Ross and I have been talking a lot about words lately, so here are some favorites that have come up in the last couple of days:

Spoonerism: This is when you transpose the wounds in a pair of swords. The name comes from a Reverend Spilliam Wooner, who apparently did this a lot. He must have been fairy vunny.

Copacetic: Satisfactory; just fine; five by five. This is a word that is particularly dear to Ross’s heart, because a couple of years ago he used it in a conversation and I was absolutely convinced that he had made it up. But completely certain. I had never heard it before, and it didn’t sound anything like what it was apparently supposed to mean, which was enough for me to declare it ridiculous and nonexistent. I don’t think I’ll ever be allowed to live this down.

Autological and Heterological. You won’t find these two in the dictionary, I think because they were made up in order to create a paradox that isn’t really a paradox. Autological words are words that describe themselves (like polysyllabic, memorizable, recherche) and heterological words ones that do not describe themselves (green, woeful, drunk, etc.). And the paradox is intended to be one of set theory, much like the one about the barber who only shaves men who don’t shave themselves, to wit:

Is the word “heterological” heterological? If so, it has to be autological. And if not, then it has to be heterological. And so forth.

Apparently the dichotomy between autological and heterological is a false one, so this isn’t really a paradox — but they’re still awfully cool words.

I have to stop now, because the television is on and The Hollow Men, whom I’m watching for the first time, are doing a sketch about putting cellphones up their arses.

And it’s making this entry seem awfully recherche.