Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Inter-pre-nating Quilts

 The other day I was sitting around a table
with a group of friends
and one of them said, describing another
"She is really good at Interprenating quilts"
My friend laughed at her own faux pas
stating "I don't think that is a real word."
but we all knew immediately what she meant.
Do you?
 The reason she might have wondered if 
Interprenating 
is a real word 
comes from our experience of constantly learning new
Quilt Lingo
Sometimes it can make your head spin.
I can remember the setting and where I was 
when I first learned the meaning of the words
Stipple
Wonkey
and
Fussy Cut
In Linguistics, new words are regularly being formed 
all the time, and as quilters
we like keep up with current trends.
A Portmanteau word or Blend Word
is formed by merging the sounds and meanings
of two or more words.
Think:
Sharknado (Shark +Tornado)
Infomercial (Information + Commercial)
Brangelina (Brad Pitt + Angelina Jolie)
So if you are good at
Interpreting quilts and Communicating pattern design
you just might be an
Interprenator!
So, I ask you, is Inter-pre-nating a real word?
If used often enough, it can become one!
(Although I might have to run this idea past our daughter Elizabeth
who has a degree in Linguistics)
But for now,
I think I need to get busy and start
interprenating a few more quilts.

2 comments:

fiberchick said...

What a thoughtful and funny post!

Elziabeth said...

Linguist approved! Thanks for getting the word out!