The media tends to put new words and terms into the vernacular," Prof Dolan says. "And once a word gets picked up it can spread very quickly. 'Bling bling' is a good example of that. But you hear great turns of phrase every day and I carry a notebook with me to record them. One of the best ones I heard recently was from a woman from Ringsend in Dublin. She described her accent to me as a Dublin 3 1/2 accent, rather than a Dublin 4 one. I wonder will that catch on?" Corkonians have been celebrating their unique take on the English language in recent times thanks to the success of the novelty hit single, The Langer Song. 'Langer', to the uninitiated, refers to drunkenness. It can also be used to describe a person, usually in a derogatory fashion. As a result, two books celebrating the diversity of Hiberno-English in Ireland's second city will be in the shops by the year's end. Folklorist and local historian Sean Beecher's A Dictionary of Cork Slang has already been relaunched, while Morty McCarthy's Dowtcha Boy is due to appear in bookshops later this year. And Adam Beecher, a nephew of the late Sean Beecher, has set up a website dedicated to Cork slang. Susie Dent is wondering what words will make future editions of Larpers and Shroomers too. A good bet for buzzword of 2005 is 'bouncebackability'. Fans of Sky Sports's Soccer AM show will no doubt be aware that the network is trying to have the word included in the Oxford English Dictionary. 'Bouncebackability' was originally coined by Crystal Palace manager Iain Dowie to describe his team's ability to recover form after a poor start. Unsurprisingly, it has been used in many other contexts since. - John Meagher

Sex, rugs and rock 'n' roll

This month Adam Clayton should make a tidy profit from his collection of carpets, but not all musicians are as prudent with their profits. John Meagher on the lavish lives of rock legends. He is the bass player with the band that are often touted as the biggest in the world and is best known for being engaged to supermodel Naomi Campbell and a conviction for cannabis possession. But there is more to U2's Adam Clayton than you might imagine. It turns out that he is a collector of fine arts, with a fondness for rare and exotic carpets. Later this month, he will sell off his collection at a special auction at Christie's in London - and he is expected to make a considerable profit on his investments. The rugs, known as the Adam Clayton Collection, are thought to be worth over ?200,000 and range from small kilims to intricate Persian pieces dating back to the 18th century. Clayton bought some of them at knock-down prices over the past decade. Like any self-respecting rock star, Clayton has an impressive stately pile in which to house them. He lives in Danesmoate House, one of Dublin's finest Georgian mansions on the southside of the city, which he bought when U2 began to be a global force 20 years ago. Like the other three members of U2, Clayton is shrewd with his money - and he's got plenty of it with their last album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, selling a cool 11 million. A new offering, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, is also likely to do big business when it is released on November 22. U2 frontman Bono enjoys a personal fortune of ?155m according to the BBC series Liquid Assets. He owns a 20-room mansion in Dalkey as well as lavish homes in the south of France, Atlanta, Georgia and New York. Oh, and he co-owns Dublin's Clarence Hotel with bandmate The Edge. Touring doesn't come cheap for the band who have put on three of the most ambitious rock tours ever in the last dozen tours. And to get to and from their far-flung destinations, they can call upon the services of a private jet. To buy this would cost ?50m, to rent it would cost ?28,000 a day plus another ?4,000 for every hour it flies. But that spending pales into comparison with David Bowie's extravagance during his heyday. In the mid-1970s, the Thin White Duke would regularly run up hotel room-service bills of $10,000 per night. With 120 million album sales in a 35-year career, as well as a number of key business deals, Bowie can afford to be lavish - he lives in one of Manhattan's most salubrious apartments and is fond of collecting wildly expensive abstract art. He may not have released a good album in years, but Paul McCartney can count on a glorious back catalogue to push his personal wealth above the ?1bn mark and, like Bowie, he is a keen patron of the arts and a shrewd businessman, with his two firms, MCL Communications and Maclen (Music) turning in impressive profits. McCartney's 1960s' contemporary Mick Jagger continues to add millions to his bank balance every year by licensing songs to advertising and through touring. The Rolling Stones frontman was paid more than any other artist to allow Microsoft to use his composition Start Me Up for the Windows 95 ad campaign. The man who wrote (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, gets plenty of solace from his investment portfolio that includes dozens of properties around the globe. Few stars epitomise excess like Elton John. The former Reg Dwight, who first came to prominence with a slew of massive selling albums in the early 1970s, has indulged in the sort of spending spree that makes the Beckhams' bling-bling lifestyle look positively ordinary. As well as the mansions in various countries, John has a penchant for throwing outrageously lavish parties. The Jay Gatsby of the pop world thinks nothing of ordering hundreds of crates of ?500-a-bottle champagne and having cases of caviar flown in from Russia. For his 50th birthday party in 1997, he arrived in very expensive drag - a specially made Georgian ladies dress and enormous wig. Over a 20-month period between 1996 and 1997, it was reported Elton John spent ?200,000 on flowers alone - and that's just a smidgen of his spending. It was little surprise when reports of his financial troubles came to light. In 1999, it was reported that John asked a merchant bank to help him borrow ?40 million to pay off his debts. A year later he admitted running up debts of more than ?2 million a month. His spending sprees were reported to include purchases of classic cars, clothing and jewellery. John claimed his former accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, misappropriated millions of dollars. He filed suit. But defence lawyers seemed to think his money problems lay elsewhere. "I'm not a nest-egg person," said John when defence lawyers questioned his spending habits. "I'm a single man. I like spending my money." The London Court of Appeals shot down John's lawsuit. The suit cost him an additional ?9.2m in legal fees. He is not the only high-profile artist who has found it impossible to hang on to his extraordinary wealth. Michael Jackson's exorbitant spending has also landed him in a financial quagmire. Jackson is reportedly ?155m in debt, according to a Californian lawsuit. The company behind the lawsuit says it arranged ?180m in loans for the singer between 1998 and 2000, and he owes them ?9m. The suit says he used much of the money to refinance earlier loans. On top of his money woes, the singer faces molestation charges, his records aren't selling the way they used to, and he doesn't want to go home to his Neverland ranch since sheriffs 'violated' the place by searching it. His solution is to rent a 37,000 square-foot mansion and cliffside estate for $100,000 a month. If you're down and out in Beverly Hills, you can, it seems, still live well. Rapper MC Hammer's 1990 release U Can't Touch This made him a star. But his money was spent on racehorses, legal battles and an entourage memorably described by VH1 as "sizeable enough to successfully invade Switzerland". In 1996, he declared bankruptcy. Country music star Willie Nelson has had his fair share of fiscal difficulties. In November 1990, the IRS raided his property in Texas and seized everything - including his 44-acre home, gold records and his children's bronze-plated baby shoes. Nelson blamed his financial predicament on mismanagement of his funds by his accountant. However, his lavish spending might have been part of the problem. This spending included a huge entourage with all expenses paid entirely by Nelson. On the payroll was Paul English, who became recognised in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's highest-paid sideman drummer. Texas Monthly reported that fans would stand outside concerts and ask, not for autographs, but for money for things like wheelchairs, iron lungs and funerals. Nelson's standard reply was reportedly: "Will a personal check do?" The IRS auctioned off Nelson's home and his property, though friends and fans bought most of his things and gave them back later. Nelson released the mail-order album The IRS Tapes: Who Will Buy My Memories? to help pay his taxes. Fans will remember this period as the Taco Bell years - when the hard-up Nelson lent his image to endorse the fast-food chain. Perhaps he should have learned some business lessons from Adam Clayton.