NOEMATA · LEXICON entry 0017

ugfatiglem

/ʊɡ.fəˈtɪɡ.ləm/

noun · uncountable · attested in no dictionary

1. the smaller of two equally small things, where smallness is the only measure available and where neither thing exists.

2. (net-art, archaic) the residue left on a page after the visitor has clicked away — measured in seconds, though there is no unit.

3. a feeling — possibly. the word seems to know what it means but does not say.

"we listed every ugfatiglem on the index page, knowing nobody would follow them. they have been there ever since."

— attribution missing, 1991

etymology
perhaps norwegian uggen (uncanny) + fattig (poor) + a latin-shaped suffix that looks like it should mean a small gathering of something. the parts do not in fact combine. neither does the word. and yet.

see also: lacuna, adundas, hexture, wreathus — and the other invented words in the catalogue. the lexicon does not claim. it lists.