Grismal is an excellent word. Feels like if I decide to go walking through the grismal woods, I'd better make sure to have my vorpal blade just in case a jabberwocky shows up.
When I find myself throwing around somewhat recently acquired slang terms, like saying that I'm "shook," I sometimes wonder what I used to say before I had a word for that specific feeling. Shocked doesn't seem right. Surprised doesn't seem right either. There's just something about "shook" that perfectly encapsulates what I want to say. And it's not like I never felt "shook" before I knew that word -- I just have a new way of thinking and talking about it now. Love how new words can somehow fill a void you might not have even noticed!
That's a really interesting point. I find that happens with second languages quite a bit. Like you start learning a new language and find that there's a word that you really like because it fills a semantic role more precisely than any English word. And then someone asks you how you say it in English and you have no idea.
Ogden Nash. Walt Kelly (Pogo). Both gifted at making up words.
I have one I’ve used for years that I made up, in the style of Nash and Kelly:
Grismal:
Dark, cold, rainy weather. A portmanteau of “grim” and “dismal.”
May it enter the lexicon!
Grismal is an excellent word. Feels like if I decide to go walking through the grismal woods, I'd better make sure to have my vorpal blade just in case a jabberwocky shows up.
It's a great made up word. :)
When I find myself throwing around somewhat recently acquired slang terms, like saying that I'm "shook," I sometimes wonder what I used to say before I had a word for that specific feeling. Shocked doesn't seem right. Surprised doesn't seem right either. There's just something about "shook" that perfectly encapsulates what I want to say. And it's not like I never felt "shook" before I knew that word -- I just have a new way of thinking and talking about it now. Love how new words can somehow fill a void you might not have even noticed!
That's a really interesting point. I find that happens with second languages quite a bit. Like you start learning a new language and find that there's a word that you really like because it fills a semantic role more precisely than any English word. And then someone asks you how you say it in English and you have no idea.
Love grismal, and love that you can make up words. Of course. シ