Spaghettification: Is that a real word?

Tonight I took the boys to the planetarium at the university to see a show about black holes. Produced by the Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City, it had incredible graphics, and appeared to be based on sound scientific data. We were about halfway into the presentation and learning some interesting facts about black hole physics when the narrator threw out the word spaghettification. Okay, maybe it's just me, but it sounds like a totally made up word. He used it in describing what would happen as you approach the event horizon of a black hole. In essence, your body would stretch, getting longer and skinnier, until finally the sub-atomic particles from which you are made would break apart; your particles would mix with the other sub-atomic particles being sucked into the black hole like dust in the wind (hey, isn't that a song?) I haven't consulted the dictionary yet, but I'm pretty sure I won't find an entry for the word. (Feel free to file your tax return or grab a snack while I do some research.) I'm back, I was right. (Incidentally, Spellcheck didn't like it either.) But because it made everyone giggle when he said it, spaghettification is the word of the week. I encourage you to seek every opportunity to use it in your daily conversations. Let me know how it goes.

Earlier in the day, I attended a lecture sponsored by the BYU-I English Academic Society entitled, "Oh, Blast!" A Linguistic Examination of Expletives. It was quite entertaining. It's interesting how language and meanings of words have evolved over time. The quote of the week came from the lecture. Maybe some food for thought the next time you're called upon to speak in church?