slushball

Why this word is great

SLUSHBALL — [Noun] A ball of slush; a partially melted snowball. From slush ("partially melted snow or ice") + ball ("spherical object"). Unlike "snowball" (which holds its shape with crisp defiance) or "iceball" (which stings with unyielding hardness), a slushball is a fleeting compromise between solid and liquid. It is the sad, sagging remnant of a winter afternoon’s mischief, collapsing in your palm like a failed promise; the wet seep through mittens as you clutch it too long; the half-hearted projectile that disintegrates midair, leaving only a damp splatter on the pavement. A slushball is the melancholy of things that cannot hold themselves together.