2009 is the year of the staycation. Many of us will choose to spend our vacation in our own country rather than in a far-flung exotic location. And if you favour boats over trains and happen to live near a canal or port you may decide to do a spot of gongoozling and turn into a gongoozler.
This strange sounding and looking word, recently in the news, is not new at all. Originally it described a spectator of narrow boats and activity on canals in Britain (it comes from the Lake District), but over time it has turned into a description of idle gazing in general. Although its roots are in the UK there is evidence of the word being used in North America too as this blog suggests.
Read more about language and words in the news.
