Re: They Have a Word for It!

On Fri, 3 Aug 2001, andrew wrote:

> Am 08/03 00:50  Yoon Ha Lee yscrifef:
>
> > On that note, I seem to remember some "dictionary" of words that ought
> > to exist, snatches of which were read to us in 3rd grade.  I can't for
> > the life of me remember the author or title, but one word I remember
> > vividly was "airdo," or "the little rubber-dust fragments that come from
> > an eraser when you use it" (or somesuch).  This ring a bell with anyone?
> >
> Was it Sniglets, the dictionary of necessary words, or some title close
> to that?  I know Sniglets is right, I remember finding it in a library.
> Apparently some American sketch show invited people to contribute
> unorthodox words that they used.  The ones I remember are:
YES!  That's it!  I must go seek that out someday, too.  So many books,
so little time....:-)

Are there books like Sniglets in other languages that people know of?

> I have heard of the book "They Have a Word for It!" but never seen it.
> The now-retired editor of the Batman Comics once recommended it in his
> letters pages.
Fascinating.  :-)

And there are people who think that reading comics rots the brain.
(Well, maybe some of them do, but I haven't met them.)

YHL