#97854
03/07/2003 2:57 AM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
OK. I used cryptic as a noun even though I knew I couldn't. But I checked anyway--hoping against hope that perhaps it had transmuted to the point that we could have a 'cryptic.' And we still can't, though I can--tra la!
Anyway, cryptogram would have been just as incorrect in the sense I was using the non-existent 'cryptic' as a noun.
But what would be the word? Let's say you pepper your language with words that really aren't words--just occasional seasonings--nonce words--but not nice nonce words meant to be clever, but, instead, created words with only an insider's knowledge. Like cool row for clown. That wouldn't really be a nonce word because its meaning couldn't be understood unless you'd been following an eccentric line of thought.
Certainly James Joyce pulls such tricky words out of his enormously cocked hat--but what do we call those words? I like cryptics, but would like to know whether there is a bona fide word already out there.
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#97855
03/07/2003 3:13 AM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
But I checked anyway--hoping against hope that perhaps it had transmuted to the point that we could have a 'cryptic.' And we still can't..
make that can't anymore
B. n. A secret or occult method (of communicating knowledge). Obs.
1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. xvii. 64 There be also other Diuersities of Methodes.. as that.. of Concealement, or Cryptique, etc., which I do allowe well of.
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#97856
03/07/2003 3:16 AM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
>but what do we call those words?
perversely mis-spelt neologisms
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#97857
03/07/2003 3:57 AM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
Of course we can use cryptic as a noun.
"Did you see the cryptic in today's paper?"
"Tough, wasn't it? I gave up and just did the quick crossword."
Bingley
Bingley
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#97858
03/07/2003 11:13 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819 |
This might work:
Main Entry: ar·got
Pronunciation: 'är-g&t, -(")gO
Function: noun
Etymology: French
Date: 1860
: an often more or less secret vocabulary and idiom peculiar to a particular group <shoved into a taxi by a porter whose argot I couldn't understand -- Allen Tate>
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#97859
03/07/2003 12:43 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
The C18/C19 English word was "cant" - as in "thieves cant", a vocabulary enabling criminals to converse without being understood by non-criminals.
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#97860
03/07/2003 2:01 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
There's always the adjectival noun. See The Young and the Restless. Whether cryptic, in this usage, has been copyrighted by the crossword puzzle reference is up for debate.
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#97861
03/07/2003 6:47 PM
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 555
addict
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addict
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 555 |
A more current author whose writing is liberally peppered with such words is Salman Rushdie. He coined a word himself for such word creations, but sadly, I cannot remember it. Maybe if u googled him, you might find it. I shall certainly search too, later in the day.
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#97862
03/08/2003 3:53 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661 |
I offer myself as an example of (the road to hell.., etc) "cryptic" being a noun. ...and you thought you just couldn't understand me...
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