Made-Up Words

[Sethomas]

Meta humor requires that we make up a word meaning "made-up word". Since I have delusions of having classical integrity, I'll put effort into this.

The most erudite word I know for "made up/imaginary" is "chimerical". Pub's source of affection, "neologism", is distinctly Greek. I hate it when pseudosophs mix up Greek and Latin etymological roots, so I had to make sure that chimera has Attic roots. Apparently it does, but via Latin. The Greek form is Chimaira, so I guess the best candidate is "chimairalogism". I don't really like it, but we take what we can, right?

In English, by the way, Chimera came to us via Latin through Wyclif's Prologue (I assume to his translation of the bible, which landed him in deep shit because of the theological conventions he inserted to his own ends). His use: "Beestis clepid chymeres, that han a part of ech beest, and suche ben not, no but oonly in opynyoun"*. The problem is that he was talking about a specific mythological animal, and the word didn't come to mean "fantastical" until the late 16th century. But, when I was reading Hume he used the word ALL THE FUCKING TIME in that sense so I stand by it.

*Late Middle English, Londonian dialect, for "Beasts called Chimeras that had parts of each [other] beast, but didn't exist except in opinion." Here, "opinion" means more like "what they thought" than "a personal stance". (My amateur translation.)