Stunt word

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A Stunt word is a term for a word created to artificially suggest importance, or coined merely to demonstrate how clever the coiner is. Examples are gloatation, titterosity, and truthiness (the last generally being attributed to Stephen Colbert). Some stunt words are portmanteau words, such as McMansion and yuppie.^{[1] [2]} Some Bushisms qualify as stunt words.^[3]

[edit] References

1. ^ The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Oxford University Press (1992), p. 991 (ISBN 0-19-214183-X)
2. ^ Fifty Years Among the New Words: A Dictionary of neologisms, Cambridge University Press, Edited by John Algeo, p. 231 (ref. "smuttery") (ISBN-13: 978-0521449717)
3. ^ John Algeo, Adele Algeo, "Among the New Words", American Speech, Vol. 66, No. 4 (Winter, 1991), pp. 380-406.