transpontine (trans-PON-tyn) adjective
1. Across the bridge.
2. Situated on the south side of the Thames River in London.
3. Melodramatic (alluding to the type of dramas once performed
in theaters south of the Thames).
[From Latin trans- (across) + pont (bridge). Ultimately from the
Indo-European root pent- (to tread) that also gave us words such as
English find, Dutch pad (path), French pont (bridge), and Russian
sputnik (traveling companion).]
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"Baker was short and chunky and transpontine -- he lived over the bridge
in Barnes with his mum and cacti."
Johnny Green and Garry Barker; A Riot of Our Own: Night and Day with the
Clash; Faber & Faber; 1999.
"The singer who makes the biggest splash is Lauren Flanigan, prone to
transpontine acting at critical moments."
Michael Tanner; Solemnity of Weber; The Spectator (London, UK); Jul 6, 2002.
Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/transpontine.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/transpontine.ram
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