"That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone. "When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra."

Sunday, 3 May 2009

Potamophilous



Potamophilous is an obsolete nonce word.

Obsolete means it is no longer used and a nonce word is one which was invented and used only once of a few times, never being intended to stick in the language. That's a real shame because I think it is a lovely word. It means river-loving.

It appeared in 1827 in the sentence "Rowed..in his public State barge, on the bosom of the Thames, in all the majesty and magnificence of a Fluviatile and Potamophilous Lord Mayor."


Let's have the word back into use please, after all, Hippopotamuses are potamophilous!
 
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3 comments:

  1. shabby girl4 May 2009 at 03:07

    I, too, am potamophilous! Thanks for bringing potamophilousness to the public view! He he he.

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  2. Bryony11 May 2009 at 18:58

    I love it, although doubt how much I can get it in conversation!

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  3. Graham Edwards13 May 2009 at 12:20

    I will have no problem bringing it into conversation provided, and that is a big provide, that I can remember it. After all for someone who uses pleonastic on every available occasion potamophilous aught to be a doddle.

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