Perfect Bound Press Word Fugitives In Pursuit Of Wanted Words.pdf

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Word Fugitives
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WORD
FUGITIVES
__________
IN PURSUIT OF WANTED WORDS
Barbara Wallraff
__________
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To my husband, Julian H. Fisher,
who gamely gyred, gimbled, and chortled
along with me all the way through
 
___
I NTRODUCTION : B EFORE THE B EGINNING k
1
Imagine being the first person ever to say anything. What fun it would
be to fill in the world with words. Not only is inventing words a blast:
it has real possibilities. Let’s explore a few of these—in particular, the
ones that have to do with coining words just for fun.
1
25
Language, some linguists say, organizes experience. But language itself
is hideously disorganized. Vast expanses of our inner worlds remain
nameless. Here we’ll consider requests for words to describe some of these
previously uncharted regions, together with responses to those requests.
A ROUNDUP OF FUGITIVES
31
INNER LIVES GONE BAD
39
PHOBIAPHILIA!
44
iii
Contents
O UR U NRULY I NNER L IVES k
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CONTENTS
2
T HEM k
Why is it that there never seem to be enough words in the dictionary to
cover everyone we dislike? To make things worse, new kinds of dislik-
able people keep cropping up.
IF THESE ARE ANSWERS, WHAT WAS THE
QUESTION?
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59
THE WAY THEY DO THE THINGS THEY DO
63
MAIM THAT TUNE
66
3
T HE M ATERIAL W ORLD k
73
Most of the dictionary words that enter our language nowadays are
names for things. But the captured fugitive that’s a name for a thing is
relatively rare. Come marvel at some of these hitherto unnamed rarities.
ANTIQUES OR NOVELTY ITEMS?
79
JUST ONE THING AFTER ANOTHER
84
WHAT ARE THESE WORDS?
91
4
101
Granted, the annoyances in this chapter are petty. But that’s no reason
to suffer them in silence.
A LITTLE CROP OF HORRORS
107
A GALLERY OF BAD BEHAVIOR
117
iv
T RIBULATIONS k
 

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