I was recently eating dinner with my kids when I asked one of them to please bring me some ketchup. When she handed me the ketchup, it reminded me of Sniglets. Many of you may remember Sniglets which are “words that should be in the dictionary but aren’t”. The singlet that the ketchup bottle reminded me of was:
Flen – n. (chemical symbol: Fl) The black crusty residue that accumulates on the necks of old ketchup bottles.
Another good example is:
Prema-cheerio or Toodle-oops – n. The uncomfortable silence shared by two people after they’ve said good-bye to each other and continue to walk together out of necessity.
I was thinking that there are probably a lot of phenomena in the Jewish world that are begging for names. The world needs Jewish Sniglets. Perhaps, we can call them Snichlets. Here are a few I have thought of off the cuff. Please submit your own in the comments. They can either be full blown Sniglets with definitions or phenomena that need names. Here are mine:
Pesicha Rope-a-Dope – n. The embarrassed fellow who receives pesicha but either can’t find the rope to open the curtain or continually pulls the wrong end of the rope. Many BTs live in constant fear of being given pesicha for this reason leading to the syndrome known as Rope-a-Dope-a-Phopeia.
Chulentraction –n. The pull exhibited upon a clear plastic table covering by a hot chulent pot placed thereupon without an intervening trivet.
Nushushatation – n. The repetitive use of the word “nu” to silence an unruly child after netilas yadayim but before hamotzi. People engaging in nushushatation apparently do not realize that “nu” is a word.
Saltfist – n. The repetitive shaking of one’s fist in the mimicking of a salt shaker to advise someone that they have forgotten to bring the salt to the table for Hamotzi. Saltfist is usually engaged in either immediately before or after nushushatation.
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