Kittenlog and Lionlog
New words that you can use
In the course of my life, I often find myself in the market for a new word or two. In most cases, I have been able to fill this gap in my active vocabulary by attaching new meanings to words already close at hand. Thus, while none of the members of the society to which this newsletter belongs sails upon the sea, I have come to describe it as a ‘flotilla’.
By the way, this collective also provides a home to The Decision Game Club, The Tactical Notebook, The Military Learning Gateway, and both versions of the Warfare Mastery Institute.
When such repurposing fails to furnish a suitable solution, I resort to the coining of brand new words. Thus, in the course of editing a sixteen-page catalog, I began to refer to the wee book as a kittenlog*. (This led to the effortless emergence of lionlog*, which I intend to deploy when next faced with the need to describe an especially leonine list of offerings.)
The inspiration for this little exercise in supply-side linguistics comes from the anonymous genius who decided to honor Patience and Fortitude, the stone lions who guard the main entrance to the main building of the New York Public Library, by christening the electronic catalog of that especially blessed institution with the name of CATNYP. (I am sorry to report that this laudable jeu de mots seems to have gone the way of Siegfried and Roy.)
For a quick overview of the neologisms that made their debut in Extra Muros, please visit the Glossary that keeps company with the masthead of this publication.
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