but it IS a word!

My computer refuses to admit that “portaled” is a perfectly acceptable way to express the verb concept “to travel via portal.” I portaled over there! You portaled over here! They portaled to THE MOON!

At first I thought maybe it just wanted two letter l’s (portalled — mm, I don’t know, if it’s a made-up word anyway, why clutter it up with extra letters?), but no. It suggests that perhaps I mean “portaged.” Thanks, but no. That’s something quite different. (Also a means of travel! Not as convenient.)

Merriam Webster online does accept portaled (and portalled) as real words, but considers them adjectives (“having a portal”), which I guess is a bit like how bedazzled is an adjective now. (Although in a humorous twist, MW tells me bedazzled is a verb. Which really is an argument in favor of portaled being a verb, as far as I’m concerned.)

Comments are closed.