FollowHere are the Non-words for April.
-
fooledscape (also pronounced foolscape), n. those who are taken in on the first of April, literally a landscape of the fooled. 1 Apr
miksyezpit, v. to play a prank on someone (based on the comic book villain Mr. Mxyzptlk). Often shortened to “miks.” 2 Apr
syllabust, n. when a claim that work was assigned is disproved by the course syllabus (adapted from Leroy Fulwiler). 3 Apr
flop-flipper, n. a crisis management specialist (also has a slang use to mean pooper-scooper). 4 Apr
glumdom, n. a temporary state of glumness or unease. 5 Apr
bycrack, v. to talk in an old-fashioned way (from “by cracky”); the noun form is bycracker. 6 Apr
edundancy n. an unnecessary, superfluous reply to an email, post or tweet. 7 Apr
McNap, n. to catch five-minutes of sleep in a fast-food restaurant parking lot while on a long drive. 8 Apr
feminity, n. femininity that is apparent but not overstated. 9 Apr
masculity n. masculinity that is apparent but not overstated (by analogy with feminity). 10 Apr
fallute, v. to ostentatiously display one’s breeding (to high-fallute) or one’s commonness (to low fallute). 11 Apr
adjectify, v. to make an adjective out of a noun. 12 Apr
homeful, adj. having a home; also the noun form homefulness. 13 Apr
tropehold, n.situation in which a speaker uses only allusion, metaphor, allegory, irony and quotation, not logic. 14 Apr
lexthete, n. one who regularly exercises with words and language (from lexical + athlete). 15 Apr
descripe v. to describe in a complaining, grumbling or aggrieved manner. 16 Apr
humbrage, n. annoyance or offense expressed at the mmmm’s of another, especially when they occur in public. 17 Apr
contage, v. (kon-tayg) to cause something to spread, as if by contagion. 18 Apr
beminder, n. a periodic note from an older relative suggesting that you are failing to live up to your potential. 19 Apr
sportriotism, n displays of patriotism at sporting events; the blending of sports and patriotism (from Paul Hadella). 20 Apr
in@ention, n. obsessive, unproductive toggling between writing projects and email or social media. 21 Apr
flat-earth, v. to adhere to outmoded or discredited ideas (backform, from flat-earther); by extension, to round-earth. 22 Apr
dentmentia, n. the feeling you have on the way to work when you can’t remember if you have brushed your teeth. 23 Apr
decisination, n. the process of making a decision, especially when it is a prolonged process about a weighty matter. 24 Apr
recursify, v. to embed one grammatical construction in another, potentially endlessly (thanks to Robert Arellano). 25 Apr
feedeepism, n. celebration of and pleasure in one’s own failure (a form of self-Schadenfreude). 26 Apr
dasvedon, n. a farewell party for someone leaving for a new job. 27 Apr
fidgetal, adj. prone to fidgeting but not actually doing so, used of movements, generations and large groups. 28 Apr
jabbercize, v. to sit on the weight machines at the gym and talk while others are waiting for the equipment. 29 Apr
inscapable, adj. capable of having and enacting a unique internal identity (thanks to Gerard Manley Hopkins). 30 Apr
It’s been a busy month, non-word-wise. Thanks to Paul Hadella and the Medford Mail Tribune for the April 17 story and to the Oregon council of Teachers of English for giving me the opportunity to talk about the teaching and research aspects of the project (really!). Thanks too to Bobby Arellano, Paul Hadella, and Leroy Fulwiler for their words–recursify, sportriotism and syllabust–and to everyone who sent in suggestions this month. I’m researching those and some will appear in the month to come.
