March 11, 2013
In defense of her ignorant use of the non-existent word refudiate (following George W. Bush’s misunderestimate), Sarah Palin tried to grab the neologist’s hat by comparing herself to a literary master: “Shakespeare,” she said, “liked to coin new words too.” Well, I refudiate her attemptation to Shakespearialize her allegified coinizing. She misunderestimates our intelligization.
That aside, intentional word coinage can be useful and fun. In fact, I would like to offer a new term (somewhat in the spirit of Paul Harvey’s “Bumper Snickers”—funny sayings on bumper stickers). It is skeptickles, which means humor with skeptical content. Here are examples:
Before I began to discipline my thinking, I often jumped to conclusions. It was fun, but now I do it mostly for the exercise.
Question: Do you know the difference between a scented candle and an “aromatherapy” one? Answer: About ten dollars.
Riddle: What did Sherlock Holmes say when his colleague asked why he’d bought a periodic table? “It’s elemental, my dear Watson.”
#1 Old Rockin' Dave (Guest) on Friday March 15, 2013 at 9:04am
While there are of course many differences between Sarah Palin and William Shakespeare, the most signal one in this case is that Shakespeare spoke English.