Lovers of
the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins appreciate his facility with the English language. At first I considered him a verbal scofflaw. To my knowledge, there is no law against coining words or using them outside of the denotative box; so have at it--as long as meaning is detectable without excessive straining. Erin McKean has
this to say about the use of "undictionaried words."*
*(Whilst composing this electronic entry, both the author's name and the "un-" word appear with the dreaded red line underneath. Shall we be so impudent as to brand them misspellings?)
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