I think there ought to be a word for when academic writers make up a word for their own purpose: a word that is totally unnecessary and could easily be replaced by a word in common usage. (Preferably a word that I could yell at the book every time the unnecessary one was used.)
I think there also ought to be one plural word for neices and nephews. That's a ridiculous mouthful. I trip over it every time.
Betsy got me thinking about words that English ought to have. She got published in The Atlantic: "I need a word for the very vulnerable moment when, to pass through airport security, I must remove my shoes. This is the great equalizer: in sock feet, no one is dignified."
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/fugitives/fugitives.htm
There also ought to be a word for when I should be grading, but I'm blogging........I don't like the sound of procrastination.
2 comments:
Speaking of words that should be in the dictionary but aren't, did you listen to Car Talk this morning? They had a bunch. How about "destinasia" for when you go into a room and forget why you went there, or "molassticist" for the person who takes a malicious pleasure in making a situation as slowing and painful as possible.
ah, those are awesome.
on a more serious note, i really wish we had another word in the english language for 'know'...for when you've known something, but now you really know it.
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