I am obsessed with words that have failed. As an amateur lexicographer and rabid word nut, I want to preserve, enjoy and share ephemeral examples of our huge linguistic creativity, even though - and partly because - self-depantsifier, hamsterslaughter, zombie-dar, henchgoon and messiahess-in-training will never make any dictionary, let alone a major one. Those colourful words (and thousands of others) are recorded on my blog Wordlustitude. Lexicographers call these one-off terms, coined for a single occasion, "nonce words". Not all nonce words are as colourful as scapepoodle and beJuicyFruited, but my blog combines my compulsion for collecting rare words with my not-so-mature sense of humour, so I select terms that are easy to joke about.
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