New words
5 o'clock, July 20, 2004
bricolesque, n. or adj. [From bricolage + picaresque.] Fiction combining the worst aspects of bricolage construction with the worst aspects of picaresque narrative. “At worst, [realism] will devolve into the worst sort of bricolesque Keystone Kontinuity Kops Kaper, as kludge after kludge is applied — and kludges to the kludges — just to maintain superficial consistency, even at the cost of all possible literary interest.”
eschatonnage, n. [From eschaton + tonnage.] The metaphorical weight of impending apocalypse. “Pretending a kludge can support so much top-heavy ‘If this be Ragnarok’ eschatonnage is an attitude best maintained ironically, since literature should make a point of being in some way admirable, or at least self-aware of its limitations.”
Coinage by, and usages from, John Holbo, “Crisis on Infantile Earths, or, If it’s Tuesday, it must be Ragnarok!” (16 July 2004) The rest of the post is good, too. (Albeit very long.)