
Words are a curious invention. One would think that the first word for fire would be something like “ffffffftOW!” So how did that end up turning into “fire”. So many words really just don’t make any kind of sense from a purely aural perspective. But then again, many words (especially in English) don’t make much sense from ANY perspective! The confusion gets even more advanced when words start taking on colloquial meanings that are frequently far from their standard meaning. That is a result of cultural usage that are often obscured by the very culture it started in. How do these words come into being? For that matter, if one person was the originator, how does it become widespread enough to actually become part of the language?
I have decided to randomly create a word of my own. Seeing as I am on X in the A to Z challenge (a few days late again) my word is an X word. The word itself is not original, but my twist of meaning is. I am officially designating one who has chutzpah; one who has the nerve to do what others will not under similar circumstances, as a Xylocarp. Or maybe xylocarpic. For example one might say: “Dude, did you REALLY just do that? You are xylocarpic!” with an appropriate surfer accent.
See if you can guess what the word means without looking it up. Plenty of clues on this post ;)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Get involved!
Comments