What do children and etymologists have in common? According to the Oxford Etymologist, both “hope to find the creatures they have never seen”.
This post considers the ways in which etymologists and children behave similarly, dealing with new words and their concepts, and asking how the union of sense and sound came about. It also looks at the way children’s’ authors such as A.A. Milne and Astrid Lindgren create and coin names for new literary creatures.
What is a woozle? How must a heffalump move? And is a spink the same thing as a spunk (or a vacuum cleaner)? Find out here →
