blurb

The term blurb was invented by comedic writer Gelett Burgess in 1907 as the name of a fictional young woman blatantly promoting his book. This act of blatant self-promotion on the back flap of a book cover eventually generalized to “short promotional quote” in part due to its ridiculous name.

ixnay

Despite its ultimate origin as the Pig Latin translation of “nix”, “ixnay” feels like a distinct word to me. I could see using it in conversation, while “nix” feels like it went out of style a hundred years ago. Today I learned that its enduring use may be due to its frequent use in Three Stooges films, along with “amscray”.

Growing up in the 90s, “oopid-stay” also feels like it’s in the language to me, though I don’t think I’ve ever used it in conversation.