Words by John Osman

51 words contributed

• a-er
  Someone who habitually pronounces the indefinite article like the first letter of the alphabet.
  6/2004
• asumon
  n. The last person to - finally! - leave the party
  Origin: (Combination of the Japanese words asu [morning / tomorrow] and mon [colloquial abbreviation of mono: person or thing])
  12/10/2006
• beaufect
  (bo-fect)
  n. That minute flaw which adds charm to great physical beauty
  12/10/2006
• benefliction
  The struggle between one's charitable instincts and the desire to discourage people taking advantage of those instincts.
  6/2004
• billpause
  the brief stoppage of the breath made by newscasters and
  science commentators before pronouncing the word "billion",
  to prevent it being mistaken for "million".
  may 2004
• blonk
  A bowel movement performed outdoors.
  6/2004
• bullspin
  n. A post facto attempt to justify or defend a flawed policy
  or a disastrous lapse in judgment.
  12/10/2006
• bullspin
  n. A post facto attempt to defend a flawed policy or a
  disastrous lapse of judgment.
  9/22/2005
• churgoyle
  n. A battle of wits conducted by dimwits; a debate or
  argument in which both sides are wrong.
  12/10/2006
• creone
  n. a pleasant and productive waste of time
  10/24/13
• crisiphone
  n. someone who speaks a foreign language well enough to get into trouble, but not well enough to get out of trouble
  10/24/13
• cryptopseudologism
  A neologism which defies pronunciation, makes no impact on the memory, and whose usage remains a mystery to everyone but its creator.
  6/2004
• defrain
  (de-FRAIN)
  v. To respond to negative comments with a dignified silence.
  12/10/2006
• discarmenate
  To have an antipathy to the verse form of expression.
  Origin: [Latin - carmen: poem]
  6/2004
• Dolumin
  (n): The element of sadness inherent in joyful situations.
  
  (Latin: dolere - to feel pain + lumin - light; stress
  on first
  syllable)
  may 2004
• erronate
  To use the word phenomena when you actually mean phenomenon; to use criteria when you actually mean criterion; to use criterion when you actually mean criteria; to use phenomenon when you actually mean phenomena; to use phenomenom when you actually mean either phenomenon or phenomena; and so on.
   
  
  6/2004
• eugander
  To steal from thieves.
  6/2004
• exitality
  The sensation that one neither agrees nor disagrees with what is being said to one, but that one simply wishes to depart from the presence of the speaker.
   
   
  Origin: [My word, but the concept came originally from British writer Brian Aldiss]
  6/2004
• First World Ostrich
  Someone whose idea of a poor country is Mexico.
  6/2004
• flaggle
  n. A struggle in which not one word is spoken; that part of
  one's life kept hidden from everyone else.
  Origin: (concept devised by Brian Aldiss)
  12/10/2006
• fonk
  n. black music for white folks
  9/20/12
• frequent fliar
  Someone who claims to have been the victim of multiple UFO abductions.
  6/2004
• hemiphonia
  A familiar language spoken with an unfamiliar accent.
  Origin: [hemi: half, phone: voice, sound (Greek)]
  6/2004
• hyperstrophe
  Worse than the worst case scenario.
   
  6/2004
• junkard
  A heroin addict with a drinking problem.
  6/2004
• laudophilism
  The belief that lavish praise is the only valid form of criticism.
  6/2004
• limborn
  (n.) A communication already written but not yet sent; a
  communication already received but not yet read; a partly
  concealed or partly revealed tattoo. (A combination of
  limbo and born, referring to something with existence but as
  yet without recognition.)
  may 2004
• merdacious
  Having all the attractive qualities of excrement; relentlessly vulgar; offensive however you look at it.
  Origin: [merde: shit (Fr)]
  6/2004
• metamimesis
  The ability to imitate a mimic 
  Origin: [meta: among, with, beside, after; mimesis: representation (Gr)]
  6/2004
• monstrescence
  The expression of one's worldview by means of a hairstyle, slogan on a t-shirt, and/or other ephemera.
   
  6/2004
• nightprint
  A dark tattoo on dark skin.
  
  7/2004
• numerator
  Someone (or some1) who habitually writes digits instead of spelling out numbers. E.g "Whether you call it 6 or 1/2 a dozen, it's still the same."
  7/2004
• orange door-hinge
  A rhyme of convenience.
  6/2004
• peristat
  (n.) The uncomfortable state of paralysis induced by the
  knowledge that to retreat would bring shame or disgrace but
  to advance would result in inevitable defeat. ("Peri-",
  meaning "about" + "stat-". This is to be distinguished from
  a similar situation in chess - Zugzwang - in which any move
  by a blockaded player would be detrimental. With peristat,
  (i) the stakes are higher than the result of a game of
  chess, and (ii) one can exercise the option of remaining in
  this uncomfortable state of paralysis, whereas in chess one
  is obliged to make a move.)
  may 2004
• Politiprom
  (n): A promise one intends to keep only as long as it
  remains advantageous or convenient to do so.
  
  (politics+promise)
  may 2004
• prescrimination
  The feeling that one will dislike what is coming up, notwithstanding the lack of any valid reason to feel so.
   
  6/2004
• rement
  (n.) A lie one tells to buttress a previous lie. (v.) To lie
  in order to buttress a previous lie. (From the Latin root
  mentir-, to lie. The OED gives a definition of rement as an
  archaic version of "raiment", but I doubt any modern speaker
  of English would be aware of that definition.)
  may 2004
• rock'n'rolldeath
  A drug overdose during a plane crash.
  6/2004
• sacristatism
  The doctrine that stillness is holy.
  6/2004
• scandarize
  v. To attempt to read serious prose or elevated poetry while
  drunk and/or stoned
  12/10/2006
• smertition
  n. the thoughts that pass through one’s mind at the approach of Mormon missionaries on the street; an insulting or indecent gesture directed at someone who can’t see you
  11/1/13
• spacedance
  That fleeting stage in drunkenness when one's spirits are at their most buoyant, one's wit is at its sharpest, and the world is actually OK.
  6/2004
• spinkling
  Studied spontaneity.
  6/2004
• sprong
  n. An inappropriate or offensive public remark made at a
  memorial service, wedding, funeral, bar mitzvah, etc
  12/10/2006
• swabble
  To walk with one's arms folded.
  6/2004
• syntemporate
  (sin-TEMP-erayt)
  To live in the eternal present. 
  
  Origin: [syn: together (Gr); tempus: time (Lat)]
  6/2004
• twingle
  n. the sensation a woman experiences...
  
  ...when she finally admits to herself that she does not really know how she feels about a man.
  Origin: (Inspired by British SF writer Brian Aldiss).
  9/20/12
• wad-wed
  To marry for money.
  6/2004
• wakaranize
  (wa-KAR-an-ize)
  v. To make him an offer he can't understand.
  12/10/2006
• wankitude
  The gratuitous use of foreign words and phrases pour impressionner tout le monde.
  7/2004
• yokuwari
  "All's well that concludes satisfactorily".
  Origin: [a forced combination of yoku: well and owari: end (Japanese)]
  6/2004

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