A Perfectly Good Word

Last Friday I was reading the "Leisure" section of the Indy Star and learned a new word. I found it in an advice column called "Tell Me About It"*, by Carolyn Hax ( tellme@washpost.com ).

The word was "twitterpated".

How it was used: "Idealistic, definsive and twitterpated are three states of being that, on their own, make people resistant to outside opinions."

I thought it was a made-up word, and made Mary look it up. She found a citation in an online dictionary. I can't find the exact same listing today, but did find several references, including the Merriam-Webster Online Open Dictionary:

(adjective) : under the influence of springfever, enamored, dizzy with fascination. "Nearly everybody gets twitterpated in the springtime. You get weak in the knees. Your head starts to whirl. Before you know it, you're knocked for a loop!" -Bambi —Bambi, Disney, 1942

So maybe it's a word that was made up in Hollywood, but then so was "supercalifragelisticexpialidocious". I don't remember the exact dialogue, but either Dick VanDyke or Julie Andrews said that was a perfectly good word.


(*"Tell Me About It" by Carolyn Hax (tellme@washpost.com, published in The Indianapolis Star, Friday, September 7, 2007, Leisure section p. 27.)