A sniglet is defined as a "word that should be in the dictionary, but isn't". While Rich Hall invented the word "sniglet" itself, sniglets are actually a long-running popular joke in which people make up their own humorous words to describe things or concepts that have no "official" words. Sniglets were popularized during the 1980s, on the HBO comedy series Not Necessarily the News. Comedian and cast member Rich Hall had a regular segment on sniglets during each episode of the monthly series. Rich Hall (born 1954 in Waxhaw, North Carolina) is an American comedian and writer. ... MacGyver - 1980s hero The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ... HBO (Home Box Office) is a premium cable television network with headquarters in New York City. ... Not Necessarily the News was a satirical sketch comedy series that ran on HBO from 1983 to 1990. ...

Examples

• ARG (Audio Retinal Gyration): The act of trying to read the label on a LP record while it's playing on a turntable. (Hall 1985a: 93)
• Bleemus: The spot on a dog's belly which you can scratch which makes its leg twitch uncontrollably. (Not Necessarily The News)
• Blivet: to flip your pillow looking for a cool spot (Hall 1984: 14)
• Cheedle: The orange residue left on fingers after eating Cheetos or some other cheesy snack (Hall 1984: 21)
• Execuglide: The act of using your wheeled office chair to move from one place to another. (Hall 1985a: 31)
• Glackett: The ball inside a can of spray paint (or other aerosol can) for stirring the contents inside the can. (Hall 1984: 38)
• Sniffleridge: The groove running between the nose and the mouth (Hall 1984: 92). (The real name for this structure is the philtrum.)
• Toastaphobia: - The fear of sticking a fork in a toaster even when it's unplugged. (Hall 1985a: 83)

33â…“ LP vinyl record album from the 1960s A gramophone record (also phonograph record, or simply record) is an analogue sound recording medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed modulated spiral groove. ... A human face, with the philtrum in the yellow box. ... A toaster is a small, electric kitchen appliance designed to toast bread, an act also known as making toast. ...

Life after HBO

In 1984, a collection of sniglets was published, titled Sniglets (snig' lit: any word that doesn't appear in the dictionary, but should). It was followed by a "daily comic panel" in newspapers,^[1] four more books, a game, and a calendar. The books have their entries arranged in alphabetical order like a dictionary, with information on how to pronounce the word, followed by a definition, and sometimes accompanied by an illustration. The original book had two appendices, "Anatomical Sniglets" and "Extra Added Bonus Section for Poets" (a sniglet that rhymed with orange). More Sniglets has an "Audio-Visual Sniglets" section; the rest had no such appendices. All five books had an "Official Sniglets Entry Blank," beginning, "Dear Rich: Here's my sniglet, which is every bit as clever as any in this dictionary." The first four books listed all the contributors after the dedication page. Orange is both a noun and an adjective in the English language. ...

The Game of Sniglets involved creating new sniglets, in addition to trying to guess the "true sniglet". In the "Playing Instructions," there are ideas on "How to Create a Sniglet" which include (1) combination (Portmanteau), (2) spelling change (altering a word related to the definition), (3) pure nonsense word, or (4) a "take-off on a well known product" (a spelling change to a trademark). However, any method was acceptable. It has been suggested that blend (linguistics) be merged into this article or section. ... A nonce word is a word used only for the nonce—to meet a need that is not expected to recur. ...

Sniglets and society

In a 1990 interview, Hall was asked if the "Sniglets books [were] completely for comic value?" He answered,

Yeah. Well, no. I wouldn't say they're completely for comic value. I mean, I get letters from schools all the time saying how they've incorporated a sniglet book into their reading program. You can look at a lot of the words and sort of break them down into their etymological origins. And you can learn a lot about how and where words derive from. When you assign this frailty of human nature a word, then the word has to work. It has to either be a hybrid of several other words, or have a Latin origin, or something.[2]

Books such as A Handbook for Substitute Teachers (1989) by Anne Wescott Dodd and Reading and Language Arts Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites : 20 Literacy Strategies That Engage the Brain (2005) by Marcia L. Tate bear out his claim; they suggest creating sniglets as a classroom activity. Image File history File links Cquote1. ... Image File history File links Cquote2. ...

Popular English language experts such as Richard Lederer and Barbara Wallraff have noted sniglets in their books, The Miracle of Language^[3] and Word Court: Wherein Verbal Virtue Is Rewarded, Crimes Against the Language Are Punished, and Poetic Justice Is Done^[4] respectively. Richard Lederer (born 1938) is an American author and teacher best known for his books on word play and the English language, and his use of oxymorons. ...

They also are a popular subject of satire. Cartoon dad Homer Simpson suggests "Son of Sniglet" as a good book to name as a favorite and a life influence on a college application in The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family.^[5] Faux newspaper The Onion ran a fake story headlined "Man Won't Stop Coming Up With New Sniglets."^[6] Homer Jay Simpson (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) is one of the main characters in the animated television series The Simpsons. ... The Onion is a parody newspaper published weekly in print and on the Internet. ...

More recently, the idea has been "borrowed" by Barbara Wallraff for her new book "Word Fugitives: In Pursuit of Wanted Words."

Books and more

Rich Hall released several volumes of collected sniglets, illustrated by Arnie Ten:

• Sniglets (snig' lit: any word that doesn't appear in the dictionary, but should) (1984) ISBN 0020125305
• More Sniglets (1985a) ISBN 0020125607
• Unexplained Sniglets of the Universe (1986) ISBN 002040400X
• Angry Young Sniglets (1987) ISBN 002012600X
• When Sniglets Ruled the Earth (1989) ISBN 0020404417

• Sniglets for Kids (Sniglets Collector Sticker Books) (1985b) ISBN 0899543979
• Game of Sniglets (1990) ISBN 020315002605
• Sniglet a Day - 1994 Calendar (1993) ISBN 0836273796

Douglas Adams contributed

• The Deeper Meaning of Liff : A Dictionary of Things There Aren't Any Words for Yet--But There Ought to Be (1992) ISBN 0330322206

A special case of a Sniglet collection, which uses names of towns to designate meanings for which an adequate word hasn't been found.

Notes

Matt Groening Matthew Abram Groening (born February 15, 1954 in Portland, Oregon; his family name is pronounced /greɪnɪŋ/, rhyming with gaining and raining) is an American cartoonist and the creator of the American animated television series The Simpsons [1] and Futurama. ...

See also

• Daffynition
• The Meaning of Liff
• Neologism

Look up Daffynition in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A daffynition is a pun format involving the reinterpretation of an existing word, on the basis that it sounds like another word (or group of words). ... Front cover of the US hardcover edition of The Meaning of Liff, 1984. ... A neologism is a word, term, or phrase which has been recently created (coined) — often to apply to new concepts, or to reshape older terms in newer language form. ...

External links

• Additional Sniglet Examples
• Arnie Ten official website
• A large collection of sniglets