I often make words up. I think this is largely because of my poor memory - I forget the word I want to use so I just make one up in the moment. Unfortunately, the only person who can ever understand these words is my wife, who (because she is a saint) has spent so much time with me that she just miraculously knows what I’m talking about. Through my hundreds, even thousands of bumbling words, I will occasionally stumble across an idiom which should be a part of daily speech. One of these words was used in the recent post My Secret, and needs clarification:

e-guilt: (e gilt) (also: electronic guilt) the nagging shame of leaving emails, instant messages (IMs), Voice over IP (VOIP) calls, text messages, blogs or podcasts unanswered or unupdated.

Now, if you need definitions for any of the words within this definition, you probably do not suffer from the full effects of e-guilt; but to those who are afflicted, this is the diagnosis for that which ails us. Now, it’s out there. Go ahead world, use it.