Figures of Speech Served Fresh

Quote:  "[Tiktaalik is] both fish and tetrapod, which we sometimes call a fishapod."  Neil Shubin, evolutionary biologist at the University of Chicago, in the New York Times.

Figure of Speech:  neologism (NEE-o-lo-gism), the brand new word.

Sorry, creationists.  Scientists have discovered the missing link between fish and land creatures.

Actually, it looks like the missing link between a crocodile and Bruce the Shark.  But biologists are especially excited about the creature’s front fins, which contain the rudimentary limbs of a tetrapod ("four-footed").  Hence "fishapod," which may make Linnaeus turn in his grave but seems apt for such a combo-creature.

Language snobs often object to the neologism ("new word"), which makes this newborn term all the more attractive.

Snappy Answer:  "That makes you a fishapodiatrist."