cogno-intellectual (adjective)
cogno-intellectual (noun)
An experimental word, made up for the purpose of studying the way new words spread across the world. It has no meaning and was first used in mini-AIR (mini-Annals of Improbable Research, editor Marc Abrahams) in early december 1997.
The experiment builds on the theory that words spread because people think they "feel" important. Any word that they do not know the meaning of will doubtlessly feel very important and its chances for spreading will be greater than if it was fully understood. The experiment aims to study this in a controlled environment and it has two parts where anybody are welcome to participate:
Part one is the spreading:
Use "cogno-intellectual" as often as you can, and most importantly, in as important situations as possible. "Meaning nothing, it can be used for anything." as the cogno-intellectual research team points out in the original notice.
Part two is the analysis: Any occurences should be reported back to the research team at the address below. New or important situations or occurences are especially interesting
Example of proper use is:
Everything2 is a good example of cogno-intellectual and linguistic laterality.
Its pioneers will be considered some of the most outstanding cogno-intellectuals.
Send your findings of the word "cogno-intellectual" to:
Institute of Cogno-Intellectual Research
c/o AIR, PO Box 380853, Cambridge MA 02238 USA
Usage notes:
"cogno-intellectual" was invented on the 3rd of December 1997.
It scored 688 hits on Google on the 24th of April, 2002. | 
