Monday, March 21, 2022
Invented Words
Edwin Muir (1887-1959), An Autobiography, rev. ed. (1954; rpt. London: Methuen, 1964), p. 17:
Newer› ‹Older
Whenever Sutherland got drunk he began to invent language. I can't remember now many of his feats in this way, but he liked words with a dashing Spanish sound, like 'yickahooka' and 'navahonta.' He was so pleased with the word 'tramcollicken,' which he invented himself, that he gave it a specific meaning which I had better not mention; but the word became so popular that it spread all over Wyre. From somewhere or other he had picked up 'graminivorous,' which struck him by its comic sound, and for a long time his usual greeting was, "Weel, boy, how's thee graminivorous tramcollicken?"Related posts:
