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Feb 2, 2025
This week’s themeThere’s a word for it This week’s words psychrolute empleomania rupestrian abulia siderodromophobia How popular are they? Relative usage over time AWADmail archives Index Next week’s theme Words made with combining forms 
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AWADmail Issue 1179Sponsor’s Message: “Scrabble on steroids, with a thieving twist.” One Up! -- where stealing is the name of the game. “My daily dose of dopamine.” A wicked smart Christmas gift. Game on!From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) Subject: Interesting stories from the Net The Benefits of Speaking Multiple Languages ScienceDaily Permalink ”Aliens” and “Animals” -- Language of Hate Used by Trump and Others Can Be Part of a Violent Design The Conversation Permalink From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) Subject: New words In this week’s AWAD I invited readers to share words they have coined. Here’s a small selection from the submissions.
Babblemaster is what I called my son when he had learned to talk and
didn’t stop. He still has this skill.
-Margaret Evans, St Petersburg, Florida (mandbevans earthlink.net) I’ve been noodling over coining a word for that universal experience where you lose that sneeze that you were sure was coming. I just haven’t come up with anything satisfying. (And satisfaction -- or the lack thereof -- is key to this experience!) If someone has already coined one, I would love to know! -Lisa Schumaker, Silver Spring, Maryland (uulisaschu outlook.com) My original word is... not-choo. It’s a sneeze that you’re unable to complete. -Lynn Manheim, Factoryville, Pennsylvania (lmanheim aol.com) Rambunxercise (blend of rambunctious + exercise) Verb: to run around madly from room to room for no apparent reason (I coined this word back in the 80s to apply to cats and kids either on a sugar high or with excessive cabin fever). Noun: any such similar activity that qualifies. Usage: The cats have been rambunxercising around the house all day and I need a break. Kids, please stop your frantic rambunxercise so I can get the turkey to the table! -Gamin Davis, Prairie Grove, Arkansas (arkietrekker gmail.com) Olijerch (var, olijerk): Member of a monied, politically powerful elite who is also a scumbag. -Bill Morgan, East Lansing, Michigan (tickcutter sbcglobal.net) Tuchesthesia: The pins and needles sensation in the buttocks from sitting too long on a hard surface while reading or lost in one’s phone. -Eric Warner, Hyde Park, New York (eric.warner825 gmail.com) Twistory: The twisting of facts in order to rewrite history to suit one’s agenda. -Raymond Muschialli, Melbourne, Australia (rtm optusnet.com.au) Here are three words and phrases that I think don’t exist in the way I’m defining them here: Starting line: Where a deadline answers the question “When do I need to finish this project?”, a starting line answers the question “When will I be able to start this project?” That is, you can’t start it yet because you are missing a key resource over which you have no control. Usage: “I never have to worry about deadlines, because I organize my work around starting lines!” Undo cost: If you did something, what would it cost (in time, money, and effort) to undo that action? When the undo cost is higher, you should think more carefully before doing that thing. Usage: “The undo cost of continuing to pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is staggeringly high, so we should stop this activity immediately.” Completist: A person who values satisfactory completion of a task over absolute perfection. Usage: “I’m not a perfectionist; I’m a completist. The thing doesn’t need to be perfect; it needs to be done.” -Janette Rosenbaum, Gaithersburg, Maryland (janette.rosenbaum outlook.com) I created original dessert hot sauces back in the mid 1990s. The word I’ve promoted is gastrosphere which I define as the world of gastronomy, food culture, and culinary innovation. (In life sciences, it’s been used differently, to define human gastric cells in research.) I love the word as I use it, and think my sauces and other sweet heat treats have helped spice up the gastrosphere and made it a happier place! -Todd Guiton, Lancaster, UK (getzesty toadsweat.com) From: Joy Montgomery (joymontgomery1225 gmail.com) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--psychrolute