Conceptual re-contextualizations and re-(re-)-contextualizations: The story of ‘sglobka’

‘Sglobka’ is a word that entered abruptly Bulgarian political discourse in 2023. Before that, ‘sglobka’ had existed only as a technical term designating the manner of conjoining wooden or metal components. Within hours of its first public appearance in reference to the then Bulgarian government, ‘sglobka’ went viral. It even became the 2023 Bulgarian Word-of-the-year runner-up. The main argument underlying this investigation sees the transition of SGLOBKA from the domain of technical discourse to the domain of political discourse as a process of cognitive re-contextualization. The theoretical framework of the investigation is that of Cultural Linguistics, harmonized with cognitive-sociolinguistic research techniques. The paper first establishes how the concept of SGLOBKA came to be re-contextualized against the political domain through its mediatized uses. Then the paper presents the results from a questionnaire-based study revealing how SGLOBKA is conceptualized by Bulgarians at the present stage of the concept’s evolution. The paper also reports on a probe revealing how SGLOBKA is conceptualized by certain UK political actors.