William Shakespeare was one of the greatest coiners of words in the history of the English language. In our information age, innovative businesses are among the most prolific generators of neologisms: such terms as “etail,” “iPod,” and “iPad” are altogether new, while “mac” and “twitter” and many other words have gained new meanings from being adopted and adapted by technology companies. In websites for private clients I’ve enjoyed using two relatively new words— “staycation” and “playcation”—that might or might not survive the longterm dictionary screeening process but have clear meanings and work well in the travel industry.

The following words do not actually exist in the English language—at least in dictionaries—at least not yet—though I’ve come across them all, some spoken, others written in newspapers or on blogs, in comment sections, or elsewhere. They’re all trying to be real words but somehow go off the mark. Some of them are quite charming, and maybe someday they’ll become familiar and accepted enough to enter the language, but for now, they’re illegitimate, so don’t use them—unless you’re as talented as the Bard.

Not-quite words – and their purported meanings
Beauticious - beautiful; radiantly attractive (used, apparently, in conjunction with the work of a beautician)
Beautiness - beauty; the quality of beauty
Bolsterment - a bolstering; strengthening, improvement
Preimbursement - advance on expenses
Publicate - publish a secret bit of information (apparently an attempt at a backformation combining “publicize,” “publication,” and/or "publish”)
Refudiate - refute + repudiate (gratia Sarah Palin)
Substantiable - provable; subject substantiation by empirical data
Unsightful - without insight; lacking the ability to comprehend profound ideas or nuance

Reed’s Homophones available from Pisgah Press, LLC
ISBN 978-0-615-59723-2 $10.00
http://www.pisgahpress.com/authors/a-d-reed/
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