cryptophasia means the development by twins (identical or fraternal) of a language that only they can understand. It carries an Arena rating of 1785, earned across 40 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, cryptophasia ranks #607 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #736 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #837 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #1,075 of 17,163 for Funniest Words.
Why “cryptophasia” is a great word
CRYPTOPHASIA — [Noun] A private language, with its own unique grammar and vocabulary, developed and used exclusively between twins. From the Ancient Greek κρυπτός (kruptós, "hidden, secret") and -φασία (-phasía, "speech") (from φάσις (phásis, "utterance")). Unlike idioglossia, which describes any idiosyncratic language of a small group, or autonomous language, a more general descriptive term, cryptophasia is the sealed, symbiotic vernacular of a pair. It is the soft, sibilant murmur in a shared crib, a lexicon of traded gestures and elided consonants, a whispered conspiracy against the alien grammar of the outside world—a testament to the first and perhaps only intimacy that requires no external witness.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek κρυπτός (kruptós, “hidden”) + -φασία (-phasía, “speech”) (from φάσις (phásis, “utterance”), from φημί (phēmí, “I speak”)). Equivalent to crypto- + -phasia.
noun
- The development by twins (identical or fraternal) of a language that only they can understand.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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