Viagra divorce
n. A divorce granted on the grounds that a husband is behaving aggressively or unfaithfully after taking Viagra or some other anti-impotence drug.
Other Forms
Viagra divorcee n.
Examples
2004
A wife is divorcing her husband after claiming Viagra made him too demanding in the bedroom.
The middle-aged housewife says her husband became ‘sexually aggressive’ after being prescribed the tablet to boost their sex life.
Now she has successfully petitioned for divorce on the grounds it amounted to unreasonable behaviour.
It is the first known case of ‘Viagra divorce’ in Britain and experts believe there could be more to follow.
—Judith Duffy, “First UK Viagra divorce,” Daily Record, April 19, 2004
2001
Nobody claims Viagra causes affairs or divorce. But increasingly,
it is a factor in both, says Dominic Barbara, who heads a Manhattan
law firm with 15 attorneys. In about one of every 15 or 20 new
divorce cases, somebody mentions Viagra, he says.
Initially, the Viagra divorce cases were the result of “men straying
from marriage,” popping a pill seen as the fountain of youth,
he says. Then came “cases of men taking Viagra, but their wives
were no longer interested in sex. And now, a lot of middle-aged
women are having affairs with older men who were impotent before
there was Viagra.”
—Karen S. Peterson, “Till Viagra do us part?,” USA Today, March 22, 2001
1998 (earliest)
Undoubtedly, large numbers of women will greet their sexually recharged lovers with all smiles. But sex therapists and marriage counselors around the country are preparing for another group to flood their offices soon: Viagra refugees. Spouses who don’t want the passion that comes with the pill, who were happy with sexually diminished marriages.
Maybe there hasn’t been a Viagra divorce yet. But with doctors writing Viagra prescriptions at a rate of 215,000 per week, just give it time. Next on “Jerry Springer”: MY HUSBAND LEFT ME FOR HIS VIAGRA TRAMP!
—Eric L. Wee, “Viagra? Not Tonight, Dear,” The Washington Post, May 6, 1998
Virtual visitation
n. Long-distance access to a child by a divorced parent using technology such as a broadband Internet connection and a webcam.
Also Seen As
Virtual visit
Examples
2006
With work and the school week behind them, Charles A. Mason III and his daughter, Arielle, who live more than 1,500 miles apart, prepared for their scheduled weekend visit. There was no packing involved, no plane tickets, no car rides or drop-offs. All it took was some instant messaging on their home computers and a little fidgeting in front of their respective Webcams, and father and daughter were chatting, playing checkers and practicing multiplication tables.
“It’s funner than talking on the phone, because I can see him,” said Arielle, 10, who lives with her mother in Longmont, Colo., but has regular “virtual visits” with her father as part of the custody arrangement her parents worked out after her mother moved eight years ago. “It’s just like being in front of him, but with games and computer stuff added.”
—Lynette Clemetson, “Weekends With Dad, Courtesy of D.S.L.,” The New York Times, March 19, 2006
2006
Divorce put David List and his 2-year-old daughter on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and he worried that she would soon forget him.
She hasn’t, though. List’s divorce agreement guaranteed him “virtual visitation” — the chance to talk with his daughter through an Internet video connection — and he and Ruby Rose, now 5, usually connect at least twice a week. The chats between California and Great Britain sustain them in between their in-person visits, which come only a few times a year.
—Ann Sanner, “‘Virtual’ visits for children of divorce pushed in several states,” The Associated Press, February 28, 2006
2001 (earliest)
A Bergen County judge is expected to grapple soon with a new question of the Internet age: Can daily communication online, complete with live pictures and sound, help a child feel close to her father even if they live far apart?
A divorced mother, who wants court permission to move from Midland Park to California with her 9-year-old daughter, says yes. The child’s father, who lives in Ridgewood, says absolutely not. …
The novelty of using “virtual visitation” to try to make the decisions easier caught the eye of the media in an instant.
—Leslie Brody, “Court may weigh merits of parenting via Internet,” The Record, January 14, 2001
Notes
The more formal term for virtual visits is computer aided custody sharing.
wasband
n. A woman’s ex-husband.
Etymology
was + husband
Examples
1996
The bride’s aunt dances with her ex-husband — he’s called a ‘wasband’ — on the hay-strewn ‘dance floor’ in front of the barn.
—Abigail Trafford, “Will You Still Catch Me When I’m Sixty-Four?,” The Washington Post, September 10, 1996
1990 (earliest)
After reading here about the guy who calls his wife’s ex her ‘wasband,’ Rosemary Wolohan confides that she refers to her two exes as ‘hasbeends.’
—Herb Caen, “Plenty of Monday,” The San Francisco Chronicle, March 12, 1990
Notes
This term is a clever and euphonious blend of the words was and husband.
webcast wedding
n. A wedding ceremony broadcast via streaming video over the web.
Also Seen As
web wedding · net nuptials
Examples
2002
When Lori Dickinson and Tyson Reiser walk down the aisle on Wednesday evening, most of their guests will be in pyjamas. The couple, from Waterloo, Ont., will say their vows in a Las Vegas chapel with 10 of their closest friends and family on hand. But another 40 or 50 people will be at home, watching the wedding live on the Internet after Ms. Dickinson, 28, and Mr. Reiser, 30, sent out e-mail invitations for the Webcast wedding to family and friends in British Columbia, Calgary and Manitoba.
—Melanie Seal, “Honeymoon in Vegas: Tying the knot on the Net,” The Globe and Mail, February 4, 2002
2000
In a first for Virginia’s judicial system, the Wise County Circuit Court is offering to broadcast weddings live over the Internet, enabling faraway friends to witness the nuptials on their computer screens. The cost to the bride and groom: $ 150. The payoff: The money far-flung relatives save on airfare can be plowed into big-ticket wedding gifts. “To our knowledge, this is the first Webcast wedding site in the nation,” said Court Clerk Jack Kennedy, who has made the Wise courthouse one of the most technologically advanced in the state.
