Saturday, September 13, 2008

They Call Me Fa-Breeze

My wife and I have been parents for almost a year, and as we plan a birthday party, I'd like to stop to propose that a new word be added to the English language, first in casual usage, of course, but with luck, to be eventually included in the O.E.D.

That word is SMELLUSION.*

Usage: Though they had barely cleaned the house, the scented carpet spray produced an effective, if temporary, smellusion of cleanliness.

Definition: smellusion (smĕl-lōō-zhən) n. An olfactory impression produced by an air-freshening device or scented spray that cloaks rank and offensive odors. [Deriv. from smell + illusion]

Smell ya later!

*I've checked Google and found three hits. I'd say that's pretty low by web-search standards. And none of the three individuals using it seem to be claiming responsibility for coining it, so I am at least claiming the right to define and promote it.

Update: Five results now. Those robots are busy these days!