Refudiate My Polkadodge
Sarah Palin is right: English is a "living language."
Michael Deacon writes in the London Telegraph about the Oxford English Dictionary's secret vault.
It's where they keep the words that aren't yet words, that haven't yet been approved but are nonetheless descriptive. And probably necessary.
Words like scrax, which describes that stuff that collects on your thumbnail when you scratch off the coating on an instant lottery ticket. Or polkadodge, which describes the awkward dance between two people, walking in opposite directions, who try to pass each other but keep moving to the same side.
What's wrong with making up words, as long as they're descriptive and stylish? As Michael Deacon concludes in the Telegraph:
You may argue that our language is large enough as it is. Perhaps so. But there are terms and phrases we could jettison to make room. I'd rather hear someone talk of "scrax" or even "quackmire" than of a "work colleague" or an "added bonus". Such usages, in my view, are unspeakably pustipulent and the scrunks who utter them deserve a damn good throggin.
Which is impossible to refudiate.
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May '10
Re: Refudiate My Polkadodge
This calls for a look back at John Lloyd's treatment of this subject in Blackadder. Also a chance to see Robbie Coltrane and Hugh Laurie at work, in addition, of course, to Rowan Atkinson.
May '10
Re: Refudiate My Polkadodge
I recommend "The Meaning of Liff" and "The Deeper Meaning of Liff" by John Lloyd and Douglas Adams.
May '10
Re: Refudiate My Polkadodge
Oh please don't be contruding on the English language we have.
Jun '10
Re: Refudiate My Polkadodge
...and sometimes the words are familiar, but the meaning is a little unclear:
News headlines:
One-armed man applauds the kindness of strangers
Lawyers give poor free legal advice
Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges
Medical chart notations:
By the time he was admitted, his rapid heart had stopped, and he was feeling better.
The patient refused autopsy.
The pelvic exam will be done later on the floor.
Re: Refudiate My Polkadodge
I came up with "plog" for a printed newspaper with opinion content like a blog. Plog.
It's in Merriam Webster:
http://www3.merriam-webster.com/opendictionary/newword_search.php
(you have to search the word for the entry to come up).
Aug '10
Re: Refudiate My Polkadodge
Shakespeare made up words -- here's a list of some of his alleged gems still in use. And if he could do it, why can't we?
Our family has its own vocabulary of made-up words (this is normal, right?). Most wouldn't make sense to outsiders (and some aren't decent).
We seem for some reason to have made up several words to describe people whose voices are annoying to listen to. Two are moocow (moo-cow), for a singer whose flat, tone-deaf, bovine drone is beginning to drive you crazy, and schnazblaz (from the German for nose-blowing), for a businessman (or politician) with a honking, nasal delivery who can't seem to shut up about the dullest topics.
I bet Dave Carter and ~Paules have heard some doozies in the made-up word department.
Jun '10
Re: Refudiate My Polkadodge
New words (neologisms) keep the language vibrant, and "refudiate" seems like a good one.
Did anyone know what "cyberspace" was 20 years ago? "Genocide" wasn't invented until 1943 (it's been around long enough that the leftists have now corrupted it to the point that anything they don't like is some form of "genocide").
Good for Sarah.
May '10
Re: Refudiate My Polkadodge
Check out the play The Memorandum by Vaclav Havel, the courageous anti-communist of the then Czechoslovakia republic. In this play the State decides to rewrite language so that the more often a word is used the shorter it is in length, to increase efficiency
This results with the word wombat having 300+ letters in length; and a circular arrangement of authority to translate the Memorandum to the new language in a very Kafka like way.
Havel is one of the heroes of the Cold War, and remains a acid critic of the red/green left today, with its utopian aims.