Akademik

(bryd.ZIL.uh)

n.

A bride-to-be who, while planning her wedding, becomes exceptionally selfish, greedy, and obnoxious. Also: bride-zilla. [bride + Godzilla.]

The tricky thing about bridezillas is that their transition from sweethearts to creatures from hell cannot be foreseen, not even by the future husbands.

"They are perfectly normal women — until they get a ring," says Ms Spaemme. "They run around screaming: 'It is my day! Bow down and kiss my feet!' They demand attention, gifts and money and treat family and friends like servants."

— Steffi Kammerer, "Drama, chaos, greed and a white dress," The Dallas Morning News, August 27, 2002

She also cautions brides-to-be about turning into bridezilla, the name wedding consultants bestow on brides who are particularly difficult and obnoxious. "I tell them to keep things in perspective," Woodham said. "I get letters that are heartrending. People treat each other so badly, and over what? They allow the festivities to outweigh everything else. They lose sight of the solemnity of the wedding, of what it means."

— Diane White, "Tacky trips down the aisle," The Boston Globe, June 29, 1995

Today's word is a combination of bride and Godzilla, the mutant dinosaur created by U.S. hydrogen bomb testing in the Pacific that, in numerous films in the 50s and 60s, would wade onto land and destroy everything in its path. The bridal version of this monster is created by the maniacal need to have "the perfect day" and she'll walk over anyone and everything to get it.

The "Ms. Spaemme" mentioned in the example citation is writer Noe Spaemme (real name: Gail Dunson), who, along with co-author Jeanne Hamilton (creator of the etiquettehell.com: http://etiquettehell.com/ Web site), published a book called Bridezilla: True Tales from Etiquette Hell (Salado Press) in July of this year. Noe Spaemme ("No spam"? What the heck kind of pseudonym is that!?) has been on the interview circuit all summer, so bridezilla has been in the news quite a bit. However, this isn't the first time the term has created some buzz. Back in 1999, Modern Bride magazine launched a full-page comic strip (yes, you read that right: a comic strip) called Bridezilla, which chronicled "the beast called bride-to-be."