astrojax

Etymology

Coined by its inventor, Larry Shaw.

Why this word is great

ASTROJAX — [Noun] A toy consisting of three balls connected by a string, designed for juggling or manipulation. Coined by its inventor, Larry Shaw, with 'astro-' (suggesting celestial or dynamic motion) and '-jax' (possibly derived from 'jacks', a traditional ball-and-string toy). Unlike 'juggling balls' (solitary spheres in loose orbit) or 'yo-yo' (a single captive pendulum), astrojax is a choreographed trio—bound yet free. It is the hypnotic arc of weighted beads tracing figure-eights in midair, the soft clack of lacquered wood meeting at the apex of their tether, the way one ball, flung just so, drags its siblings into reluctant flight. A miniature cosmos where chaos is leashed, but never tamed.

noun

  1. A toy consisting of three balls on a string“In 1986 CE, Astrojax was invented by Larry Shaw, a graduate student of physics at Cornell University.”