BBC Radio Four this morning. John Humphries was interviewing a polling expert about opinion polls for the forthcoming election. The pollster (Tim) was talking about the changes during the campaign and referred to the dramatic surge of support for Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg after the first TV debate.
Tim: Then we’ve had Cleggstacy …
John: Cleggstacy? I haven’t heard that one.
Tim: You hear a new one every day, John.
I don’t think Cleggstacy is a new word. It’s a journalistic pun on Clegg and ecstasy, of the kind that the tabloid newspapers invent by the dozen on a daily basis. But I was interested (see the article on Thatcherite under ELT Articles).
An example of a new word. Years ago, we needed a new remote control key for a Renault car. The dealer said, ‘Ah, you need a new plip.’ I was fascinated by the word, which appeared in the Renault handbook too. I submitted it to the OED with a photocopy. They replied that they’d only recorded one previous use, by Ford Australia. One use is circling around trademark / new coining. The addition of Renault was good evidence that it was a genuine new word.
I did a Google search, and got pages of PLIP (Parallel Line IP) which was irrelevant, then on about page 8 came a Wanted ad from someone seeking ‘a replacement plip’ for his 1991 Peugeot car. Add Peugeot to Renault and Ford Australia and you’re getting towards a decently researched new word. BUT did it catch on? I think not. Ford UK and Toyota call it a ‘remote key’. A pity really, because plip was a good descriptive word.
So, what do you call it? Years ago it was rare. Now it’s universal. I think you say ‘remote key’ or just ‘key’ because every car has one. A new word that failed to take off?
An interesting example: what do you call that strip of plastic that you put on a supermarket conveyor belt to divide your shopping from the next person’s shopping? This has been held up as an everyday object without a name. But the supermarket must have an order code and name for it.
Does anyone know?
Peter Viney's Blog 
I will ask them.
In urban English Canada, people don’t talk to each other in line at the checkout. So, they don’t refer to the divider verbally. (I.e., I think of it as a divider.)
I suppose in cultures where customers talk a lot at checkouts, they are more likely to have a name for it. In my experience, people in Québec talk to each other more in lineups than in the rest of Canada (at least urban areas outside Newfoundland). So, Quebecers and Newfoundlanders would be more likely to have a name for it than elsewhere in Canada, I suppose. I’ll ask.
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