The Degenerate Dictionary

Dictionary: the feeling of air passing over privates when it falls out of pyjamas in the morning

Thus begins Degenerate Dictionary.

What is the Degenerate Dictionary?

It all stems from a family game Jessica Bell remembers as a child when her mother and friend played with words.

ARSENIC: A cut on the bum.
PROPAGANDA: Having a good look.

Last year Jessica began posting these idiosyncratic definitions on twitter and Facebook with the hashtag #Jessicasdictionary.

I decided to join in and contribute my own:

PANTOMIME – the dance performed when putting on underwear in a public change room.

The exchange went back and forth over a few days until a surprise message arrived in my Inbox.

The gist of it was this: Would you like to write a dictionary with me?

Me: *brief pause* Oh yeah!

And so, what was once #Jessicasdictionary has become Degenerate Dictionary.

It appeals to our warped sense of humour and our love of playing with words and meaning, degenerating words into something different.

Now the little project that could is now even bigger and better than ever.

Here’s how the Degenerate Dictionary process plays out:

• Every day, we post a new degenerate word or two to this blog.
• The same will be posted to twitter via @DegDic.
• If you want to see one of your own whacky definitions in our book, with your name fully credited, tweet it to @DegDic. If we love your definition enough to include it, we’ll let you know. (Keep in mind, it could be months before you hear from us.)
• You can “Like” our Facebook page

We hope to see you join in the fun!