celibacy, roman-à-clef, Seinfeld-effect

Caitlin Moran's coming-of-age novel left Zoe Williams crying with laughter: "It has a Seinfeld-effect, where sheer buildup of amusement invests even the simplest word – 'penis', 'dry-cleaner' – with explosive power. It turns out I don't hate romans a clef after all. I just hadn't met the right roman a clef."

How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran review – a Portnoy's Complaint for girls

Caitlin Moran's coming-of-age novel left Zoe Williams crying with laughter

THEGUARDIAN.COM|由 ZOE WILLIAMS 上傳

roman-à-clef

Line breaks: roman-à-clef

Pronunciation: /ˌrəʊmɒ̃ɑːˈkleɪ

  

, ʀɔmɑ̃akle/

NOUN (plural romans-à-clef pronunc. same)

A novel in which real people or events appear with invented names.

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Origin

French, literally 'novel with a key'.

Seinfeld, Jerry

Syllabification: Sein·feld, Jerry

Pronunciation: /ˈsīnˌfeld/

Entry from US English dictionary

(1955-) US comedian and actor. He starred in the television sitcom Seinfeld (1989–98).

Seinfeld-effect

The effect is named after the 1989-1998 sitcom Seinfeld’s habit of referencing little-known ideas, jokes, and phrases, such as “Festivus,” “yada yada yada,” or “not that there’s anything wrong with that,” and making them extremely well-known through the show’s populararity to the point that many have the misconception Seinfeld invented these phrases (for the purposes of this article, 1992 is listed as the meme origin date, as that was when the episode “The Contest” popularized the idea of masturbatory celebacy (sic) contests).

celibacy 

Pronunciation: /ˈsɛlɪbəsi/ 

NOUN

[MASS NOUN]

The state of abstaining from marriage and sexual relations:a priest who had taken a vow of celibacy