Words & shwords

This is a collection of words I’ve made up, or shwords (another word I made up), plus observations on real words I come across.

Shwords

Shwords can be hard to come up with. Most reasonable combinations of consonnants and vowels are already spoken for, and ones that aren’t often sound too adjacent to a real word. For example, you might come up with “carn” only to decide that it sounds like you’re saying “corn” in some regional accent.

But shwords are fun to come up with. So are shnames (equally hard). Both are activities I’d recommend to pass the time on a roadtrip. And if you like thinking about shwords and shnames, you’d probably love the board game Balderdash.

Crentle

“Crentle” (noun) is the nook, cranny, or space between couch cushions where TV remotes, crumbs, and coins hide. “Where’d you find your wallet? ...It must’ve slipped into the crentle while watching Severance last night.” I came up with this shword together with friends while hanging out on the couch.

Flink

“Flink” (noun) is the dirt, grass, leaves, dust, and grime that ends up just inside the entryway of a house, tracked in from outside. “We always ask guests to take off their shoes to avoid getting flink all over the carpet.” I can’t remember when I came up with “flink” nor how I originally defined it. I found it without any context on an old note I’d written down with a couple shwords.

Words

Petrichor

“Petrichor” is the earthly smell released when it rains. It’s a universally beloved scent, I think, so it’s fun to have a name for it. I heard somewhere that petrichor travels the farthest of all scents, though I don’t know if that’s really true.

Compartmentalize

“Compartmentalize” has to be one of the longest words that is regularly used and understood. I wrote it down just now while journaling, which took a while what with sixteen characters to draw out. Its usage graph over time from Oxford does show hockey stick growth in the last century. It even shows up in a Pinegrove song (of course), Mather Knoll.

Perseverate

“Perseverate” is one of those words that I learned recently and pretty quickly found myself using. It’s a useful word. It means to fixate or linger on something repeatedly, like an action or thought. I most often think of “perseverate” when I’m stuck on a negative thought that festers.

Remunerative, pecuniary

“Remunerative” and “pecuniary” are both words that I learned reading Dickens. Mr. Micawber often used both, IIRC. “Remunerative” means something pays well. “Pecuniary” means of or relating to money.

Balderdash

“Balderdash” means gibberish or nonsense. It is where my favorite board game Balderdash gets its name.