Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Etymology Monday: For Extremely Large Values of Monday
I've talked about English words I love, and English words I miss, and words in other languages that English should take on. Today on EMonday (I'm never allowed to call it that again) let's go one step farther and make up some English words?
I had a head start on this with "gymnosophy" (see the sidebar), but I was reminded of the subject by a conversation with some friends of mine a couple of months ago. One of them expressed dismay that English had no succinct word for "so bad it's good" and invited the rest of us to coin such a word. Another friend contributed "flawesome" and it has somewhat stuck. Sure, it's punny, but it's also pretty evocative. You know flawesome when you see it. MegaShark vs. Giant Octopus was a flawesome movie. 80s cartoons are pretty flawesome if you try to watch them now. The invention of Whisquila was a high point in flawesome science. (As a friend of mine described it: "Whisquila! For when you absolutely, positively have to wake up in jail!")
There are plenty of concepts for which English lacks a pithy word, and I urge you, dear readers, to submit them to me. Perhaps I will compile a Figure Five dictionary. From the First Mate comes bananosity ("the intensity of banana flavor in a food item, with, for example, a typical bread rating at approximately .67 bn and "banana" Laffy Taffy approaching 3 Kbn, and a banana itself given a value of 1 bn.") He also contributes cuddlinary, "of or pertaining to the act of preparing food with a lover, spouse, or other romantic partner as a means of emotional bonding." Now it's your turn! Leave your words and definitions in the comments.
Labels: audience participation, Etymology Monday
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