Brussels: First-time students of the Greek debt crisis might fear they have stumbled on an alien language when they see some of the words European leaders use. Here is a selection of the key neologisms and stock phrases that have made their way from social media into the “Grexit” vocabulary.
GREXIT: The withdrawal of Greece from the euro, the European single currency. A portmanteau word made by combining the words “Greece” and “exit”. The term was reputedly first used in a paper by Citigroup economists Willem Buiter and Ebrahim Rahbari in February 2012.
GREXODUS (“Greece” plus “exodus”) has been suggested because the latter word is of Greek origin. Later spawned the word Brexit to refer to a potential British exit from the European Union in a referendum planned by Prime Minister David Cameron in 2017.
GREXIDENT (sometimes written GRACCIDENT): A chain reaction leading to Greece leaving the euro in a “chaotic, uncontrollable” fashion because of default or a bank run, despite efforts to keep it in. EU President Donald Tusk used the term on June 23 in a press conference, making it official after wide use on social media and in financial commentaries.
GREFERENDUM: A plebiscite called by Greece’s leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras for Sunday July 5 to decide on bailout reform terms offered by Greece’s EU-IMF creditors, made by combining the words “Greece” and “referendum”.
