As part of the editing process, the copyeditor who's working on my book put together a list of uncommon words that I used that she wanted to make sure she styled consistently. It cracks me up. What a window into the weirdness of my book! Want to see?
abovewater
ack (exclamation)
alrighty
Amazon.com, Amazon
arugula
balls-out (adv.)
barefootedness
Beauty Industrial Complex
best man (all lowercase)
bleah
bling
breakbeat
bridentity (combo of "bride identity")
bridesboy(s)
Bridezilla
buttload
cakey
Cantalini
cheeseball
Chicken Dance, the (dance)
code-speak
costumey
craftsy
Craigslist
cuppa (as in coffee)
cuz (short for "because")
d'oh
Daaaaay (elongated "day")
DaintyCore
designy
dirgey
djembes
DJing
Dobro (musical instrument, initial caps)
doozy
dotcom
dry-hump (v.)
dry-humpers
dumbass
eBay
ecoretreat
ecoretreat
eep (exclamation)
e-friends
eggy
Electric Slide, the (dance)
Elvin
erm (exclamation)
Evite.com
evite-mare(s)
fetishize(d)
flak (not "flack")
foodie(s)
foofy
freakfest
Freakonomic
freak-out (n.)
freaky-deaky (adj.)
Frenchies
fuckup(s) (n.)
gah (exclamation)
glamourpuss
gloaty
godsister
goer-with-the-flow-er
goth
groomsgirl(s)
guyfriend(s)
higher-up (n.)
Ho-Hos
hoping
Hostess Ho-Hos
hula-hooping
humanure
hyperpoetic
Island, the (in reference to Bainbridge Island)
Islander (person from Bainbridge Island)
jamband
lordy
Macarena, the (dance)
maid of honor (all lowercase)
menfolk
meta-gifting
metrosexual
mohawk
Mugly, Muglies
My Little Pony
near-stranger
new-agey
nixed (past tense of "to nix")
nookie
nuptial(s)
ol'
overhostessing
pair-bond (v.)
phat
photoblog(s)
piratey
plasticky
playlist(s)
pleather
poofy
Porta Potti
portabella
pouf (dresses)
princessy
Provence
'puter
raver(s)
regifting
s'mores
Save the Date
scenesters
serger(s)
sicced (past tense of "to sic")
skeeve(d) out
smarties
smooshing
snarked
squicky
subsect
Susan Anythingelse
swag
thank you cards (no hyphen)
thank yous (n.)
thingamajigger
thirtysomething
to-do list
tonguey
TP (toilet paper)
tsk-tsky
über-hostess
up-do
urbaphile(s)
urine-centric
URL
Utilikilt(s)
vs (no period)
Wandering Chicken of Pistoulet
Wedding Industrial Complex
wedsite (as a play on the word "website")
whorepaint
wifed (as in "getting wifed", getting married)
wiglet
winkingly
Yichud
zoinks (exclamation)
About Ariel Meadow Stallings
Author of Offbeat Bride: Creative Alternatives for Independent Brides, Ariel acts as the publisher of all the Offbeat Empire websites. She lives, loves, and dorks out hard in Seattle, WA.
Rebecca said
Arugula is an unusual word?
dr. dave said
Dry-humping? What the hell kind of weddings are you writing about?
Lucy said
Dude, I can't wait to read your book.
Kahli said
As a companion to the book, you could do a magnetic poetry kit like a bridal shower favor…. Call it the hyperpoetic fridge
Metrosexual dumbass winkingly applied whorepaint, snarked over princessy swag.
Sauteed scenesters au portobello Provence
DRYHUMP ARUGULA!
erm.
See? The nights spent gathered around the fridge, boy oh boy.
I am a new reader and Ithink your fabulous. Also, you guys one of the most gorgeous couples I've ever beheld. You go, go go.
Best,
Kahli
susan said
oh my gosh! I can't believe Susan Anythingelse ended up in your official stylesheet
I can't wait to see the book–what a cool peek at it for now, too…
Ariel said
dr. dave wrote: Dry-humping? What the hell kind of weddings are you writing about?
Mine! There was dry-humping at my wedding, as there should be at every wedding.
Hänni said
dry hump, nookie, buttload, balls out, urinecentric… what kind of wedding book are you writing?!
Leah said
I love it. You can tell a lot about a book by its style sheet. I just finished editing one that included "hug red cock." (We decided not to separate the adjectives with a comma.)
xaotica said
i love evite-mare! i hate it when i have an evite-mare
Laurel said
Now I have to get it just to see what could _possibly_ be urine-centric.
amy.leblanc said
"whorepaint"
heehee.
byjane said
My copy editor changed all the he's to he/she and all the she's to they. Every time you correct a correction, it costs the publishers. I changed them all back–gleefully.