Saturday, March 28, 2009

Creative License...

Each year, the fine folks at MENSA rub their overactive brain cells together and come up with a fun set of vocabulary words - the idea is that they change one letter in an established word and then define this new word.
One of the best is Sarchasm: The giant gulf (chasm) between what is said and the person who doesn't get it.
In case you haven't been paying attention, I love words - so these little exercises in definition really resonate with me, and sometimes make me feel creative.... The following is excerpted from an email thread with my friend Abi.

So Thursday’s W.O.D. (word of the day) was propinquity:

Word of the Day for Thursday, March 26, 2009
propinquity \pruh-PING-kwih-tee\, noun:
1. Nearness in place; proximity.
2. Nearness in time.
3. Nearness of relation; kinship.

Propinquity derives from Latin propinquitas, from propinquus, near, neighboring, from prope, near.

Which leads me create my own Mensa word:
Gropinquity: \groh-PING-kwih-tee\, verb
1. Feel coping that which is near to hand.
2. Taking advantage of close quarters/a crowded room to exercise an otherwise inappropriate display of public affection.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I have two ideas: whopinquity (someone wants to be close to me?) or hopinquity (the desire to be close to a particular someone).

Does that make me a mensa member now? ;-)

Mom

j'taimee said...

I think you should submit away, mom. :)

 
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