Douglas Coupland

emotional ketchup burst - the bottling up of opinions and emotions inside oneself so that they explosively burst forth all at once, shocking and confusing employers and friends — most of whom thought things were fine. (page 21)

Dorian Graying - the unwillingness to gracefully allow one's body to show signs of aging. (page 164)

divorce assumption - a form of Safety Net-ism, the belief that if a marriage doesn't work out, then there is no problem because partners can simply seek a divorce. (page 34)

air family - describes the false sense of community experienced among coworkers in an office environment. (page 111)

conspicious minimalism - a life-style tactic similar to Status Substitution. The nonownership of material goods flaunted as a token of moral and intellectual superiority. (page 107)

black dens - where Black Holes live; often unheated warehouses with Day-Glo spray painting, mutilated mannequins, Elvis references, dozens of overflowing ashtrays, broken mirror sculptures, and Velvet Underground music playing in background. (page 135)

celebrity schadenfreude - lurid thrills derived from talking about celebrity deaths. (page 70)

bread and circuits - the electronic era tendency to view party politics as corny — no longer relevant or meaningful or useful to modern societal issues, and in many cases dangerous. (page 80)

bleeding ponytail - an eldery sold-out baby boomer who pines for hippie or pre-sellout days. (page 21)

black holes - an X generation subgroup best known for their possession of almost entirely black wardrobes. (page 135)

Bambification - the mental conversion of flesh and blood living creatures into cartoon characters possessing bourgeois Judeo-Christian attitudes and morals. (page 48)

boomer envy - envy of material wealth and long-range material security accrued by older members of the baby boom generation by virtue of fortunate births. (page 21)