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  • The Owlish Folk

Where new words come from: James Joyce and quarks



In this episode, Amanda and Dave discuss where new words come from. They also discuss James Joyce and the words he created, as well as literary devices he utilized to create new words.




As mentioned in the episode, here are where the portmanteau words appear in Joyce's Finnegans Wake:

-unhappitents (FW 258.22) n. Sad or unhappy dwellers or inhabitants.

-selfthought (FW 147.9) n. Instructed by one’s self or self-taught through one’s own study, thinking, or thought.

-Absintheminded (FW 464.17) adj. forgetful, abstracted, or absent-minded from the consumption of absinthe

-eyewitless (FW 515.30) noun. A stupid or witless firsthand observer.

-twowsers (FW 276.F1) noun. Two pairs of pants or trousers.


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