A.Word.A.Day -- AWADmail Issue 1093

Averdary: A combination of average, everyday, and ordinary to describe a person or event that is so unremarkable as to deserve a mashup of three adjectives to underscore their plainness.
-Bob Ezrin, Franklin, Tennessee (bob ezrin.com)

Textambulate: To text while walking.
-Kevin O’Reilly, Powell, Ohio (kporeillymd gmail.com)

Gravikey: The mysterious force that allows you to get the key into the house door lock or car ignition despite the lack of any light. Our twins came up with this maybe 35 years ago when they were teenagers.
-Robert J. Sokol, MD, West Bloomfield, Michigan (rsokol med.wayne.edu)

Nooning: The moment when your brain resets and you don’t remember what you had been saying or doing. This is based on those old digital clocks that would flash 12:00 when disconnected and reconnected. (This was actually 12:00 AM, midnight, not noon, but midnighting just doesn’t have the same ring to it.)
-Nayeli Garci-Crespo, Mexico City, Mexico (nayeligk gmail.com)

Requition: The process of transitioning from unrequited to requited.
-Joe Holland, West Allis, Wisconsin (basic.joe wi.rr.com)

Nullity: The time spent waiting for someone to scroll through their phone searching for an item after they’ve said, “Just look at this.” I know this already has the meaning of being legally void but I am using it to describe such an utter waste of one’s time.
-Katy Hunter-Choat, Wotton, UK (khunterchoat gmail.com)

Hesterton: A person who doesn’t admit that he doesn’t know a word. The test, of course, is to call someone a hesterton. If he asks what that means, he is absolved, but if he defends himself -- “I am not!” -- then he confirms that he is one. My father coined it when he was a kid. I still use all the time:.
-Viveca Gardiner, Brooklyn, New York (viveca.gardiner gmail.com)

Insquidulate: To linger and settle in to one’s location, especially applicable to visiting a nice British pub and having a few more pints than the one to two originally planned. As a family we coined it as the opposite of absquatulate (to leave abruptly).
-Robin Hilton, Darwin, Australia (robin thehiltons.co.uk)

Interlegate: To read between the lines.
-Michael Keyton, Aurora, Illinois (fresnarus att.net)

When I started DJ’ing, back in the ‘70s, I worked for a Yale engineering grad who referred to a busted amp as fenered. I always thought it was a technical term until Google came along.
-Ron Brawer, New York, New York (ronnierayb gmail.com)

Syncopresis: a polite way of saying: getting your shιt together. From Greek syn- (with) and kopron (dung). Pronounced sin-ko-PREE-sis.
Usage: “Not quite feckless, George still remained far from achieving syncopresis.”
-Bob Richmond, Maryville, Tennessee (rsrichmond gmail.com)

Artickle: An article that amuses one.
-Stephen Darr, Winchester, Massachusetts (steve darr.com)

Postcarious: A state or situation that often follows from a state or situation that is precarious.
-Steve Martin, Sarasota, Florida (stephensrq gmail.com)

I’ve coined many words, but my favorite is probably fishwater. With small grandchildren around it becomes necessary to swear creatively. “Oh Fishwater!” kind of sounds like swearing, but isn’t. I still use it.
-Kristin Strachan, Highlands Ranch, Colorado (ourhouse37 hotmail.com)

Thrival: A combination of thrive and survival. It’s a celebration of flourishing after having overcome ominous problems, illnesses etc. The Prostate Cancer Specialist Nurse loved this word as I am a cancer survivor like many people.
-Raymond Muschialli, Melbourne, Australia (rtm optusnet.com.au)

Strajedy: Strategy + tragedy. In other words, a strategy which, when implemented, has other than stellar results.
-Nancy Suslov, Naples, Florida (nisuslov gmail.com)

Jaffe: To spill food or drink on oneself, thereby permanently ruining an item of clothing.
Coined by my bride circa 1984 during a pique of frustration when she realized that she could no longer buy me a nice tie or shirt, because I would most assuredly destroy it.
-Art Jaffe, Portland, Oregon (artjaffe gmail.com)

I used to live south of San Francisco. We were regularly stopped in traffic at crossings by the commuter trains that went up and down the Peninsula. But one day it was a freight train carrying cattle cars, and I said, “Oh look, a cowmuter!”
-Bonnie Hiller Fullerton, San Mateo, California (bonnie.fullerton gmail.com)

