16 January 2008

I invented a new word

Inaggerate. It means to understate or downplay the magnitude or importance of something; kind of the opposite of exaggerate. For example, if you catch 12 fish and, when someone asks you if you caught anything you say "Yeah, I bagged a couple." then you are inaggerating.

You're probably thinking that I haven't really invented a new word, but just taken an existing one, changed the prefix and given it the logical antonym meaning. Nothing special in that, in fact it was obvious, right? Wrong! If it was so obvious, then why didn't you think of it? Why have you never said or heard or read my new word before? Because it is a new word. Now, I may not be the first person in the history of the world to think of the word inaggerate, but I didn't hear it from anyone else; I came up with it on my own. So in my opinion, I invented it.

Like a lot of good inventions, it seems obvious once you have seen it, but if you hadn't seen it, you never would have thought of it. Then, when you do see it you say "Why didn't I think of that?" I don't know. Why didn't you?

You're challenge for today is to invent a new word and assign a logical meaning to it. It's harder than you might think.

Bonus points if your new word/meaning makes me squirt coffee out of my nose.