One Lucky Soul: Words I Made Up

Saturday, 19 September 2015

Words I Made Up

Since early childhood I always loved playing with words and coming up with new ones. I was wordy, verbal, oftentimes silly and ridiculous yet usually also amusing. Whether they were meaningless or as nicknames for my schoolmates, friends, girlfriends, coworkers and pets, the creation was something that came naturally to me.

As I matured and really got into language and writing, I found that, apart from the reflections, my thoughts are often invaded by new single words. Sometimes I wake up with one in my head, such as ‘Jalapeñonated’, for example. Other times, it’s while meditating, showering, reading, or just relaxing.

Knowing that language is beautiful yet elusive and limiting, the trilingual logo-lexophile in me now finds exquisite joy to give the made-up words proper definitions. For perhaps someday they could be used in appropriate situations — even make it to dictionaries and thesauruses. Who knows. Because, when you think about it, one way or another all words are made up. So maybe we should play around with language.

I hereby share with you some of the neologisms. Also check the Sequel, Threequel, Fourquel, Fifthquel, and Sixquel for more newborn babies.

*The series eventually reached 200 neologisms with Words I Made Up — The Twentieth in 2024. Who knew.

• Apabicity: (n) The state of having the ability, capability, and capacity all at once.

• Jalapeñonated (adj): Being so assertive and dogmatic in one’s opinions that your face turns red as you start sweating and tearing.

• Gladitude (n): The outlook or stance of being pleased for being thankful.

• Kattle (n): A vessel or a pot used by bovine animals to boil liquids and cook food.

• Testicalized (v): When one sees or hears something that is so lame and silly and boring and annoying all at the same time, which, figuratively, usually entails getting pain in the testicles. (Adapted from the Egyptian Arabic colloquial verb “ إتبضنت ” - “etbadant”)

• Trisexual (n): A person who is into having sex while riding a three-wheeled bicycle.

• Hebdromadaire (n.): Un chameau qui boit une fois par semaine. (French)

• Birder (n.): A premeditated killing of a feathered vertebrate.

• MILTTT (acro.): Mother I’d Like To Talk To.

• Porkcelain (n.): A white vitrified translucent ceramic material made by crafty pigs.

“The syntactical nature of reality, the real secret of magic, is that the world is made of words. And if you know the words that the world is made of, you can make of it whatever you wish.”
― Terence McKenna

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