It’s not surprising that millions of “non words” have failed to make it into the dictionary. What is surprising is the fact that they all lie unused in a vault owned by the Oxford University Press!!
“Wurfing” means surfing the internet at work, while “nonversation” denotes a pointless chat and “polkadodge” describes the strange little dance two passing people do when they try to avoid each other but move in the same direction!! haha I LOVE that one! However, unless they enter common parlance in the future, you’ll never see them in the dictionary! Instead, they stay dormant in a vault–an actual vault with words that date back hundreds of years!!!!! They are written on 6x4inch cards and are stored alphabetically in 50 huge filing cabinets!
Graphic designer Luke Ngakane, 22, uncovered these ‘non words’ as part of a school project. He said: ”It’s a very hush, hush vault and I really struggled to find out information about it because it is so secretive. But when I spoke to them they were happy to confirm its existence and although I didn’t actually get to see the room they did send me some examples.
Luke Ngakane choose 39 “non-words” to etch onto a metal press plate and print onto A4 paper for his graphic design degree. Maybe, just maybe, they will be picked up by people and one day make it into the dictionary!!
Some of my favorite:
“furgling”: the act of fumbling in your pocket for keys or loose change.
“dringle”: the watermark left by a glass of liquid
“earworm”: a catchy tune that frequently gets stuck in your head (I actually this one was a real one–we use it all the time!)
“Sprogging”: the act of running slower than a sprint but faster than a jog
Here is Luke’s complete DICTIONARY OF NON WORDS;
Accordionated – being able to drive and refold a road map at the same time
Asphinxiation – being sick to death of unanswerable puzzles or riddles
Blogish – a variety of English that uses a large number of initialisms, frequently used on blogs
Dringle – the watermark left on wood caused by a glass of liquid.
Dunandunate – the overuse of a word or phrase that has recently been added to your own vocabulary
Earworm – a catchy tune that frequently gets stuck in your head
Espacular – something especially spectacular
Freegan – someone who rejects consumerism, usually by eating discarded food
Fumb – your large toe
Furgle – to feel in a pocket or bag for a small object such as a coin or key
Glocalization – running a business according to both local and global considerations
Griefer – someone who spends their online time harassing others
Headset jockey – a telephone call centre worker
Lexpionage – the sleuthing of words and phrases
Locavor – a person who tries to eat only locally grown or produced food
Museum head – feeling mentally exhausted and no longer able to take in information; Usually following a trip to a museum
Nonversation – a worthless conversation, wherein nothing is explained or otherwise Elaborated upon
Nudenda – an unhidden agenda
Oninate – to overwhelm with post-dining breath
Optotoxical – a look that could kill, normally from a parent or spouse
Parrotise – a haven for exotic birds especially green ones
Peppier – a waiter whose sole job is to offer diners ground pepper, usually from a large pepper mill
Percuperate – to prepare for the possibility of being ill
Pharming – the practice of creating a dummy website for phishing data
Polkadodge – the dance that occurs when two people attempt to pass each other but move in the same direction
Pregreening – to creep forwards while waiting for a red light to change
Quackmire – the muddy edges of a duck pond
Scrax – the waxy coating that is scratched off an instant lottery ticket
Smushables – items that must be pack at the top of a bag to avoid being squashed
Spatulate – removing cake mixture from the side of a bowl with a spatula
Sprog – to go faster then a jog but slower then a sprint
Sprummer – when summer and spring time can’t decide which is to come first, usually hot one day then cold the next
Stealth-geek – someone who hides their nerdy interests while maintaining a normal outward appearance
Vidiot – someone who is inept at the act of programming video recording equipment
Whinese – a term for the language spoken by children on lengthy trips
Wibble – the trembling of the lower lip just shy of actually crying
Wurfing – the act of surfing the Internet while at work
Wikism – a piece of information that claims to be true but is wildly inaccurate
Xenolexica – a grave confusion when faced with unusual words
Fascinating! ESPACULAR actually!!!!!
Kim 😉
In Kim’s Head 
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