Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

From the Quotation of the day mailing list, 2010-06-13:

"Once in awhile he'd make up a word -- tensicity, fibracionous, pheromonimal -- but he never once got caught out. His proprietors liked those kinds of words in the small print on packages because they sounded scientific and had a convincing effect.

"He should have been pleased by his success with these verbal fabrications, but instead he was depressed by it. The memos that came from above telling him he'd done a good job meant nothing to him because they'd been dictated by semi-literates; all they proved was that no one at [the company] was capable of appreciating how clever he had been. He came to understand why serial killers sent helpful clues to the police."

-- Margaret Atwood, in "Oryx and Crake", 2003.

(submitted to the mailing list by Thomas J. Newlin)