The Washington Post reports that Merriam-Webster ran a contest for words that aren’t in the dictionary that should be. M-W was swamped with more than 3,000 entries.
Their top 10 are here.
Anyone who has children (or has been one sometime in the past) will not find this all that amazing.
Your mission, should you chose to accept it, is to use as many of these in a creative work as you can. Have fun.
My sister began using the word “squoze” in place of “squeezed” a few years ago. I can’t help but cringe every time she says it.
I wonder if “grok” is in the dictionary. Hmmm…
Comment by hooligan — May 18, 2005 @ 11:58 am
Yep, or at least it’s in the OED. I didn’t bother to check any others.
Comment by bluewoad — May 18, 2005 @ 12:03 pm
Ginormous is not a real word? Certainly it is!
Comment by Bill Snodgrass — May 18, 2005 @ 12:05 pm
Katie Couric used the word “ginormous” this morning on the “Today” show. She was referring to First Lady Laura’s Bush’s growing popularity.
Comment by hooligan — May 19, 2005 @ 7:48 am
Somebody got credit for “woot”? I use it all the time. And “confuzzled” too. Hmmmm…
They’d better not take my other favorite words:
Foofie (n) Any small, desirable object, esp. when given as a gift (”Daddy, bring me a foofie back from your trip!” “Just bought myself a coupla foofies today.”)
Buzuggly (adj) Worse than ugly. Hideous, disgustingly tacky, loathsome in appearance (”D’you believe that buzuggly car he’s driving?) Derivative of “butt ugly”.
Whap (v) To whack and slap with one motion. Tricky, since it involves moving hands in both directions at once. Can be executed with ease, however, when visualizing telemarketers. “I’m gunna whap you upside th’ head, Jethro!”)
Comment by Scothia — May 23, 2005 @ 12:12 pm