logodaedaly (noun)

Entry: logodaedaly
Function: noun
Definition: arbitrary or capricious coinage of words
Word History: Latin to Greek
Sample sentence: <Go to spelling bee.com to find some
skookum logodaedaly word history! >

Submitted by: Paul of Springfield, MO.

Well, lo! and behold! Here's a perferrific substitute for the cryptic noun for which I was searching.

Now is this a serendipitous or a coincidental find?

Dear WW: Here's a word you undoubtedly know: Portulaca
My wife's grandparents had a summer place on Gull Lake, MI. A nice kettle pond (caused by big block
of glacier ice having blowsand accumulate around it). But said sand got bonedry in summer, and
the only green things were obiigatory honysuckle around the Chick Sale (with obligaotory halfmoon
above the door for ventilation), and almost surrounded by a very large bed of Portulaca.
When I was a teenager, I spent more than a few hours trying to eradicate purslane from tennis
courts. I hated it, and was dimbfounded when a former college chum who was a archaeologist in
the Netherlands passed along the information that purslane was a Dutch prized potherb, which
as volunteer (technical word for desirable plant in undesirable place) had so tormented me.
I tried eating the leaves of purslane, and they are indeed quite acceptable. I was however very
much suprised that purslane is closely related to Portulaca grandiflora, with the large blossoms
I saw this morening for the first time. But I used to admire portulaca of many colors in poor
soil of property I owned on Cape Cod. So let's hear if for Portulaca, portulaca, siss, boom, BAH!
For pictures, see
http://members.tripod.com/~KeinHong/flowers-portulaca.html

While out walking, it occurred to me that "logodaedaly" should apply only to coinages
that will fly. For those that are almost sure to flop, I suggest "logicarism".

Dadburn it, wwh! Yes, I know portulaca, but there's another plant like it that also grows about the same height with blossoms about the same size--and I had confused the two for a while when I once lived in Florida. Now I'll spend the rest of the afternoon trying to remember what that other one was. Ah! I just remembered! Impatiens! Only impatiens didn't have that strange network of stems that the portulaca has--and they only have one layer of petals. Both did well in Florida's heat and both also grow well here in Virginia. Portulaca has petals as soft as those of a rose.

Why are we talking about this here?

Another flower I am very fond of is the Four O'Clock. I first encountered them in Ojinaga, Chihuahua. No one could tell me what the name was in English and the name I was given in Spanish wasn't in the dictionary as being a flower. (I can't remember what that word is now.) They open in the afternoon and exude a wonderful perfume all night. It took me several years of comparing photos in seed catalogs and buying the wrong seeds until I finally hit on the correct ones. If you like your flower gardens tidy, don't plant the Four O'Clocks in your neat, organized beds. They tend to want to dominate the ground they live on and seed themselves like crazy. In more temperate climes they winter over. If you have a spot you'd like some good smelly ground cover, these are the flowers for you.

Dear consuelo: Here is a site about four o'clocks with pictures, but no mention of fragrance:
http://www.desertusa.com/mag00/feb/papr/4oclock.html

from the link: The flowers release a musky aroma several hours after opening. This attracts hawkmoths, the primary pollinator of these flowers.

There is some mention of fragrance further down in the article, wwh, and what is stated is fascinating. I'll go ahead and paste it here:

The flowers release a musky aroma several hours after opening. This attracts hawkmoths, the
primary pollinator of these flowers. A hawkmoth can unfurl its proboscis to suck up nectar that forms at the base of the funnel-shaped flower. In the morning, bees may linger in the floral tube, but they have little to do with pollination. The bees are more after pollen for themselves.

Wasn't it here on AWAD that we were recently discussing the various types of orchids that release various types of attractants for their pollinators? Someone had written that one type of orchid released an odor similar to rotting meat to attract flies! These flowers sound almost intelligent!

The "musky aroma" in the link doesn't sound like consuelo's " a wonderful perfume all night"
To me, "musky" suggests the mildly disagreeable odor of some animals. Musk may be used to
hold other fragrances in some perfumes, but not for its own olfactory stimulation.

musk
n.
5OFr musc < LL muscus < Gr moschos < Pers mutk, musk < Sans muRka, testicle, dim. of mus, MOUSE6
1 a substance with a strong, penetrating odor, obtained from a small sac (musk bag) under the skin of the abdomen in the male musk deer: used as the basis of numerous perfumes
2 a similar substance secreted by certain other animals, as the alligator, musk ox, etc.
3 the odor of any of these

The "musky aroma" in the link doesn't sound like consuelo's " a wonderful perfume all night"

Beauty is in the nose of the besmeller.

Dear Faldage: at least you didn't try to tell us Consuelo metamorphoses into a hawkmoth
at night.

didn't try to tell us Consuelo metamorphoses

I'll leave that to Pfranz.

besmeller

is that a popular book for them that nose?

Dear Faldage:Just to use my coinage, I think "besmeller" is an icarism - it won't fly very far.
Not one of your best efforts.

Not one of your best efforts

Thanks, Dr Bill. I strive to soar in the mire of the mountains of mediocrity.

Dear Faldage: On the contrary, I regard you as a man of parts, better informed in many
matters than I am, so that I expect a high standard from you.
I'm feeling so mellow I won't even jest about the way your parts were assembled.