this is not a word
August 27th, 2008The Boston Globe has a great editorial for wordies in defense of English as user-modifiable technology.
Part of the joy and pleasure of English is its boundless creativity: I can describe a new machine as bicyclish, I can say that I’m vitamining myself to stave off a cold, I can complain that someone is the smilingest person I’ve ever seen, and I can decide, out of the blue, that fetch is now the word I want to use to mean “cool.” By the same token, readers and listeners can decide to adopt or ignore any of these uses or forms.
So, please, leave off the “not a real word” apologia. A far better (and dare I say, funner) technique is to jump in with both feet and use whatever word strikes your fancy.
August 27th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
One of my favorite interchanges with my high school AP English teacher who was an ancient and wise Jesuit.
Jordan: “I think that was computerly done.”
Priest: “Jordan, ‘computerly’ is not a word.”
Jordan: “Shakespeare constructed words all the time!”
Priest: “Jordan, I knew William Shakespeare. Bill was a good friend of mine. Let me tell you, you are no William Shakespeare.”
..J