Invent a New Word by Burn Unit
December 12th, 2007 4:12 PM'Tis a lovely and fearsome word, if I do say so myself. Originally the word is found in the English vernacular before the time of Shakespeare, though well after the Invasion of the Normans, arising from the tender mix of tongues in the cauldron of cities and villages near London, Essex, and Kent.
Geoffrey Chaucer was one of the individuals who worked to bring this word out of obscurity, when the common people were accustomed to pronouncing wery (weary), some clergy œsen or exhaustus, and the finer folk something like fatiguer. An example of his usage follows:
I graunte wele that thow endurest wo
As sharpe as doth hi Sicyphus in Helle,
Whos stomach fowles tyren everemo,
That hyghten volturis as bokes telle [...]
--Troylus & Cresyde
Chaucer said no! no! to all that Latin and Gallic complexity, confusion. At least in the short term. Once he alluded to such monumental fatigue/weariness/exhaustion a few times, it slowly brought the word to the forefront of hyperbolic expression for his century's finest poets and orators. By the Industrial Revolution, when everyone was overworked and exceptionally tired, the word cycled out again, reaching a level of banality, which suggested only a basic lack of energy, or laziness. Today, clearly, it is more common, though retaining more than a hint of the meaning with which it was once filled.
Pretired... as in...
this task is pre-tired
i may pre-tire to bed, it'll soon be late, dear
your face is rather pre-tired
this in-act-butt tag is rad-i-cal
which pre-tirement plan are you electing?
prefontaine pre-tired and still beat everyone in the race
(note superfluous hyphen but whatever)
As for who's using it,
I believe this counts. (No, I don't mean retired!!)
Have you, yourself, thought about pretiring?
Addendum: I also invented the word "adeuphoric" which means "toward the euphoric or toward a state of euphoria." I've used it several times in the last five months since I created it, including once on sf0. But no one's buying. I thought it was a perfectly... cromulent word. The definition fits, the roots are strong, the sound is attractive on the ear. It just doesn't seem to get people's blood up, it doesn't... create an adeuphoric response in people!
15 vote(s)
Jane Doe
5
JJason Recognition
5
Magpie
5
Darkaardvark
5
The Vixen
5
Spidere
5
Charlie Fish
5
susy derkins
5
Blue
5
Bex.
5
Loki
5
Lincøln
5
Absurdum
5
Markov Walker
5
Pixie
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(none yet)17 comment(s)
Well you know I am actually from a small village in the county of Essex in the south east of England, actually you probably don't know that but it's true.
But, we use the word pretired all the time and I think that it might even be found in the Magna Carta. I am actually feeling fairly pretired now, after drinking brandy before 7pm.
<span class="inactbutt">this in-act-butt tag is rad-i-cal</span>
the various button classes are described in the stylesheet for sf0. If you apply the class to a block of type, it will be made to look like one of the buttons. Thus It seems to work in <span class="xxxx">span tags</span> or <a class="yyyy" href="url">anchor tags </a>
I need a new word to express positive affirmation and excitement. I say awesome every other time something cool has transpired. Any suggestions? A few I like (but aren't self coined)
-stupendous
-fantastical
-spectacular
-glorious
-epic
magpie, you are on the verge of re-commencing the long suppressed debate to add votation for comments.....
I wasn't gonna vote for this, but I was won over by the button-hacking. Now, how the hell can I use it...
my old favorite band was named after some webpage language??
pathetic.
No, Westley, in reality the W3 consortium decided they were "tired of [websites] being sexy." well. that, and tables.
computador seja sexy.
that does sound a little nicer.
vixen: I suggest you check out my update to this task for a good word i made up quite some time ago.
"rubin": i don't buy it for a minute! but thank you just the same.
Like OMG, that's like soooo adeuphoric!
now? in that voice? just a little less attractive to the ear, I must admit.
adeuphoric is a perfectly good word, and I'll have to try to use it... My pet mission is increasing the number of people who use the correct plural for "platapus".
this in-act-butt tag is rad-i-cal?