verbing

verbing n the act or practice of using a noun as a verb, such as ‘medal’ to mean “to win a medal” (CED)

Verbing is a time-honored way of coining new words out of old ones, the etymological process of conversion (or functional shifting). Sometimes it’s also a kind of word play (anthimeria), as in Shakespeare’s King Richard the Second when the Duke of York says, “Grace me no grace, and uncle me no uncles.”

Richard Nordquist, “What Is Verbing? – Turning Nouns Into Verbs – Definition and Examples of Verbing”, About.com

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air-eating

Pavhari Baba was born near Varanasi of brahmin parents. In his youth he had mastered many branches of Hindu philosophy. Later he renounced the world, led an austere life, practised the disciplines of Yoga and Vedanta, and travelled over the whole of India. At last he settled in Ghazipur, where he built an underground hermitage on the bank of the Ganga and spent most of his time in meditation. He lived on practically nothing and so was given by the people the sobriquet of the ‘air-eating holy man’; all were impressed by his humility and spirit of service. Once he was bitten by a cobra and said while suffering terrible pain, ‘Oh, he was a messenger from my Beloved!’ Another day, a dog ran off with his bread and he followed, praying humbly, ‘Please wait, my Lord; let me butter the bread for you.’ Often he would give away his meagre food to beggars or wandering monks, and starve.

Swami Nikhilananda, Swami Vivekananda: A Biography, Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center of New York, 1953. [PDF]

sobriquet

sobriquet or soubriquet n
a humorous epithet, assumed name, or nickname [CED]

“Ashes, Scofield. I repeat, meaningless! And that’s nothing but a sobriquet for someone long dead and forgotten.”

“Sobriquet’? That’s a nickname, isn’t it?”

“You’re not uneducated.”

Robert Ludlum, The Matarese Countdown, 1997

たしかに、sobriquet は nickname とほぼ同義だが、もとがフランス語であるだけにより学のある感じがするだろう。
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Shiver me timbers!

Can you talk like pirates? Here are some phrases that may come in handy: Arrr! That be a fine cow by the road. Avast ye hearties! Me thinks me needs a rest stop. Shiver me timbers! I’ve smelt a skunk that went to Davy jones’ locker. What other expressions can you make up?

Lynn Gordon, 52 Fun Things to Do in the Car, revised. ed., Chronicle Books, 2009

Jolly Roger

Jolly Roger

Pretend the car is a ship and you are all pirates. Can you design a treasure map and a flag that represents your “ship”? Take turns being the capt’n and the maties. There better not be a bilge rat among you. Can you talk like pirates? Here are some phrases that may come in handy: Arrr! That be a fine cow by the road. Avast ye hearties! Me thinks me needs a rest stop. Shiver me timbers! I’ve smelt a skunk that went to Davy jones’ locker. What other expressions can you make up?

Lynn Gordon, 52 Fun Things to Do in the Car, revised ed., Chronicle Books, 2009

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a-cownting

A-Cownting
Each person picks a side of the road to count cows on, and whichever side counts the most cows wins.

Lynn Gordon, 52 Fun Things to Do in the Car, revised. ed., Chronicle Books, 2009

Use a hyphen

Hyphen (-)

■ Use a hyphen whenever two or more words are joined together to serve as an adjective directly before a noun (unless the first word ends in -ly). → The well-regarded teacher was honored for his exceptionally hard work and dedication.
■ Use a hyphen when writing out fractions and compound numbers. → I spent one-third of my allowance on books and DVDs.
■ Use a hyphen with compound nouns. → My sister-in-law works at the local mall.

English to the Max: 1, 200 Practice Questions That Will Maximize Your English Power, Learning Express LLC, 2008, p.7

comparatively

Creating words from nothing is comparatively rare. Most words are made from other words, for example, by combining whole words or word parts.

John Algeo, The Origins and Development of the English Language, 6th ed., Wadsworth, 2009, p.227

Scraps of conversation come back to me with the memory of her room. I remember her saying: ‘When I was a girl we were comparatively poor, but still richer than most of the world, and when I married I became very rich. It used to worry me, and I thought it wrong to have so many beautiful things when others had nothing. Now I realize that it is possible for the rich to sin by coveting the privileges of the poor. The poor have always been the favourites of God and his saints, but I believe that it is one of the special achievements of Grace to sanctify the whole of life, riches included. Wealth in pagan Rome was necessarily something cruel; it’s not any more.’

Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited, 1945

a dozen examples

(In a List of Beauty Recipes) 5. An infallible wrinkle-remover. 6. A superfluous hair-remover (i.e. a hair-remover that no-one wants). / The financial record of the Lloyd George-Winston Churchill Government (i.e. of the Government composed of Lloyd, Churchill, & George Winston). / Mr Scott Dickson, the ex-Tory Solicitor-General for Scotland (i.e. the Solicitor-General who formerly was but no longer is a Tory). / The Unionist Housing of the Working-Classes Bill was read a second time yesterday (i. e. the way the Unionists house the Working-Classes Bill; poor ill-housed Billy!). / Grieving, as a Nonconformist, over the sins of his fellow-Free Churchmen (i.e. of his Churchmen who are unhampered by companions). / (Heading) PEACE MEETING RIOT (i.e. the way peace deals with riot; what is meant is riot at a peace-meeting). / Even the most bigoted anti-trade unionist (i.e. the unionist who is most opposed to trade). / The Chancello, plans to reconstruct the Billow (Conservative-National-Liberal) Block (i.e. that of Conservatives, Nationals, & Liberals; what is meant is that of the Conservatives & the National Liberals). / Last April the Acting-British Consul at Shiraz was attacked (i.e. the Consul who was pretending to be British). / And Sir Henniker-Heaton is more fortunate than many of those who cry in the wilderness (If Henniker is Christian name, no hyphen; if it is surname, a Christian name is wanted; see hon.). / If lay-writers can publish what they please, are naval officers to remain compulsorily silent? (i.e. writers of lays). / (A Reichstag party) intent on introducing an anti-English & strong Navy agitation into the elections (i.e. a strong agitation about the Navy; but what is meant is an agitation for a strong Navy).

H. W. Fowler, A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, Oxford University Press, 1926; the classic first edition, 2009, pp.243-244.

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