- This word was first seen on the sign board of the Magnolia Volunteer Fire Department’s station 186. It is likely that this blend was coined as a nonce word for advertising purposes, as it is not a word that would be used in casual conversation. It employs a sort of metaphorical extension that compares the well-known, highly feared dangers of driving while drunk (intoxicated) to the perhaps less known, less feared dangers of texting while driving, the blend making it both catchy and memorable, as well as rhetorically effective in an advertisement to deter distracted driving.
intexticated(2)
adjective blending
distracted or rendered oblivious due to having one’s attention fixed on his or her cell phone – often used of one who is driving an automobile
Etymology : a blend of the two English words text (verb) & intoxicated (adjective). Text from Middle English, from French texte, from Medieval Latin textus meaning passage or scripture, from Latin past participle of texere meaning to weave. Intoxicated from past tense of intoxicate, from Latin in- meaning within or into + toxicum meaning poison + -ate, Latin verb suffix.
Source : “Don’t drive intexticated.” (Magnolia Volunteer Fire Department, 9/25/19)
Last modified: 6 December 2019