I don’t know if we loved it, but when we were building our cabin, a bar of Ivory soap and the river -- snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada -- were our bath. My little brother would start to turn blue. Later, we could stay in the river for hours. The first time I swam in a public pool, I was disgusted. It was like swimming in someone else’s used bath water. Joy Montgomery, Livermore, California From: Pamela Allen (ezadorah hotmail.com) Subject: Psychrolute Back in 2016-18, I lived in Dublin. In winter I walked along the ocean. There were a bunch of psychrolutes in very skimpy bathing suits who cavorted in the ocean. It was chilly just looking at them. Pamela Allen, Pasadena, California From: Kathleen McDonnell (via website comments) Subject: Psychrolute
USAGE: “So if you’re out on the island and you spy a human figure swimming amid the swans and mallards and the odd chunk of ice, don’t be alarmed. It’s just me, your friendly neighbourhood psychrolute.” Kathleen McDonnell; Greetings From a Chilly Beach; The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); Mar 22, 2006. I’m flattered that an article I wrote more than 15 years ago is quoted here. If readers would like a bit more discussion of a psychrolutic nature, check out my 2023 book Growing Old, Going Cold. Kathleen McDonnell, Toronto, Canada From: Brenda J. Gannam (gannamconsulting earthlink.net) Subject: rupestrian News item: A certain figure much in the public eye, ear, mouth, brain, etc., apparently has magalomaniacal (my coined word entry) rupestrian aspirations in relation to a well-known location in South Dakota. Brenda J. Gannam, Brooklyn, New York From: Bob Stein (visibone gmail.com) Subject: siderodromophobia Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields has a sweet song called Fear of Trains (audio, 3 min.).
It was the army train that took her daddy from her It was the bible train that took her momma too And that high loud whistle made her horse run away But the straw that broke the camel’s back was you More... Bob Stein, Brushton, New York From: Aliya Turner (via website comments) Subject: siderodromophobia I have a mild and slightly ridiculous form of this condition! I blame a childhood of watching Wile E Coyote in his futile pursuits. Every time I cross train tracks, there’s a moment where I’m convinced a train will materialize out of thin air and clobber me. It mostly makes me giggle, but I still check for those trains. Aliya Turner From: Titus Levi (tituslevi gmail.com) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--siderodromophobia I used to have nightmares about trains. I slept near a railroad track when I was a kid -- maybe six or seven? -- and the approaching train got into my dream as a machine that was about to run me over. But now I adore trains. Titus Levi
Email of the Week -- Brought to you buy One Up! -- Perfectly-horrible holiday fun.
From: Anne Lane (makeboxes gmail.com) Subject: siderodromophilia My husband and I shared the opposite: siderodromophilia. Fittingly, as we strewed his ashes into the sea, a train rumbled by on the track above the beach. What a sendoff! Anne Lane, Charlotte, North Carolina From: Kim Hays (kim.n.hays gmail.com) Subject: Welfare for the wealthy
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: To blame the poor for subsisting on welfare has no justice unless we are also willing to judge every rich member of society by how productive he or she is. Taken individual by individual, it is likely that there’s more idleness and abuse of government favors among the economically privileged than among the ranks of the disadvantaged. -Norman Mailer, author (31 Jan 1923-2007) Think of all the tax loopholes favoring the wealthy and super-rich that Senators and Members of Congress have built into US tax laws. And not just in the US, of course. I live in Switzerland; talk about tax laws that favor the wealthy! Kim Hays, Bern, Switzerland  
Subject: psychrolute and rupestrian Hearty Norwegian, Olav, on his daily plunge into frigid ocean waters, has befriended a trio of Arctic denizens, namely Narly the narwhal, Snowflake the polar bear, and Wally the walrus. They regularly rendezvous in the freezing waters. Here, the animals are puzzled as to why their pal Olav was a no-show for an entire week. Clearly, some suspension of disbelief is warranted with this fanciful scenario. 
