This week I’m setting a creative challenge. It’s an apparently simple task, invent a word, and write the definition of it – as it would be entered in the Oxford English Dictionary.
That means that after you’ve explained its various meanings you need to show the history of your word. So:
- Where was it written?
- Who wrote it?
- What date was it first published?
- Quote a line from the publication that shows how your word was used.
- Include at least two more quotes from later publications that used your word and reference them with author, title and date.
This is a task that we were set on the Imaginative Writing BA, by the late Edmund Cusick. So far as I’m aware, he created this exercise.
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Funnily enough, I’ve been thinking about the late, lamented Edmund recently following yet another friend’s untimely death. I remember that exercise; definitely a favourite since I so enjoy making up words. Lovely that you are keeping Edmund’s memory alive, Cath.
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Condolences, Ruth.
It’s one of my favourites too, and a great introduction to the OED. I spent a whole afternoon browsing the volumes for inspiration.
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OOh fabulous, I love a good rummage in the dictionary!
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