Hipsters and suits alike are buzzing over the latest designer suffix:
IST
I mean, what's the deal with those three letters? Everywhere I go people are adding –ist to the end of things. It's all over movies, blogs, books, and you may be next! A popular meme is to use the definite article preceding the title of a work. (e.g. The ___ist")
Here's some examples. The Illusionist (movie), The Alchemist (book), and about a billion blogs: The Consumerist, The Web Urbanist, The Futurist, The Transportationist, Nerdist, etc.
Maybe you haven't noticed yet, but it's the next big thing. In fact, prepare to be sick of it.
I guess people love labeling themselves followers/adherents/ proponents of very specific fields. This smart guy says that the suffix comes from Greek, packaged along with sister suffixes –ism and –ize, but many of the new –ists aren't interchangeable, adding further consternation to prescriptivist Greeks. I mean, even "prescriptivist" gets the squiggly red line and suggests the change to "prescriptivism."
I propose to out-hip the newest suffixists at their own game. Now, mind you, this is a bit before its time, but look for –ista. A suffix on the suffix. Actually, it is ist in Spanish (and other languages). I think the most widespread usage in English right now is barista. If you want me to explain why that's even cooler, you might as well have someone explain to you what cool is.
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