Time for more wondrous words! I’m having a devil of a time today – I had to switch work laptops and the keyboard is just slightly different and it’s making me crazy! But crazy is fine today because I’m reading a book by a doctor – Dr. Drew Pinsky. (Don’t tell me I’m the only one who watched him on Loveline because he’s kinda hot.) This book is going to be a great source of words!

1. Narcissism – In this case, the quote provides its own definition:

“What is narcissism? It’s not what you think it is: it’s not ego. It’s not self-love. It’s self-loathing. Envy. Insecurity. Self-destruction.”

Now, for those of you not fluent in Webspeak:

2. Celebutantes, Celebuspawn and Celebutards

“They’ve been dubbed celebutantes (debutante-age girls famous only because of their wealth, lifestyle and perceived glamour), celebuspawn (offspring of a celebrity or celebrity couple) and celebutards (stars known for ignorant behavior or opinions.”

3. Histrionic – Histrionic personality disorder (HPD) is a personality disorder characterized by a pattern of excessive emotionality and attention-seeking, including an excessive need for approval and inappropriate seductiveness, usually beginning in early adulthood.

“Cluster B includes includes narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) as well as histrionic, antisocial and borderline disorders.”

4. Mimetic desires – desires in ourselves that are inspired by the desires of others.

“Although Girard’s theory of mimetic desire was inspired by his study of literature, it has been influential in the field of psychology…”

Okay, that’s enough psychology for one day. Here’s hoping you didn’t see yourself in any of these words! What words did YOU learn this week?

ETA: It has been pointed out that I didn’t give you the title of the book! Ooops! It’s The Mirror Effect: How Celebrity Narcissism is Seducing America. I finished it last night on the plane, and I should be reveiwing it next week.