Just Making It Up As I Go...

Have you ever just made up a term that sounded like it should be common, but isn't?

Occasionally I have a moment of weirdness, like the time I mentioned that someone was full of spasticity. I thought I was being clever and had come up with a new variation on a word, but when I looked it up I discovered that someone had already beat me to it. It's still a fun word to whip out on occasion though.

Here are two terms that I don't think are in common use, so I provide them here for your entertainment, and to increase your vocabulary if you'd like.

Reflective Name Calling - When someone calls you a name where it clearly applies to them instead.

I just made that one up today when a cousin of mine said someone called him retarded. If you think of most name calling this actually makes sense as a good description for that type of situation. So the next time someone calls you an asshole, just smile and think about it being reflective.

Kellering - Physically using your surrounding environment for navigational purposes.

This one has been in my arsenal for some time now. I came up with it one day when I was wondering if you could drive blind and just use the bumpy reflectors in the street to keep you within your lane.

This can also be the description of someone attempting to park their car while careening off of the cars parked on either side of the space they are trying to get into. As in, "He was kellering into that parking space".

If you have made up these sort of terms I'd love to hear what you have come up with. I think Dennis Miller used to do this kind of word-play and even wrote a book on them while he was doing Saturday Night Live.

One term I remember of his was Reignition, which was the act of trying to start a car that was already running.