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esemplastic, gonzo, and hotsy-totsy
2002-02-02 � 5:38 p.m.

words

esemplastic (es-em-PLAS-tik) adjective

Having the capability of moulding diverse ideas or things into unity.

[From Greek es- (into) + en, neuter of eis (one) + plastic. Coined by poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), apparently after German Ineinsbildung (forming into one)].

Here is how Coleridge used the term in his 1817 Biographia Literaria or

Biographical Sketches of My Literary Life and Opinions. Vol. I, Chapter 13:

On the imagination, or esemplastic power.O Adam! one Almighty is, from whom All things proceed, and up to him return If not depraved from good: created all Such to perfection, one first nature all Indued with various forms, various degrees.

"Admirers of (A.N.) Wilson, and I have been one of them, may console themselves by speculating that he just got impatient, or tired. Or that a minor demon, in a snit over his prolific output and ambitious subject matter, cast a temporary malediction on his esemplastic powers of fiction-making." Gail Godwin, Losing It All, The Washington Post, Jan 23, 1994.

Like a house of cards, Enron corporation came down a few weeks ago. Its bankruptcy proceedings opened what may turn out to be a Pandora's box for more than just the corporation itself. Journalists are using the freshly minted term Enronomics to describe this corporation's brand of economics and accounting: off-the-record dealings, cooking books, and number sorcery that led to its rise and crash. Creative accounting has been going on for ages but it seems that Enron perfected it.

Whether the term enronomics sticks, only time will tell. But this is a good example of how new words are coined. Some weather the test of time and get anointed into the venerated pages of dictionaries, while others fade like last year's fashion.

gonzo (GON-zo) adjective

Having a bizarre, subjective, idiosyncratic style, especially in journalism.

[Coined by Bill Cardoso, journalist and author, in 1971. It was first used in a published work by Hunter S. Thompson, journalist and author (1939- ).

Perhaps from Italian gonzo (simpleton) or Spanish ganso (dull or fool, literally a goose).]

"Gonzo chef! Surly and sexy! Outlaw in the kitchen! Anthony Bourdain's reputation not only precedes him, it also pretty much takes over for him. His 2000 best seller, 'Kitchen Confidential,' was a lurid snapshot

of restaurant kitchens at their least appetizing."

Laura Shapiro, A Wandering Chef in Search of Adventures in Eating,The New York Times, Jan 8, 2002.

"I am reckless enough to risk a small proportion of the family's weekly income on backing my judgment of the likely outcome of a race. ... I do not count this as betting, more as gonzo journalism. I mean, how can I be expected to write about this stuff, without living it?"

Martin Kelner, Screen Break: Wanna Bet Roy'll Wipe This One On His Sleeve?,The Guardian (London), Oct 22, 2001.

hotsy-totsy (HOT-see TOT-see) adjective, also hotsie-totsie

Just right; perfect.

[Coined by Billy De Beck, cartoonist (1892-1942), famed for his comic strip "Barney Google and Snuffy Smith". Another of his coinage that has found a place in the English language dictionaries is heebie-jeebies meaning jitters or creeps (See AWAD archives, August 1997).]

"(Billy Bob) Thornton has played unfathomable, soulful characters before. He was the ace air traffic controller in Pushing Tin, who baffles his colleagues by getting the hotsy-totsy girl."

Stuart Jeffries, A Movie About a Barber Who Wants to Be a Dry Cleaner? The Guardian (London), May 14, 2001.

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