| linguobuccal | adj. | Origin: Latin. lingua, tongue + bucca, cheek |
| Definition: Said of a rhetorical device that incorporates irony or sly humor; one that is not to be taken seriously. Literally, tongue-in-cheek. | ||
| Lexicographic note: Various critics have decried this
neologism as a needless and gratuitously sesquipedalian
substitute for the term, "tongue-in-cheek." While linguobuccal
is no doubt gratuitously sesquipedalian, it is not a needless
substitute. The sharpened, bolt-like hyphens with which tongue-in-cheek
is beweaponed have been shown to carry damaging eidetic symbolism for a
majority of the population of the Western world. This derives
from The Crunchy Frog Sketch of the aggressively marketed and
widely known humorists, Monty Python's Flying
Circus. (Note: The author quotes the operant segment below only with
the gravest reservations, his protective instincts being overcome
only marginally by the educational purposes of this Glossary.)
Praline: Well why don't you move into
more conventional areas of confectionery, like praline or lime
cream; a very popular flavour I'm led to understand.
(superintendent enters) I mean look at this one, 'cockroach
cluster', (superintendent exits) 'anthrax ripple'. What's this
one, 'spring surprise'? Clearly, the image with which one is left by this perhaps innocently intentioned bit of comedic fluff prevents the insightful person from ever again seeing, hearing, or speaking the term tongue-in-cheek without imagining the hyphens as spring steel blades piercing the tender lining of the mouth. The author urges the English speaking world to adopt linguobuccal as an analgesic alternative. |
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