Monday, September 11, 2006

infartillery

No, infartillery doesn't mean what you think it does.

infartillery n. an artillery group capable of acting as infantry. Related: counterspace, bag drag, English, Military

This is one of the delightful definitions from Double-Tongued Word Wrester Dictionary. Created by a lexicographer for Oxford University Press, the Double-Tongued Word Wrester "records undocumented or under-documented words from the fringes of English. It focuses upon slang, jargon, and other niche categories which include new, foreign, hybrid, archaic, obsolete, and rare words. Special attention is paid to the lending and borrowing of words between the various Englishes and other languages, even where a word is not a fully naturalized citizen in its new language."

Beautifully done, academically sound . . . and fun.

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