Frindle

Frindle

會想看這本書是由於國語日報少年文藝精選書摘的一篇文章：葛蘭潔老師的字典。

這篇書摘很吸引人，而且它的題材是「字典」，同時葛蘭潔老師也引起我的興趣，因此迫不及待訂書也閱讀了這本青少年小說。

   整本書除了介紹書中主角Nick的學校生活，Nick的調皮、點子多及領導力也是整本書的最逗趣之處。
   這本書的書名為何叫做Frindle，這似乎一個陌生的字。沒錯！這正是Nick造的字。他的造字靈感來自於葛蘭潔老師的一席話：

   All the words in the dictionary were made up by people, and that they mean what they mean because we say they do.

   書中第44-45頁葛蘭潔老師和Nick的對話有趣極了：

Mrs. Granger:...The word pen has a long, rich history. It comes from the Latin word for feather, pinna. It started to become our word pen because quills made from feathers were some of the first writing tools ever made. It's a word that comes from somewhere. It makes sense. Nicholas."

   Nick: But frindle makes just as much sense to me. And after all, didn't somebody just make
 up the word pinna, too?

   當然自創的新字要成為字典裡正式的詞彙可不是件容易的事。而本書中的快樂結局是

Nick的新字frindle，因為媒體的炒作及帶來的商機，大為流行，被收錄在新版的Webster's

College Dictionary裡。

    frin.dle  n. a device used to write or make marks with ink...

   這本書值得一看，有趣又有創意，讓我對英語新字及字源產生更濃厚的興趣。