phedinkus

== English == === Etymology === Coined 1935, by Damon Runyon. Phonology pseudo-Greek – note the ph. The term may be analyzed as *phe- + dinkus (“contrivance (slang)”), where the prefix is an optional consonant /f/, with the stressless vowel added in the same way as other mutually apophonic prefixes (when the consonant changes, the vowel changes accordingly) such as pi- (pizazz), she- (shebang), etc. === Noun === phedinkus (uncountable) (obsolete, rare, nonce word) Nonsense, malarkey 1935, Damon Runyon, “Tobias the Terrible”, collected in Money from home, Frederick A. Stokes company: If I have all the tears that are shed on Broadway by guys in love, I will have enough salt water to start an opposition ocean to the Atlantic and Pacific, with enough left over to run the Great Salt Lake out of business. But I wish to say I never shed any of these tears personally, because I am never in love, and furthermore, barring a bad break, I never expect to be in love, for the way I look at it love is strictly the old phedinkus, and I tell the little guy as much. 1994, Gus Lee, China boy: a novel: Like yur Uncle Shen, or whatsis phedinkus name. Yur fightin a big street lummox who kicks. ==== Usage notes ==== Very rarely used – coined by Runyon decades ago and has not entered common usage, with only very rare usage by other authors; incomprehensible without context or quotation. === References === === Anagrams === shunpiked