Non-Word for October

Here you go…the non-words for October, with thanks to Robert Arellano, Jeremy Speer and Terry Rivas.

    hoardery, n. a large space (room, garage, basement, storage unit) where one stores presumed collectibles. 1 Oct

    domify, v. to build houses, with the intention of building community and culture. 2 Oct

    insobnia, n. the temperament that resists crying when it is appropriate to do so. 3 Oct

    recombobulate, v. to reorganize something that has fallen victim to entropy. 4 Oct

    paradigmatism, n. reflexive designation of old epistemologies as retrograde or novel ones as fads. 5 Oct

    flall v. to perform a desperate act badly; e.g., a failed Hail Mary pass. 6 Oct

    tuse, n. someone you friend on Facebook but don’t know personally, also tuser (one with many tuses). 7 Oct

    endashen, v. to replace commas or parens with dashes in a piece of writing–and by extension to overuse dashes. 8 Oct

    roit, n. an unidentified floating object (UFO) in a swimming pool. 9 Oct

    enterdisciplinary, adj. introductory methods, insights and protocols that prepare one for advanced study in a field. 10 Oct

    emerit, v. to honor retirees or others who are leaving an organization in good standing. 11 Oct

    tidysis, v. to do one’s housecleaning in the nude (from tidy + ecdysis). 12 Oct

    moralarkey, n. a facile assertion of one’s moral values to do something or avoid doing something. 13 Oct

    pavl, v. to condition someone to do something or behave in some way (hence the expression “to pavl into submission”). 14 Oct

    misprehend, v. to purposely misunderstand instructions in order to get more time or help for a task. 15 Oct

    gratzi, int. a way to both acknowledge and scold a grammar nazi who corrects you. 16 Oct

    acromynesia, n. confusion of two acronyms or the inability to remember what an acronym stands for (tks, Robt Arellano). 17 Oct

    malelujah! int. an expression of joy when someone you dislike unexpectedly and hugely fails (from mal + hallelujah). 18 Oct

    Googellian, adj. the impending total control of data by a supposedly benevolent infoverlord (thanks to Jeremy Speer). 19 Oct

    extendation, n. the act of growing larger (thanks to Terry Rivas). 20 Oct

    evertheless, conj. adv. to assert a possibly contrary point with a complementary sense (= moretheless, withstanding). 21 Oct

    409ers, n. people who obsessively clean their homes on the weekends and find it fulfilling and relaxing. 22 Oct

    supplete, v. to complete a thing by supplying a item from elsewhere (eg, using a salt shaker as a chess piece). 23 Oct

    metaphorganism, n. the use of organic metaphors to refer to inorganic or corporate entities (body politic, trailhead). 24 Oct

    survivisect, v. to do experimental surgery on part of an organism hoping the larger entity will more readily thrive. 25 Oct

    inflababble, adj. people who are able to eat whatever they like without gaining weight. 26 Oct

    transponyms, n. words that differ only in the switching of two letters, like “chai” and “chia”. 27 Oct

    galent, v. to pompously assume authority one does not have or has not earned.. 28 Oct

    resilofication, n. attempts by an organization to break down intellectual silos but which unintendedly create new ones. 29 Oct

    substand, v. to make a below average effort or to perform below average, but not quite failing, work. 30 Oct

    parasymptomnoia, n. assuming the worst about medical symptoms after consulting online health information and advice. 31 Oct

About Ed Battistella

Edwin Battistella’s latest book Dangerous Crooked Scoundrels was released by Oxford University Press in March of 2020.
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