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A Buffercopter in action

I feel like I haven’t invented nearly enough new words recently, so today I was particularly pleased when I was watching some on demand TV online that was rudely interrupted by… a buffercopter.

Buffercopter (Buf·er·cop·ter)

Noun

1. The spinning circular symbol which displays when an online streamed video is loading, or ‘buffering’;
2. A person, thing or object which prevents a desired outcome, see also ’spoilsport’ colloq.

So there you have it. I particularly like the colloquial usage which has grown up in the 25 minutes since I invented the term, which can be used for all sorts of ‘cock-blocking’ style events, for example:

Jim and frank are having a fight in the schoolyard, much to the delight of Sam and Teresa, who would otherwise have had a boring 15 minute break. Everything was going great, until a teacher sees the commotion and starts heading that way:

Sam (to Theresa): Uh-oh, here comes a buffercopter!

Another Buffercopter come to spoil our fun.

I’m sure you can think of many more instances, too, which might well be worth placing into the comments section below. Go for your life, I say, you never know when a buffercopter might come along and ruin everything.

You heard it here first – finally something to write on my gravestone: “Rob Scott – inventor of the word ‘Buffercopter’”.

Oh, in case you were wondering, the word ‘buffercopter’ did not show up in any Google searches, so it is officially coined today, the 18th May 2009, at about 20:45 GMT: