From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) – I wanted to save these, so I copy-pasted. Disclaimer: this is not original content, though I wish it were…

What words have you coined, I asked readers this week and their coinages poured in. Here’s a selection.

Averdary: A combination of average, everyday, and ordinary to describe a person or event that is so unremarkable as to deserve a mashup of three adjectives to underscore their plainness.
-Bob Ezrin, Franklin, TennesseeTextambulate: To text while walking.
-Kevin O’Reilly, Powell, Ohio
Gravikey: The mysterious force that allows you to get the key into the house door lock or car ignition despite the lack of any light. Our twins came up with this maybe 35 years ago when they were teenagers.-Robert J. Sokol, MD, West Bloomfield, Michigan
Nooning: The moment when your brain resets and you don’t remember what you had been saying or doing. This is based on those old digital clocks that would flash 12:00 when disconnected and reconnected. (This was actually 12:00 AM, midnight, not noon, but midnighting just doesn’t have the same ring to it.)
-Nayeli Garci-Crespo, Mexico City, MexicoRequition: The process of transitioning from unrequited to requited.
-Joe Holland, West Allis, WisconsinNullity: The time spent waiting for someone to scroll through their phone searching for an item after they’ve said, “Just look at this.” I know this already has the meaning of being legally void but I am using it to describe such an utter waste of one’s time.-Katy Hunter-Choat, Wotton, UKHesterton: A person who doesn’t admit that he doesn’t know a word. The test, of course, is to call someone a hesterton. If he asks what that means, he is absolved, but if he defends himself — “I am not!” — then he confirms that he is one. My father coined it when he was a kid. I still use all the time:.
-Viveca Gardiner, Brooklyn, New York

Insquidulate: To linger and settle into one’s location, especially applicable to visiting a nice British pub and having a few more pints than the one to two originally planned. As a family we coined it as the opposite of absquatulate (to leave abruptly).-Robin Hilton, Darwin, Australia

Interlegate: To read between the lines.-Michael Keyton, Aurora, Illinois

When I started DJ’ing, back in the ‘70s, I worked for a Yale engineering grad who referred to a busted amp as fenered. I always thought it was a technical term until Google came along.
-Ron Brawer, New York, New York

Syncopresis: a polite way of saying: getting your shιt together. From Greek syn- (with) and kopron (dung). Pronounced sin-ko-PREE-sis.
Usage: “Not quite feckless, George still remained far from achieving syncopresis.”
-Bob Richmond, Maryville, Tennessee

Artickle: An article that amuses one.-Stephen Darr, Winchester, Massachusetts

Postcarious: A state or situation that often follows from a state or situation that is precarious.-Steve Martin, Sarasota, Florida

I’ve coined many words, but my favorite is probably fishwater. With small grandchildren around it becomes necessary to swear creatively. “Oh Fishwater!” kind of sounds like swearing, but isn’t. I still use it.-Kristin Strachan, Highlands Ranch, Colorado

Thrival: A combination of thrive and survival. It’s a celebration of flourishing after having overcome ominous problems, illnesses etc. The Prostate Cancer Specialist Nurse loved this word as I am a cancer survivor like many people.-Raymond Muschialli, Melbourne, Australia

Strajedy: Strategy + tragedy. In other words, a strategy that, when implemented, has other than stellar results.-Nancy Suslov, Naples, Florida

Jaffe: To spill food or drink on oneself, thereby permanently ruining an item of clothing. Coined by my bride during a pique of frustration when she realized that she could no longer buy me a nice tie or shirt, because I would most assuredly destroy it.-Art Jaffe, Portland, Oregon

I used to live south of San Francisco. We were regularly stopped in traffic at crossings by the commuter trains that went up and down the Peninsula. But one day it was a freight train carrying cattle cars, and I said, “Oh look, a cowmuter!”-Bonnie Hiller Fullerton, San Mateo, California

One of my favorite coined words is refraint, as in using restraint to refrain from doing something.-Lee Entrekin, Old Fort, North Carolina

Olderloaded: Being overloaded not only with incoming information but the shrinking ability to manage it as we get older. My husband Tom invented it.-Lauri Holmes, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Monologous: Describing a person who speaks non-stop in a social situation, rather than participating in give-and-take conversation.-Beth Keena, Pittsboro, North Carolina

Conveninefficiency: When something a person does to make his/her life easier creates extra work for others.-Dan Clifton, Monticello, Illinois

Tragacarro: A large pothole.
The first time I went to Nicaragua the roads were so bad that I invented this word to describe the potholes: tragacarros = literally, devours cars. Down my street there were a couple of holes that I called tragabicicletas. I think they’ve fixed them. I hope so. I ride a bike.-Elizabeth Block, Toronto, Canada

I have seen many people in lofty positions for which they were utterly unsuitable. A lot of those promotees had been nudged up the corporate ladder simply because they’d been at the company for years and years. I call this a chronotocracy.
-Lee Robson (via website comments)

When I have difficulty getting audience engagement, I explain that the word volunteer comes from the Latin word volo, which means to wish or want. Then I tell them about the Latin word nolo, which means to not wish, not want. I threaten to select a nolunteer from the audience if no one will willingly participate.-Kay Neal, Champaign, Illinois

As a now-retired flower grower, I was taught early on to view all flowering plants, wild or domesticated, as potential novelties to bring to market. I started referring to suitable candidates as vaseworthy.-Joe Schmitt, Madison, Wisconsin (

My wife and I talk about how we have idiotsyncracies, which are idiosyncrasies, but with a touch of silliness. It is ALWAYS said with affection.-Douglas E. Hough, Baltimore, Maryland

Homeopathetic: A spurious form of medicine.-Stuart Klipper, Minneapolis, Minnesota