iMonk | December 2006

San Jose, California — Thursday, December 14th

Word association

One of my younger readers sent me an email the other day, asking, "What should we do when we do not have the phisical [sic] association of devotees?" We had a good laugh over the typographical error (we're old friends) and I asked for permission to refer to the gaffe in this blog.

I was pretty sure that there was no word in the English language that began with "ph" followed by "is," so I looked it up.

I was right, sort of...

Apparently there is one such word — not a real word, mind you, but one of those made-up, computer-related words — that has recently come into popular use, and is now listed in the software version of my New Oxford American Dictionary (Second Edition):

phishing (noun): the activity of defrauding online account holders of their financial information, by posing as a legitimate company: [as adjective] "Phishing exercises in which criminals create replicas of commercial web sites."

Origin 1990's: inspired by "fishing," perhaps borrowing the "ph" from "phony."

This inspired me to make up a brand new word of my own: "fizzical."

fizzical (adjective): of or relating to the association of devotees on the bodily platform (socializing or fraternizing), as opposed to association of devotees on the spiritual plane of consciousness: "Fizzical proximity is not association!"

Origin 2006: inspired by "physical," perhaps borrowing the "fizz" from "fizzle."

Since "fizzle" is an intransitive verb that means, "to fail, or to end disappointingly or unsatisfactorily, especially after a hopeful beginning," fizzical is particularly appropriate when used to refer to inappropriate devotee association...

I know. I'm so smart... and so funny! :)

...And humble too, of course! :D

Tags: Humor

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