Remember how in the 80s, Cabbage Patch dolls would come with little adoption certificates? And you'd have a good feeling, 'cause you were saving some adorable, chubby-cheeked urchin from a life of drudgery, picking cabbage leaves or whatever? Well, I don't have a Cabbage Patch Kid anymore (little Oliver Wendell is languishing somewhere in my parents' attic, I think), but I've found something that provides similar warm fuzzies and similar uselessness to society at large: save the words.
You "pledge" to save a word by using it in conversation, or scrawling it on the subway or whatever. This clearly isn't a decision to take lightly, so here are the words I'm considering saving:
frutescent - shrublike
oncethmus - the loud and harsh cry of a donkey
legatarian - pertaining to a deputy
panchymagogue - medicine purging bodily fluids from the body
phylactology - science of counter-espionage
plebicolar - appealing to the common people
venustation - the act of becoming beautiful or handsome
So tough to choose...they all need good homes...and how do you know which ones are going to grow up to resent you, once they're accepted back into the lexicon thanks to your love and nurturing?
5 comments:
I can't believe Xavier Roberts named a Cabbage Patch doll after a famous judge.
Oncethmus sounds like it could be so many cooler things than the loud and harsh cry of donkey.
Actually, Xavier Roberts didn't. My dad didn't care for the name that came with the Cabbage Patch Kid, and so renamed him. My 3-year-old self didn't know the difference (or the namesake reference) until years later.
Today's word of the day from merriam webster is "clepe," past tense "yclept." Definitely a keeper.
Scott
Scott, I think you get double dictionary karma points if you can resurrect that one.
I've already adopted oncethmus. :-)
http://crows-feet.blogspot.com/2009/02/save-words-meme.html
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