Right: Which one of you lot invented 'tw*tdangle', eh?

Lingo police want your biometrics, and sharpish

By Lester Haines • Get more from this author

Posted in Bootnotes, 26th September 2008 09:29 GMT

Free whitepaper – Migrating to the new Dell Management Console

Ok, here's the deal: We at the Vulture Central Neologism Soviet want the name and personal details of whoever it was who invented the term "twatdangle", and we want them now.

The reason? Well, no one-way ticket to the Gulag for the individual responsible, rather a congratulatory free shirt from El Reg's merchandising tentacle Cash'n'Carrion.

Yes, we're rather taken by the term down here at Vulture Central. No sooner had we published this provocative piece on the galactically-talented media strumpet David Blaine hanging upside-down for, well, minutes at a time, than some bright spark got straight to work and forged the indubitably immortal new term.

However, and as the comments to our Blainito Mussolini follow-up show, there's some doubt as to who actually had the lexicographical light bulb moment.

So, was it in fact UK comedian Marcus Brigstocke, or a member of the unwashed masses? Of course, we could do the research ourselves, but we can't be arsed. Over to you lot, then.

And while you work it out, we'd like to note for those of you interested in things linguistic that, within hours of its coining, "twatdangle" had evolved from a simple noun into a verb ("to twatdangle") and an agent noun (twatdangler"). Such is the terrifying power of the English language coupled to the interweb.

To recap: We want the name, email addy and inside leg measurement of the scoundrel behind "twatdangle", Either give him up, or we'll use our IP-address-sniffing attack hounds to flush the bastard out. The clock is ticking... ®

And where is the IT angle on this story, exactly?

Ah, we're glad you asked us that. We've noted of late that, and despite previous advisories, we're still plagued by commentards disputing the validity of certain content on El Reg on the grounds it doesn't meet their own particular standards of IT purity.

Well, here's a reminder for you: If you don't like this sort of content, then don't click here, or here, or especially here. If that's too complicated for you, take a cue from the headlines to the offending articles, which often flag their non-IT content through the cunning use of words. Sorted.

Free whitepaper – Migrating to the new Dell Management Console