Inkquests: A good word for?…….. by Sara John Big thick dictionaries, style guides, the Thesaurus, Brewer’s Phrase and Fable, reverse dictionaries, and other helpful guides for writers are very useful. However in some situations there is, as yet, no one useful word for the situation you are trying to describe. In that case why not make up a new word? You, of course, may well come up with one word that is much better than the ones I hesitantly offer here; • Waking up in the morning thinking it is Monday and it is actually Sunday. A sunimony moment • You meet someone who seems to be unpleasant and rather creepy and becomes even more so the longer you spend with them. A chillshiverer • The atmosphere or ambience on first entering someone else’s house, in particular when you are a child. Gorrowgonow • The whiff of early Autumn on a late August morning with just a touch of chill in the air. Octonov
• The scent of Spring late on in February in early morning in the park or the garden. Marmaylade • Jotting down another brilliant idea in the middle of the night which proves quite useless in the cold light of morning. Inkwaste • One of those days, frequently a Friday when everything that can go wrong does go wrong, you break a shoelace, you miss the bus, you miss the train, car won’t start, cannot find your keys/specs/watch/file/ purse/cat. A malfri • You have a garment bought over two years ago that you paid too much for and have never worn. You try it on and it looks ill-fitting, strange colour, and overall much worse than when purchased. Culpashop • A relative’s relative who is your partner’s second cousin, twice removed, who always seeks you out at events. You are far from keen on this person but you are expected to “relate” and “be nice”, even though you explain that he is Nokin
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