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  • Great word, great observation.

    July 1, 2007

  • The queerness of things which, previously trite, are suddenly seen from a new angle. (from WordCraft)

    May 20, 2008

  • Excellent.

    May 20, 2008

  • Here is the derivation:

    a Chestertonian fantasy (coffeeroom seen in reverse)

    "Mooreeffoc is a fantastic word, but it could be

    seen written up in every town in this land. It is

    Coffee-room, viewed from the inside through a

    glass door, as it was seen by Dickens on a dark

    London day; and it was used by Chesterton to

    denote the queerness of things that have become

    trite, when they are seen suddenly from a new angle."

    I have no doubt that Chesterton coined this word, and I appreciate the idea. But the explanation that this is what one would see from the other side of the glass door seems demonstrably untrue. Just write 'coffeeroom' on a piece of paper, turn it over and hold it up to the light. There is no angle from which you would see 'mooreeffoc'.

    Or am I missing something? (I have the kind of personality that finds this kind of inaccuracy profoundly irritating, God help me)

    July 18, 2008

  • Weird Words: Mooreeffoc

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    Relating to things suddenly seen in a new and different way.

    Though this word is rare to the point of never being used in its ostensible sense, but only as a keyword to initiate discussion, it has been keeping illustrious company, since its few appearances in

    print have been in works by G K Chesterton, J R R Tolkien and Charles Dickens.

    Dickens invented it, if that's the right word. He mentions it in his autobiography, when he describes his poverty-stricken youth:

    In the door there was an oval glass plate, with COFFEE-ROOM painted on it, addressed towards the street. If I ever find myself in a very different kind of coffee-room now, but where there is such an inscription on glass, and read it backward on the wrong side MOOR-EEFFOC (as I often used to do then, in a dismal reverie,) a shock goes through my blood.

    From Michael Quinion's World Wide Words weekly newsletter.

    September 16, 2008

  • I hadn't realized that Chesterton had it from Dickens, thanks Wordnik!

    I will venture to guess that sionnach has never been a proofreader of letterpress typesetting; those who have been can quite easily read letters as well as words in any direction; it's part of the "new angle" charm.

    July 5, 2010

  • Sounds like dyslexia to me.

    July 5, 2010

  • All I see is "more coffee." Hey, that reminds me....

    *gets another cup*

    July 6, 2010