One of my favorite coined words is refraint, as in using restraint to refrain from doing something.
-Lee Entrekin, Old Fort, North Carolina (harpo mindspring.com)

Olderloaded: Being overloaded not only with incoming information, but shrinking ability to manage it as we get older. My husband Tom invented it.
-Lauri Holmes, Kalamazoo, Michigan (lauriholmes gmail.com)

Monologous: Describing a person who speaks non-stop in a social situation, rather than participating in give-and-take conversation.
-Beth Keena, Pittsboro, North Carolina (b_keena yahoo.com)

Conveninefficiency: When something a person does to make his/her life easier creates extra work for others.
-Dan Clifton, Monticello, Illinois (aabdmt2 gmail.com)

Tragacarro: A large pothole.
The first time I went to Nicaragua the roads were so bad that I invented this word to describe the potholes: tragacarros = literally, devours cars. Down my street there were a couple of holes that I called tragabicicletas. I think they’ve fixed them. I hope so. I ride a bike.
-Elizabeth Block, Toronto, Canada (elizabethblock netzero.net)

I have seen many people in lofty positions for which they were utterly unsuitable. A lot of those promotees had been nudged up the corporate ladder simply because they’d been at the company for years and years. I call this a chronotocracy.
-Lee Robson (via website comments)
[Also see, Peter principle]

When I have difficulty getting audience engagement, I explain that the word volunteer comes from the Latin word volo, which means to wish or want. Then I tell them about the Latin word nolo, which means to not wish, not want. I threaten to select a nolunteer from the audience if no one will willingly participate.
-Kay Neal, Champaign, Illinois (b.kayneal gmail.com)

As a now-retired third generation cut flower grower, I was taught early on to view all flowering plants, wild or domesticated, as potential novelties to bring to market. Our family’s first thought upon seeing something different was not “How beautiful”, but rather, “I wonder how it would hold up in a vase.” No surprise then that I started referring to suitable candidates as vaseworthy.
-Joe Schmitt, Madison, Wisconsin (jschmitt106 gmail.com)

My wife and I talk about how we have idiotsyncracies, which are idiosyncrasies, but with a touch of silliness. It is ALWAYS said with affection.
-Douglas E. Hough, Baltimore, Maryland (douglas.hough jhu.edu)

Homeopathetic: A spurious form of medicine. (video, 3 min.)
-Stuart Klipper, Minneapolis, Minnesota (sklipper bitstream.net)

An emenem dash — - — marks a brief hesitation in the midst of an impulsive action.
Example: “She reached for the candy dish — - — and then gobbled the M&Ms.”
-Phyllis Morrow, Fairbanks, Alaska (phyllismorrow1 gmail.com)

I wish there was a type of quotation mark for inner dialogue. I might marry an apostrophe with a dash. “-I wonder if this message is being read.-”
-Tim Hall, Lansdale, Pennsylvania (daysofzen gmail.com)

I would use: (“”) meaning: “Imagine!” I would use it thus: Did you even HEAR what she said (“”)?
-Vicky Shemie, Montreal, Canada (roubenvicky sympatico.ca)

A joy bang: the asterisk + exclamation point. It would remind me of a 4th of July sparkler which elicits glee.
-CG Phillips, Deming, New Mexico (msrabbi2004 yahoo.com)

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One day while watching squirrels, I thought of scampersands which would be like an ellipsis (...) Only with ampersands (&&&). For when your thoughts are scampering about with that squirrel energy. Examples:
Yesterday I was watching squirrels &&& birds &&& butterflies &&& it was glorious! Today I need to organize my life, find my focus, feed the birds &&& do all kinds of things!
-Holly Button, Clarion, Pennsylvania (hollybutton gmail.com)

I looked it up and the rhetorical question mark is a backwards question mark...but I came up with this some years ago which I still think is better.
-Tad McNair, Brunswick, Georgia (tad jpswineandspirits.com)

Several years ago, a friend asked for a lower-key version of an exclamation point -- something not quite so loud. I introduced her to the interrobang, but we also came up with the melex. The melex looks like a vertical tilde over a period and is, as the name implies, a mellow exclamation point.
-Joe Silber, Leiden, The Netherlands (bishopjoey gmail.com)

Not my idea, but there is also the semi-quote, which is a double quotation mark (“) over a single quotation mark (‘). It means this is more or less what was said rather than a direct quote.
-Judson Stailey, Silver Spring, Maryland (jud.stailey gmail.com)

A.Word.A.Day

AWADmail Issue 1092