• Word Spy, Monday, November 9, 2009 10:42 AM

Well, if you're like me, you've got to find out what paradessence means exactly before agreeing or disagreeing. Turns out it's a blend of paradoxical and essence and, in a product, it's "the intrinsic property that promises to simultaneously satisfy two opposing consumer desires."

"Amusement parks provide terror and reassurance. Automobiles render drivers reckless and safe. Sneakers grasp earth and help consumers soar free. Muzak is a hybrid of transience and eternity," writes Aidan O'Driscoll in "Culture, Contradiction and Marketing Pragmatism" in the Irish Marketing Review.

The earliest citation that Paul McFedries was able to dig up: "The paradessence of coffee is stimulation and relaxation. Every successful ad campaign for coffee will promise both of those mutually exclusive states," writes Alex Shakar in "The Savage Girl."

Oh, and about that "she" we mentioned in the headline? "[Sarah] Palin is a paradessence ... because she combines the family-centeredness of the ideal suburban Mom with the ruthlessness of a corporate 'warrior' in the dog-eat-dog neoliberal economy...," writes Steven Shaviro in his "The Pinocchio Theory" blog.

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