Make Words

Last November, John Koenig published a lovely little book titled The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows in which he provides words and definitions for feelings not yet identified or articulated. Here’s an example:

Slipfast: adj. longing to disappear completely; to melt into a crowd and become invisible, so you can take in the world without having to take part in it – free to wander through conversations without ever leaving footprints, free to dive deep into things without worrying about making a splash.

From slip, to move or fly away in secret + fast, fortified against attack.

He also offers visual representations of the words in a YouTube collection of brief videos. 

And, Matt Webb, writing on the blog Interconnected, muses that, “The invention of new words provides new scaffolding for thought. ” He introduces the concept with an example based on the word, horse. For example, we know that horseradish is a root and a condiment and that it has nothing to do with horses. But most would describe horseradish as harsh and bitter. With that, could we define a new word, horsehistory as “the socially uncomfortable parts of our history that we brush under the carpet?”

For this month’s re/writing, we invite you to do the same, to make words and concepts for those things heretofore lacking language. As a starting point, perhaps try making new words related to writing or making. So, create a word, define it, use it in a sentence (or essay, or video, or painting, or whatever), and share it with the group.