WORDS
So Many Words
My third contribution to this lexical bonanza
When Tree Langdon prompted me to create and define five new words, I didn’t realise quite how many lexical gaps needed plugging!
Thankfully, Eli Snow, Keno Ogbo, Uchechi Obasi, Eashan Reddy Kotha, James G Brennan and Paroma Sen have all picked up the baton wonderfully — between us we must now be well on the way to a hundred neologisms!
Here are five more words to add to my previous posts. You can check out my first two efforts — Grumpelstiltskin and Napunzel — if you missed these!
1. Obknockshush
Obnoxious knocking. When somebody knocks on a door then impatiently knocks again seconds later.
It’s not surprising that obknockshushness is on the rise when our average attention span is only eight seconds. But it is rude and aggressive to insist on being granted instant entry — unless you are being chased by an angry dragon, in which case you can bang as obknockshushly as you like.
Next time someone hammers on your door without allowing sufficient time for you to open it, you’re well within your right to call the offender obknockshush and slam the door in their face.
2. Adultertea
If I’ve not already given away that I’m British by criticising people who don’t wait politely, this next word will leave no doubt. Adultertea is being unfaithful to your tea.
This isn’t about brand loyalty, but rather accepting cuppas from people outside of your usual tea-making arrangements.
You can commit adultertea by taking a brew from your boss, friend or neighbour. Adultertea takes place behind closed doors, but also in full view in public places.
If you’re the victim of adultertea don’t accept, “I couldn’t turn it down”, “it only happened once” or “you weren’t around to make it for me” as an excuse. It doesn’t matter whose idea it was or whether they regretted it afterwards — it’s still adultertea.
3. Og
Og came into existence after I failed to write ‘of’ for the millionth time.
On the surface it may seem like nothing more than an annoying typo, but in fact there is deeper meaning concealed beneath this seemingly innocuous two-letter word. Compare these sentences:
It’s time to let go of the past It’s time to let go og the past
Can you see the subtle distinction? In the former, the writer is clear and decisive: the time has come to let bygones be bygones.
In the latter, however, there is hesitation — through this Freudian slip of the finger, the writer has announced that they are in fact not ready to let go og the past after all. Look out for ogs: they are a useful way to detect lies over text.
4. Bewords
Beware words. All readers know that words are powerful and dangerous.
This verb can be used in a variety of situations:
- Bewords overconfidence when you use a word and it turns out to have an alternative definition to the one you intended
- Bewords thinking you’ve created a new word because it might turn out to be a nologism
- Bewords spelling a word wrongly and giving away more information than you meant to (for example, an og)
Don’t let the risk of making a mistake stop you enjoying language. But bewords the grave perils that can befall those who aren’t careful.
5. Disappoemment
Writing is hard. Taking an idea that is clear in your mind and making it understandable to your readers is no mean feat. Disappoemment is the result of our writing not matching our expectations.
Every writer will have experienced at least mild disappoemment. There are times when we think we are flowing and our words are coming out perfectly. But when we read them back the next day we can’t work out what on earth we were trying to say.
This may be more likely to occur if you were intoxicated when writing, but disappoemment is not limited to drunkriting.
Disappoemment can be applied equally to poetry and stories. If you prefer a more specific term for your prose failings you could try disstoryfaction.
What do you think of these new words? Are you obknockshush? Do you want to confess your adultertea?
I would love more people to take part and come up with an even wider variety of wonderful and wacky creations. What can Claire Handscombe, Louise Morris, Joanne Troppello🌻, Simran Kankas, Chase Clevenger, Aaron Quist, Dawn Aegle, Riku Arikiri and Ammelia Rendi do?
Read some of the best neologisms so far:
Or if you’re after something a bit crazier, try Holly Jahangiri’s new prompt:
