Verbs like:
- Backspace: I’m not sure this is really a verb but I caught myself saying I was going to backspace somebody out of my life. Don’t you think it’s a stronger word than delete?
- Abscind: Can you imagine writing this: The killer abscinded his victim’s hands. Nah, it doesn’t even sound like a verb.
- Scamander: I think I’d just use meander. Scarify: This really means to scar but I think readers might interpret it as a form of scare.
- Plodge: I kind of like this one. I can almost see someone plodging around an unclean stable or maybe the soggy ground during a monsoon.
- Fantasticate: Sorry, but this one sounds a bit too much like one of those malaprops, like refudiate.
- Obfuscate: This is actually a common word, one I used in a column many, many years ago. A reader told me if I didn’t stop using such big words, he would stop reading my stuff. (I backspaced him from my Christmas list, even before I ever thought of using backspace as a verb.)
- Gerrymander: We’ve probably seen a version of this word as a noun but not so much as a verb. It’s kind of sad, though, that a word that sounds so nice would mean something so nefarious. (Okay, maybe nefarious is too strong but isn’t it a melodic word, despite its definition?)
- Decatise: Hmmm. I bet ephemera experts know how to decatise.
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