# Help me invent a word. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 31, 2000, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-invent-a-word/31542 "2000-08-31T20:37:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-invent-a-word/31542/1 "2000-08-31T20:37:17Z")
As far as I know there is no existing word for this stuff. If anyone knows of one let me know. I’m talking about the little band of compacted scum that forms on the roller at the contact point between the mouse ball and the roller. Anybody who has cleaned a mouse knows what I’m talking about. Mouse-ball-roller-contact-point-scum just isn’t cutting it anymore, I need a good word to describe it. ---
**Author:** ![Sea\_Sloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Sea\_Sloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sea_Sloth)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-invent-a-word/31542/2 "2000-08-31T20:43:57Z")
I have an optical mouse. Nyah nyah. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-invent-a-word/31542/3 "2000-08-31T20:48:47Z")
Mouse Boogers ---
**Author:** ![Darqangelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecccb3/32.png) [@Darqangelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darqangelle)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-invent-a-word/31542/4 "2000-08-31T20:55:54Z")
“sloogy” “rollerscum” …actually, never mind. That last one sounds like the next straight-to-video movie starring Rutger Hauer… ---
**Author:** ![Jello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@Jello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jello)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-invent-a-word/31542/5 "2000-08-31T21:04:38Z")
How about “fretchum”? It sounds disgusting, in a way. ---
**Author:** ![magdalene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@magdalene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magdalene)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-invent-a-word/31542/6 "2000-08-31T21:05:15Z")
snoss, n. (can be singular or plural) universal word for undesirable & mysterious scum that adheres to a surface. Especially useful when source of scum is unknown. “What’s that snoss all over your mouseball?” “Grilled hot dogs secrete less snoss than boiled ones.” “I went to take a sip, but the cup had snoss on it.” “Don’t get that snoss on me!” Source: My friend Melissa ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-invent-a-word/31542/7 "2000-08-31T21:09:07Z")
“Mouse cruft” might work, from sense 1 of “cruft” at [http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/cruft.html](http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/cruft.html) ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-invent-a-word/31542/8 "2000-08-31T22:25:40Z")
And of course there’s the universal “schmutz”. Used almost identically to Magdalene’s “snoss”. “Hey, what’s that snoss on your mouse ball?” “I don’t know, just some schmutz.” ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-invent-a-word/31542/9 "2000-09-01T08:52:06Z")
I believe it’s called “dust”. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-invent-a-word/31542/10 "2000-09-01T09:18:52Z")
Mouse Micro Muffins. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-invent-a-word/31542/11 "2000-09-01T09:29:09Z")
How about “gunk”? ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-invent-a-word/31542/12 "2000-09-01T14:11:17Z")
Mouse Dingleberries always worked for me… * * * Yer pal, Satan [sub]I HAVE BEEN SMOKE-FREE FOR: Four months, three weeks, two days, 12 hours, 10 minutes and 21 seconds. 5820 cigarettes not smoked, saving $727.53. Extra life with Drain Bead: 2 weeks, 6 days, 5 hours, 0 minutes.[/sub] **_"Satan is not an unattractive person."_-Drain Bead** [sub]Thanks for the ringing endorsement, honey![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-invent-a-word/31542/13 "2000-09-01T14:13:15Z")
GLORP ---
**Author:** ![lucie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed8c4c/32.png) [@lucie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucie)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-invent-a-word/31542/14 "2000-09-01T21:38:46Z")
Can I quote you on that? Looks like a damn good sig line. ---
**Author:** ![PowerpuffKue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@PowerpuffKue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PowerpuffKue)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-invent-a-word/31542/15 "2000-09-01T21:53:29Z")
Call it either, Quooampghta (Ku-ahmp-tah) or Phoncho. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-invent-a-word/31542/16 "2000-09-01T21:54:32Z")
Gradu (grah.doo) always works for me when it comes to identifying some oddment, residue or artifact of reality. ---
**Author:** ![KJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b2d939/32.png) [@KJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KJ)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2000, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-invent-a-word/31542/17 "2000-09-02T04:36:52Z")
I normally didn’t want to post to this thread, but then I got an idea; why not using my RANDOM WORD GENERATOR (mIRC script) to think of a word! My Random mIRC Word Generator is a script that I made that, based on a set of specific rules, generates a word, of variable length/type. I’ve made some very interesting words with it. Anyway, here are some of the words it came up with that sounded like gunk on mouse rollers: blojuphi moupluma shaigluzaiyau (okay, this one actually sounds the least like mouse roller gunk, and for that reason, I will probably use that one. Go ahead! Say it! shaigluzaiyau!) ieziat achumuayew etialuad pliplew (this one sounds the most like mouse roller gunk so far) itiequeuk I could list those forever. I’ll stop here, though. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2000, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-invent-a-word/31542/18 "2000-09-02T16:35:29Z")
How about “oose” - Scotland it means, I suppose, lint - the odd bits of gunky crap that colonise pockets and so on. I think it is quite a nice word and it could do with getting out more, even if it is not as wild and wonderful and the random word generator ideas.