monumentous

[Joel S. Berson]

At 6/25/2012 10:44 AM, Cohen, Gerald Leonard wrote:
>This is a blend, of course ("momentous" + "monumental"), with the
>blending aided by the phonetic similarity.
>Cf. also ("fantabulous") from about 30 years ago, blended from
>"fantastic" and "fabulous") and aided by phonetic similarity.
>The blended form also expresses added intensity. Something may be
>merely "momentous" or "monumental" -- impressive, to be sure -- but
>if it's "monumentous," now that's something to write home

... or inscribe a stele ...

Joel

>about.
>
>Gerald Cohen
>
>___________________________
>
>  Jonathan Lighter wrote, Monday, June 25, 2012 9:07 AM:
>
>Reported here in 2006 as weird.
>
>CNN says today that the Supreme Court decision on the health-care law could
>be "monumentous."
>
>There are now 42,000 raw Googlits.
>
>JL
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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