we all want to leave a legacy, right? it’s encoded in our dna that we want to leave something behind after
we shuffle off this mortal coil(i like the idea of shuffling off a mortal coil, kind of like doing a jazz-era dance
that leaves you dead. like ‘shuffle off to buffalo’, but replace ‘buffalo’ with ‘the land of the dead’). some of us want to leave kids, some of us want to leave art, etc.
i think that we should collectively aspire to leaving behind an english language that includes words
that aren’t, at present, real words.
my favorite non-word of the moment is ‘supposively’.
is in ‘george w bush supposively did A LOT of cocaine in his relative youth.’
it’s kind of like an explosive version of ‘supposedly’.
see, ‘supposedly’ is a milque-toast word, based purely on supposition and a lack of commitment.
but ‘supposively'(which isn’t actually a word. yet.)is the ‘yeah, sure’ version of ‘supposedly’.
example:
‘supposedly gw bush did a lot of cocaine.’
see, that’s subtle, understated.
but:
‘supposively gw bush did a lot of cocaine.’
this is a slam-dunk insinuation, as if to say ‘ok, i don’t have facts to back up what i’m saying, but everyone
knows i’m right.’
this doesn’t quite work in that example, as everyone does, in fact, know that gw bush did a lot of coke
in his youth. right?
this might explain why his brain is so riddled with gigantic holes, like grey texan swiss cheese.
now i think i might’ve just thrown up a little bit, as the thought of gw bush’s head being
filled with pockmarked grey swiss cheese is disgusting, if apt.
any other suggestions of non-words that we can smuggle into the o.e.d?
‘chaise lounge’? or is that too obscure and interior decorator-y?
an expression that people use a lot that i really like is ‘self depreciating’.
i mean, in actual fact it’s ‘self deprecating’, but ‘self depreciating’ works, too.
and not that it’s a linguistic mis-use, but i really like when people end a sentence by saying ‘and things of that nature.’
that’s like the said-out-loud equivalent of my lazy, written ‘etc’.
as if to say, ‘well, i’ve run out of things to say, not so much because i can’t think of anything else to say, but i’m
just feeling like i should stop talking now.’
ok, please let me know if you have any other suggestions for fake words that we can sneak into the o.e.d.
thanks,
moby
