Welcome to the FYA Lexicon
Find definitions of our vocabulary and frequent expressions here.
Looking for a word or phrase that isn’t here? Leave us a note in the comments!
Cameron Quick: (n) A childhood bestie who returns after an absence as a potential romantic interest, inspired by the character of the same name in Sweethearts.
Champ Cans: (n) 1. cans of sparkling wine made by the Coppola Winery and named after his daughter, Sofia. 2. a frequent source of good times and deep trubs for the members of FYA.
Coach Taylor Award: (n) an honor given to adult characters who are particularly inspiring and supportive coaches or mentors
Covertastic: (adj) description and tag for a book with a fantastic cover. See also: Montell Jordan.
CYOA: Choose Your Own Adventure, our series (inspired by the original books) that incorporates YA clichés and reader’s votes.
The Dan Scott Award For Awful Parenting: (n) a (dis)honor given to terrible parents. Formerly known as The Patty Chase Award.
DNRIP: Do Not Read In Public. This warning can be given for a book featuring one or more of the following: 1) the high potential for loud sobs and profuse tears. 2) snort-worthy humor that may lead to beverage-up-the-nose or mortifying guffaws. 3) a highly embarrassing cover.
Double True: (adj) to be extremely and obviously true. Taken from the SNL Lazy Sunday short. Often used in its abbreviated form: dubs true.
Enemistry: (n) an attraction between two enemies typically resulting in some smokin’ hotness.
Fred Savage: (v) to immediately detest a book based on one factor. Taken from The Princess Bride, in which a young Fred Savage asks: “Is this a kissing book?”
FYABC: Forever Young Adult Book Club
Gateway Book: (n) a book that easily lures people into the world of YA.
Jorts: (n) jean shorts. Most famously modeled by Taylor Lautner in the film New Moon.
The Keith Mars Award for Awesome Dadhood: (n) named after one of the greatest fictional fathers in history, this award is given in the bonus factor section of a book report to honor amazing dads.
LadyNerd: (n) the most powerful creature that walks the Earth. A LadyNerd is everything that is to be admired in life. She has the exalted moral standing and charms of a Lady and the encyclopedic knowledge and swimfannery of a Nerd. She is the best of both worlds, the LadyNerd.
Montell Jordan Award: (n) a reference to Montell Jordan’s song, “This Is How We Do It,” used to celebrate excellence in book cover artwork.
Milk Carton: (adj) describes a factor or quality often missing in YA literature. Inspired by the ads for missing children on milk cartons and discussed in this post and its follow-up.
Mysterious Loner Dude: (n) this archetype makes frequent appearances in YA and is labeled in the bonus factor section of a book report with a picture of Jordan Catalano.
Required Reading: (n) our list of books that should be read by every living human being because they are THAT amazing.
Smize: (v) to smile with your eyes. Created by Her Royal Crayness Tyra Banks, whose official definition is available here.
Swimfan: (n) a crazy obsessed fan. Inspired by the wonderfully batshizz Erika Christensen in the film Swimfan.
Swoontastic: (adj) tag for a book with a swoonworthy scale of at least 10.
The Tami Taylor Award for Awesome Motherhood: (n) an honor given to particularly amazing mom characters.
Tasty Business: (n) Food that is especially delicious. May also be used as an adjective.
TEABS: (n) The End of an Awesome Book Syndrome. Characterized by the following symptoms:
1. After finishing the final sentence, you stare at the last page for at least two minutes. An irregular heartbeat and shortness of breath are common side effects during this stage.
2. You immediately flip back to all of yr favorite parts and furiously read them again in order to pretend like It’s Not Really Over.
3. After you’ve exhausted every single cherished page, you stare off into space while imagining the characters in new scenarios, living life beyond the boundaries of the book. (This stage can evolve into an obsession known as FanFic, which most TEABS experts discourage.)
4. You call every friend you know who’s read the book just so you can rehash every single story line and character and, basically, totally spazz out* (*scientific term meaning highly energetic and ridiculous spasms of conversation and exclamations).
5. You read reviews of the book online just so you can shout “TOTALLY!” and “I KNOW, RIGHT?!!!” at yr computer screen.
6. You do a Google search for future sequels and, if unsuccessful, scour the internet for RUMORS of a sequel, no matter how baseless they are because OMG IT CAN’T BE OVER! IT CAN’T BE!
YAngelism: (n) zealous preaching and dissemination of the gospel of young adult literature.