—Rex Bowman, “Wise guy pitches Web weddings,” The Richmond Times Dispatch, September 2, 2000
1997 (earliest)
Wardner was the perfect spot for another reason — although only about 200 people live there, it has one of the slickest home pages on the Net. It plays bucolic music and shows live camera footage of the front porch of the mayor’s gift shop. Usually, all you see is Peterson sipping coffee. But Sunday, users could call up the porch wedding at 4 p.m. Schenbeck’s sister had a computer party in California to celebrate. About 30 others caught the Web wedding, too.
—Ward Sanderson, “Town on cutting edge for high-tech marriage,” The Spokesman-Review, May 19, 1997
weddingmoon
n. A vacation that includes both a wedding ceremony and a honeymoon.
Etymology
wedding + homeymoon
Examples
2002
A budget planner is included and costs can be cut by planning ahead and scrimping on little things in order to splurge when it matters. Many couples today are opting for “weddingmoons” — combining their wedding and honeymoon into one special trip.
—Laurie Smith Anderson, “Read all about it,” Sunday Advocate, February 3, 2002
1995 (earliest)
Many Caribbean islands have reacted to the growing popularity of “weddingmoons” by agreeing to waive waiting period requirements so that, in some instances, tourists can marry the day they arrive.
—Harry Shattuck, “Not all couples wed to tradition,” The Houston Chronicle, March 12, 1995
Notes
Weddingmoon is a truly silly construction and yet, head-scratchingly, it has been a registered trademark of Sandals Resorts since 1995. I’d tell you to “Go figure,” but I suspect your efforts would not be particularly well rewarded.
wedsite
n. A website where a couple posts information about their upcoming or recent wedding.
Also Seen As
wed-site · wed site
Etymology
wedding + website
Examples
2008
FirstPhera is another name that thrives around the business of weddings, and is developed by Vikas Sabnani who started his venture a year ago in Ahmedabad. FirstPhera is into wedsites—websites that are used by the couple to invite friends and relatives, post pictures, and blogs related to pre and post wedding events. These wedsites also help clients share stories, and view posted greetings from friends’ and relatives’.
—“Yes, I do: The business of weddings,” The Economic Times, November 7, 2008
2008
For those reasons and more, each bride turned to a wedding Web site, also called a “wed site.”
The sites allow couples to post information about how they met, display photos, provide details on the wedding and track RSVPs.
—Richard Dalton, “Wedding Web sites, or ‘wed sites,’ gain popularity,” Newsday, March 12, 2008
1996 (earliest)
But the wedding was a victim of its own pre-publicity. So many thousands of people tried to access the site that it became permanently engaged. Eventually the line was restored, but by then the media in Istanbul headed to the ballroom for real-life pictures of Handan and Sam.
Back on the Net, the ‘Wed’ site has pages of photos of the bride and groom.
—Chris Nuttall, “World first as couple tie net,” The Observer, March 10, 1996
wife acceptance factor
n. In an object, especially an electronic device, that normally appeals only to men, the qualities or features added to or modified in the object to make it acceptable to women.
Also Seen As
WAF
Examples
2003
I started in home automation back in 1992 when we were building a home in Atlanta. The system that I use, HomeSeer, has a software module that allows me to hook up the phones so that I can pick up any phone, hit “pound” and it will get on the line and say “Yes, sire.” And then I can say something like “Turn on the master bedroom lights.” …
My wife, she’s always had sort of a tentative take on the home automation. In Atlanta, things never quite worked right or I was always experimenting. But now she’s grown to depend upon it. In the home automation community, which is mostly males, there’s a coined acronym: W.A.F., the Wife Acceptance Factor. People are always trying to find automation routines that have a high W.A.F.
—Richard Tinker, “Smart Houses,” The New York Times, February 21, 2003
1989 (earliest)
The concept of stereo as a rack full of mix ‘n’ match components stretched well into the ‘70s and ‘80s, and is still very much with us. But as many of us grew older, into the happy, mostly masculine domain of hi-fi, a significant new element entered the picture: WAF, or Wife Acceptance Factor. And with it came a new rebellion against the domination of living-room space by that rack of industrial-design hardware and oversized loudspeakers. This new rebellion brings with it a concept of hideaway stereo that is heard but not seen, that blends invisibly and discreetly into a room’s decor.
The reality is that most traditional hi-fi equipment has been designed to appeal to male tastes, and consequently, more typically resembles scientific tools and industrial test equipment than your average home furniture. But, it seems, the growing pressures of the Wife Acceptance Factor is pushing stereo design in a new direction, and creating a new market in the process, one that seems to be marrying hi-fi performance with interior decorating.
—Gerald Levitch, “Heard but not seen,” The Toronto Star, September 3, 1989
Notes
In these sensitive times, gender generalizing is a hazardous game that’s usually played only by fools and rabble-rousers. I hesitate to speculate which of these groups the coiner of wife acceptance factor is a member of, but it’s clear the point is that men are generally more interested in high-end electronic gadgetry than women. Further, this obsession with fancy digital doodads works well as long as a man remains single. But once he’s married or otherwise sharing living quarters with a significant female other, electronic emblems of singlehood such as refrigerator-sized speakers and wall-covering home theater systems are doomed. Why? Because (so the theory goes) most women don’t want to live in a home dominated by over-the-top electronica. Their preferences run more towards things that are attractive, understated, and easy-to-use, and it’s these characteristics that give devices a high score on the WAF scale.
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