Wiktionary on
"logodaedaly"
From Ancient Greek λόγος (logos, “word”) +
Δαίδαλος (Daidalos, “Daedalus, a skilled craftsman of Ancient Greek mythology”)
+ -y.
Noun: logodaedaly (countable and uncountable; plural
logodaedalies)
(rare) Skill or cleverness
in the coining of new words
Examples:
1826, Samuel Bailey, A Letter to a Political
Economist, "In questions of philosophy or divinity, that have occupied the
learned, I could bring ten instances of logodaedaly, or verbal legerdemain,
which have perilously confirmed prejudices, and withstood the advancement of
truth, in consequence of the neglect of verbal debate, i. e. strict discussion
of terms."
1955, Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita, Vintage
(1997), ISBN 978-0-67972316-5, page 249,
"He mimed and mocked me. His
allusions were definitely highbrow. He was well-read. He knew French. He was
versed in logodaedaly and logomancy."
2001, Lewis O. Saum, Eugene
Field and His Age, University of Nebraska Press, ISBN 978-0803242876, page 238,
In "Sharps and Flats," the reader might well get instruction on the proper
use of farther and further or an essay on logodaedaly.
(quite rare) A skillfully or
cleverly coined new word.
Related terms:
logodaedalian/ logodaedalist/
Retrieved from
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Categories: Word of the day
archive | Ancient Greek derivations | English nouns | Rare
Annotated Lolita:
Logodaedaly (p.425, 250/1): "to prove that he is versed in
logodaedaly (the arbitrary or capricious coining of words), H.H. the
logomachist creates his own word..." (logo-machist?)
NB: My praise to PF's French translator!
Pale Fire: "Some kind
of link-and-bobolink" (812)
Feu Pâle: "quelquer lien dédalien."
Cf. Nab-L, October 2010, #
54
In "Ada", original H.H's "logomancy" may become, in Ada's hands, a
convoluted "Logogryph"