Words that should be added to the English language

    Occasionally, I've had to use made-up words where there don't seem to be any appropriate real words. Here are some examples:


    vulch - To wait for someone else to vacate a parking spot so you can take it, generally getting in other people's way in the process. (Someone who "vulches" is a "vulcher" [vulture].)


    encrudded - Encrusted with crud.


    redundonym - An acronym, followed by a pointless spelling-out of the last word in it -- i.e., PIN Number, ATM Machine.


    Does anyone else have any favorite "personal" words?

    Little known fact: Before the crowbar was invented...


    ...crows simply drank at home.

    'fladumph' - descriptive of how a cat or a dog either lands when jumping down from an elevated spot or, especially after some exercise, sort of flops down on to the ground. In the case of dogs it's usually down on to their belly, often accompanied by a sigh-like exhalation. Cats will often do it on to one side, usually cue for their eyes to start slowly closing. Fladumph can be substituted by 'flump'.


    From the same 'fla-' root, 'fladoppily' is descriptive of the flailing-type action of a large dog's paws as it trots along - especially apt for e.g. great danes.


    'widdly-widdly' - as of identikit solos by prog-rock keyboardists, mainly when members of those kinds of prog bands that sound like they've rummaged in Yes's and Genesis's dustbins.


    'diddly-diddly' - generally descriptive of twangy country-style music - sometimes referred to as 'hot-dang-diddly'


    A friend claims you can also have 'widdly-diddly' but I'm yet to be convinced of this.


    I definitely like your 'redundonym' and the examples you gave, I'm going to adopt that. 'PAC code' is another one. I don't know if you're familiar with the BBC comedy series The Thick Of It (some of the same team later did Veep in the US), which famously introduced the term 'omnishambles' into the language, which I love and have used frequently since.

    Abandon all reason

    Another word I'd like to add:

    decop - An empty police car strategically placed so as to make drivers think they're being watched.


    Recent "redundonym" sighting: "MLB Baseball."

    Little known fact: Before the crowbar was invented...


    ...crows simply drank at home.

    I had to look up Sniglets, I hadn't come across that before. I liked the concept of this one:


    Gapiana = The little strip of land between the "You are now leaving" and "You are now entering" signs when you cross from one state into another.


    as I've occasionally wondered about those no-mans-land gaps, though I'm not keen on the word they've invented. I'll definitely look at some more though.


    As you might have seen if you looked it up, The Meaning Of Liff takes the approach of assigning place-names to things we all know, but have no word for.

    Abandon all reason

    I did dabble with the Meaning of Liff, it struck me as a desperate attempt to follow the brilliance of HHGTTG when he had writers block.

    Ian


    Putting the old-fashioned Staffordshire plate in the dishwasher!