hyparistic; oneiristic

[Jonathan Lighter]

1936 F. L. Lucas _The Decline and Fall of the Romantic Ideal_ (Cambridge: C.
U. P.) 55: The words "Classic" and "Romantic," indeed, have become so worn,
smudged, and ambiguous that it might be wiser to invent new terms
altogether. We might speak of "hyparistic" and "oneiristic" writing, from
the Greek words for "waking" and "dream." But such words are horrible....

Too horrible for OED, though GB returns a number of exx. of "oneiristic" in
the likewise unnoticed literal sense, all from more recent years.

To encourage Oxford, I am going to use these words at every opportunity.
Since few will grasp their meaning, all will think me smarter than I am.

JL

--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org