Monday Word: Sniglet

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

sniglet [snig-lit]

noun

1. often humorous word made up to describe something for which no dictionary word exists

examples

1. One might say I'm even a disciple of Tom Poston, a description for which a "sniglet" has been coined: "Tompostle" POSTON NOTE Toby O'B 2005

2. Embarrassingly, I remember the sniglet (remember sniglets?) for the place in the atmosphere where missing socks go when the disappear from the dryer: it's called the hozone. Coleman Camp: The Missing Ballots Don't Exist; Officials: Yes, They Do, 2009


origin

introduced by comedian Rich Hall in the 1980s TV comedy series "Not Necessarily the News."

Comments

[full_metal_ox]

Will Wheaton reminisces here about Sniglets; the respondents include a number of canon contributors, such as Ellie DeLano:

I actually had a Sniglet published in one of his many Sniglet books - a big accomplishment for teenage me. Here it is:

Chocregation (Chock-re-gay-shun)v. (1): The act of separating your M&M's into color groups before eating.(2)

(1) As phrased, that should be a noun; “chocregate” would be the verb.

(2) Van Halen’s contract famously included a chocregational clause, stipulating that the backstage refreshments include a supply of M&M’s with all the brown ones removed—-on pain of cancelling the show entirely.

This wasn’t rock-star divo(3) temperament; it was a litmus test to make sure the stagehands had line-item-checked every particular of the safety precautions demanded by the band’s special-effect-intensive show. If the hosts had missed the M&M’s, that was a pretty reliable sign that they’d overlooked other critical—-and potentially life-threatening—details.(4)

(3) The masculine form of the word exists, and in fact is the name of an operatic boy band; how about we give it equal time?

(4) https://www.safetydimensions.com.au/van-halen/

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Interesting!

I remember reading those concert riders on The Smoking Gun website in the early days of the internet. Frank Sinatra, Snoop...