The Venus of Willendorf, a roughly 4-inch, 30,000 year-old carved limestone Paleolithic era fertility goddess sculpture discovered in Austria in Aug 1908, has become one of the most famous Stone Age archaeological finds ever. Here, our Cro-Magnon carver has chiselled the zaftig goddess figure on the cave wall, his mate holding the actual “Venus” sculpture for reference. Admittedly, I may have played a tad fast and loose with the facts of prehistory here. Hmm... artistic license? Alex McCrae, Van Nuys, California Anagrams
Make your own anagrams and animations. Limericks Psychrolute When she left me, she simply said ciao. So, I took a cold shower, and wow! It solved all my woes. And that, I suppose, Is why I’m a psychrolute now. -Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com) The psychrolute jumps in the sea On days it’s too chilly for me. He shivers with joy, Exclaiming, “Oh, boy! The temperature’s just 33!” -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) We watch when she makes her beach run, Agog! It’s December! That one Can tame every wave And make ice caps behave She’s a psychrolute! She thinks it’s fun! -Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com) Now the Polar Bear Club, no dispute, Is for people who want the pursuit Of an icy cold dip. It’s a challenge I’ll skip, For I’m not a confirmed psychrolute. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) “I love this new word, psychrolute! It’s me to a tee!” laughed the newt. “A nice swim in the cold -- Yup, I sure fit that mold! So I thank you, Anu! You’re so cute!” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Empleomania His empleomania’s why George Santos gave Congress a try. But then, oh my word, What scandals occurred, Thank goodness they ousted that guy! -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) Poor Fred, he would lose each election. He wasn’t the people’s selection. His empleomania, I must explain to ya -- How he’d ignore all rejection. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) “My reason for empleomania Is to tell judges, ‘Jail? Ha! Insane o’ ya!’ I’m a felon, yet free! I’m immune, can’t they see? I’m undead! Hey, let’s buy Transylvania!” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Rupestrian A rupestrian hut is his home, Where he lives on the outskirts of Rome. It’s simple but nice, And beats all the ice Of the igloo he once had in Nome. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) Donald Trump has a secret ambition; For a place on Mt. Rushmore he’s wishin’. That rupestrian aim Would result in such shame. Making sure it won’t be is my mission! -Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com) “Carry down these commandments rupestrian,” Said the Lord, “They’re profound! Not pedestrian!” Answered Moses, “Okay, But how much do they weigh? I’m on foot up here, not an equestrian.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Abulia My poor indecisive friend Julia Is smiling, but don’t let that fool ya. She can’t make up her mind; She’s tortured, I find -- I pity one with such abulia. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) There once was a woman named Julia Who was brave, with no hint of abulia. Her special friend Lillian Was one in a million; They toasted, “Hey Nazis, we’ll fool ya!” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Siderodromophobia You can’t get my friend on a train. It drives him insane, he’ll complain. That’s why I do know Rick, Is siderodromophobic, A fear that to name is a pain. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) With siderodro- plus -mophobia, A commuter will get anhedonia. For he must get to work, But that anti-train quirk Makes the world while en route a dystopia. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Puns “Me hate thieving black birds,” said Oog. “Me came home last night, food all gone. Me let out big psychrolute-d my cave.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) “Greek, Roman, Hindu, Buddhist -- doesn’t matter. If people worshipped there, I have to visit it, doc.” “Ah! Zees ees classic case of t-empleomania.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) “You’re not supposed to interrupt or judge each other. Everyone’s feelings are valid. This g-rupestrian my patience,” said the disgusted therapist. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Ru Paul said the cheap knock-off of his TV Drag Show was Rupestrian. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) “Abulia is Luke’s sister!” exclaimed Aladdin to his monkey as they watched Star Wars together. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) “I’m terrified of driving on the back streets of Italy’s capital, doc.” “Ah! Zees ees classic case of siderodromophobia.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Jobs are like going to church: it’s nice once or twice a year to sing
along and eat something and all that, but unless you really believe
there’s something holy going on, it gets to be a drag going in every
single week. -Thomas Michael Disch, science fiction author and poet (2
Feb 1940-2008)
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