I have gone 30 *mumble* years without needing the word coolth, or really ever thinking much about it. Then, suddenly, opportunities for its use began springing up all over the place. “Enjoying the coolness of the evening” does not slip off the tongue as nicely as “enjoying the coolth.” I tried using it on occasion, and the result was laughter. Lots of it. Silly Laurita and her nonsense words.
But haha! The joke’s on you! Coolth is a word. It is somewhat archaic and a little facetious, but I think it’s about time it made a serious comeback. It’s a useful word. It has strength and purpose.
Not convinced, eh?
Well then, let’s look at some past usage. In 1889, Lewis Carroll used it in Bruno and Sylvie:
“How jolly it would be to fill it now with lumps of ice, and sit around it and enjoy the coolth.”OK, probably still facetious.
Rudyard Kipling was known to toss it around. In 1888 he used it in Plain Tales from the Hills:
“But he kept on steadily and tried to think how pleasant the coolth was.”And again in Kim in 1900:
"...out on to the bare hillsides' slippery sunburnt grass, and back into the woodlands' coolth again..."Ezra Pound used it in 1955:
"June’s mid-summer, August brings coolth again"The use of the word coolth was validated by J.R.R. Tolkien in 1924 in The Year’s Work in English Studies:
"The current coolth, which shows signs of losing its facetiousness, and may claim part of the territory of cool."If it’s good enough for those guys, it’s good enough for me. Coolth has found a permanent place in my vocabulary, and I will use it liberally.
There's something kind of exhilarating about reviving a forgotten word. It's like controlling a little piece of the universe. I'm trying not to let it go to my head. You may think it’s dorky, but I think it only increases my coolth.
This was a flippercanorious defence of a most useful word.
ReplyDeleteIf someone's invented it, I'd like others to forward me on to the reverse-dictionary, which can tell me the word for the thing I'm looking to describe. I think the majority of desires for there to be a word for something are just ignorance as to there actually being a word for it, simply one not used often enough. I know I've fallen into that hole.
ReplyDeleteOther times? "Failure" is too long for teenagers to type.
I am with you. Reviving forgotten words feels as organic and returning to artisan crafts and simpler times.
ReplyDeleteCoolth is now part of my lexicon!
:)
Stacey
John, that's a brilliant idea. I reverse dictionary would get a lot of use, I bet. Then you'd have to come up with a really cool name for it.
ReplyDeleteStacey, lexicon is a great word, and it isn't used near enough. :)
I'm going to find excuses to use it every day!
ReplyDeleteCoolth is going into the rotation starting now. Probably going to need another word to replace it by June though.
ReplyDeleteYou're the coolest Laurita!
Go for it! Of course, you'll still get some smart-alec chastising you for using archaic language. There are times when the old word is best and sometimes poets resort to neology.
ReplyDeleteThat is one word with a lot of coolth! I can see a lot of uses for it as well.
ReplyDeleteI took the liberty of checking to see if it was in my oxford dictionary and was pleased to see it there between coolie and coomb.
Coolth post! I like the words as well, and wonder which new ones I can invent by adding 'th' to the end? Peace...
ReplyDeleteIt appears that you have successfully resurrected that old word, Laurita. I look forward to seeing it appear in your next story…and I get the Arts & Letters judges would think it a coolth word as well!
ReplyDeleteLet's start a coolth revolution.
ReplyDeleteMark, that's true about the smart alecs. I can aways claim poetic license. It's not like I'm trying to bring back 'forsooth' - although...
Linda, that's interesting. I bet you make up all sorts of new words. A girl I know says her grandmother used to say dryth, as in the clothes hung on the line have no dryth in them yet.
Alan, coolth is going into all my stories from now on. Maybe.
You ARE coolth. Back in the dark ages when I was teaching, I had my students (college level) make up a word, then they went out and used it for a week or more - all of them. It was interesting to watch it begin to ctch on.
ReplyDeleteLove it. Love it. Love it.
ReplyDeleteHaha, I bet you have plenty of opportunity to use a word about cold up in Canada :) There's no shortage of cold there. I must admit, I've never seen the word coolth before. Even the web browser puts red squiggly lines beneath it in complaint. Thanks for the enjoyable word study.
ReplyDeleteBen, you're right. I've been using coolth a whole lot lately (although colth is probably more like it). I'm glad you enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteI ahve been on record, many times, that you dearie, are the coolthest
ReplyDelete