Vol. 10 · Portmanteaus ·Contemporary (2000–) ·2020
Zoombombing
Zoom bombing (photobombing)
- Meaning
- Uninvitedly joining a public or misconfigured video call to disrupt it.
- Source words
- Zoom + bombing (photobombing)
- Coined by
- unknown
- Year
- 2020
Background
The pandemic rush to the Zoom video platform in March 2020 created the vulnerability; *Zoombombing* was a problem, word, and mitigation feature all within a few weeks. A true digital-first portmanteau.
Contemporary (2000–)
Faster coinage, faster canonisation. Brexit and podcast both reached the OED within a decade of first use — historically rapid. Social media has made visibility, not invention, the rate-limiting step.
Two words, one coinage.
Browse every portmanteau on the shelf — or cross over to the loanwords atlas.