Tag Archives: new words

Misnomers

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The prompt words I use each day are taken from five different blogs. To see the sites, click on each prompt word, which is linked to the blog that suggested it.  Words for the day are: brindle, infatuated, obelus, summit.  An obelus is a division sign, by the way. I didn’t know that, either, a fact that gave birth to the below poem:

Misnomers

An obelus should be a globe, a bubble or a ball.
rounded and continuous, uniting one and all,
not something that divides us and splits us into parts.
It’s clear the one who coined the word is lacking in their smarts.

Infatuated should mean thin and brindle should mean flinch.
Summit should mean more or less. I will not yield an inch.
Words should have meanings like their sounds  lest ignorant souls abuse them.
Until they do, bet on the fact that I will never use them!!!

 

Image by Simone Secci on Unsplash.

Schmutzwortsuche, Aug 14, 2020

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Schmutzwortsuche

I’m a martyr to the language, a proponent of its usage.
Malapropisms shatter me. I cringe at their abusage.
I’m a verbal junkie. I use language every day.
Rare is the occasion where I don’t know what to say.
Yet, mere crude modern vulgarisms rarely cross my lips.
I cling to formal usage—give gratuities, not tips.
I need not stoop to schmutzwortsuche, for I’m never bored.
There are so many nicer words in books where words are stored.
But if a vulgarism is your quip of last resort,
at least please choose a clever one for your rude retort!


 

Prompt words today are martyr, verbal, schmutzwortsuche, gratuity and language.

New Word for the Day: Chronopromptophobia

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New Word for the Day: Chronopromptophobia

Chronopromptophobia is the fear that your prompt will not be posted in time for you to write it before you need to get on with the day.

Etymology:  from the Latin roots chron: having to do with time;  prompt: to urge forward (ironically, this also designates  timeliness, as in “on time”); and phobia: fear.

The original term was coined in 2014/2015 when a major world blogging site experienced a series of breakdowns wherein prompts were either not published or were published so late in the day that the world economy suffered from the number of bloggers who called in sick to work to enable them to sit home and check every few minutes to see if the prompt was posted.

The Prompt: Play Lexicographer–Create a new word and explain its meaning and etymology.In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Play Lexicographer.”