|
Sniglet is a neologism, popularized by comedian/actor Rich Hall during his tenure on the 1980s HBO comedy series ''Not Necessarily the News''. Each episode of the monthly series featured a regular segment on sniglets, which Hall described as "any word that doesn't appear in the dictionary, but should". Hall's own sniglets, along with submissions by fans, were compiled into several books, starting with ''Sniglets'' and ''More Sniglets''. ==Origins== 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, four more books, a game, and a calendar.〔Metcalf, Alan (2002). ''Predicting New Words: The Secrets of Their Success'', p. 23. ISBN 0-618-13006-3〕 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 ''Game of Sniglets'' involved creating new sniglets and trying to guess the "true sniglet". The instructions contain guidelines for "How to Create a Sniglet", including the following: * Combination, or blend * Spelling change, altering a word related to the definition * Pure nonsense word * A "take-off on a well-known product", i.e., a spelling change to a trademark Many sniglets are portmanteau words, a comedic style often traced to Lewis Carroll. Humor writer Paul Jennings had published made-up meanings of real place-names in a 1963 essay appearing in ''The Jenguin Pennings''.〔http://msgboard.snopes.com/message/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/get_topic/f/95/t/000699/p/1.html Snopes.com "Don't you have a word for...?"〕 Author Douglas Adams, while travelling with British comedy producer John Lloyd, suggested they play a game he had learned at school in which players were challenged to make up plausible word definitions for place names taken from road maps. The definitions they came up with were later incorporated into a 1983 book, ''The Meaning of Liff''. When the format of Lloyd's satirical TV show ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' was sold to America to become ''Not Necessarily the News'', the producers also took the made-up word definition concept, which became Sniglets.〔(Pearlman, Gregg "Exclusive Interview With Douglas Adams" )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「sniglet」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|