I don't know if they still do it, but Reader's Digest used to make up new words with definitions. My favorite is "xiidigitation: The process of determining the age of a TV show or film by deciphering the Roman numerals."
I decided to make my own list. It's a short one thus far. The first three all have to do with driving:
aviglace -- noun. definition: ice that flies off of a vehicle in motion
maintedroit-- verb. definition: the act of staying to the right side of the road until the last possible moment when merging onto a highway from the right
(note: the final t may be silent, in keeping with the French root, or it may be pronounced. Also, the sister word to this is "maintegauche" in cases where the merge is from the left.)
leftdangle-- verb. Definition: The action of, when attempting to make a left turn against oncoming traffic, encountering a vehicle heading in the other direction and also attempting to make a left turn, then drifting into the opposite lane, only to have the other vehicle complete the turn, leaving the given vehicle in the position where it is blocking lanes in both directions
popblockage-- Noun. Definition: When one is attempting to drink pop from a glass or cup, the situation caused by an ice cube that positions itself just below the rim, making it impossible to drink
leftdangle is already known as a "Boston Left"
ReplyDeleteDownpuppy,
ReplyDeleteThanks for pointing that out. I'm going to keep the word anyway. One thing about the English language is that we have many words for the same thing.
BTW, I'm a bit surprised that Boston would lend its name to any driving maneuver. Don't get me wrong-- I have family there, and I like it a lot. But I have driven there twice. No more. It seems to me that driving in Boston is just comprised of thousands of people maneuvering around in a random manner.