I could have sworn that it was a requirement to be able to define any word place...

vidarh · on July 22, 2015

It's a common way of avoiding/reducing the need to consult a dictionary.

murbard2 · on July 22, 2015

It's easy to come up with a perfectly cromulent definition for a made up word.

panglott · on July 22, 2015

...and thus embiggen the dictionary itself.

vidarh · on July 22, 2015

But sometimes not so easy when you're put on the spot.

MaximillianII · on July 22, 2015

Please define "cromulent"

murbard2 · on July 22, 2015

Cromulent, adj. legitimate, valid.

poizan42 · on July 23, 2015

The funny thing is that it probably has the potential to become so well known that people forget its roots, and then people wouldn't get the original joke in that Simpsons episode anymore.

vidarh · on July 26, 2015

Reality has a tendency to make works harder to understand out of context... My favourite "I-feel-old" case of words that have changed meaning is this:

"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." (William Gibson, Neuromancer)

So, bright blue then... Changes the image quite a bit.