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waldog2006 commented on the word TUMBLESAULT
Hi. I came across this word in a Time review (Aug 17th 2009) of Pynchon's new book, 'Inherent Vice'. Richard Lacayo writes: 'Tight-lipped federales, stoner lawyers, ex-con neo-Nazis with a big thing for show tunes - they tumblesault in every page or two...' So I imagine the word is a combination of 'tumble' and 'somersault', a sort of falling-in but somersaulting at the same time, though students of English as a second language might be forgiven for thinking the '-sault' part is related to 'assault', especially in the context of 'ex-con Neo-nazis'. I don't know if the word was created by the reviewer or Pynchon himself; I'd guess the former.
August 9, 2009