Red herring definitio ns

[Jonathan Lighter]

Yes, but as I understand it a "ghost word" is simply one that appears in a dictionary or glossary without independent evidence of actual use.  A ghost can result from error or design, but it may also be a genuine word that had a very limited currency, confirmation of which has eluded later editors.

A "mountweazel" (which I intend to start using because of the overtones of weasel sex) is a useful hyponym of "ghost word."

JL

RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:
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In a message dated 9/27/05 2:44:09 PM, Berson at ATT.NET writes:


> Will "Mountweazel" now become the category name for such fake
> entries? (And then, of course, "Mountweazel" will mutate from a fake
> encyclopedia entry into a real dictionary entry!)
>

The fake terms in dictionaries have for a long time been called ghost words.

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