Friday, October 12, 2012

words this week.



Not in the dictionary:

Binja (n., pl.): Portmanteau of dustbin and ninja; fantasy characters in Un Lun Dun by China Mieville.

Splorkle (n., v.): Portmanteau of splork and sparkle. (coined by @pixelparty)

Not in the English dictionary:

Yorodstvo (n.): "We were searching for real sincerity and simplicity, and we found these qualities in the yurodstvo [the holy foolishness] of punk." - Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Pussy Riot closing statements

The Holy Fool is a recurring theme in medieval literature and art. I love that there is an actual word for this in Russian. I love that it's been invoked in defense of punk and protest in this context. I also love the word holy - no, that's wrong. I love the meaning holy - and will pretty much get the weak knees for any phrase or idea that makes use of it.


In the dictionary:

Perfidy
Fetish
Thwart


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