THE COINING OF WORDS.
[TO THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."'
SIR,—Children often use long words without understanding their meaning, and sometimes coin words of their own. The small son of a friend of mine, a London boy, was recently staying at the seaside, and was taken by his father for a country walk. He was soon busy picking flowers, and ran to the father with one, exclaiming, "How passionately smellful it is ! " "Passionately" was a misapplication, and was used without a proper sense of its meaning ; but " smellful" was an excellent hit, worthy of being recorded. I have never met with it before, and I cannot find it in any dictionary. It is, however, quite as good a word as "helpful," "painful," " hurtful," and other analagous compounds, and it expresses tersely a quality that can only be explained in ordinary language by using at least three words,—" full of smell." You may, perhaps, be able to find room for recording " smellful " in the Spectator.—I am, Sir, &c., 18 Compton Road, Canonbury. J. A. J. Housome.
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