An inchoate Sheldon comic strip

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a Sheldon comic strip by Dave Kellett on October 23, 2026 with the following dialogue:

 

Arthur: ??? You ever hear of the word ‘inchoate’?

Sheldon: Inchoate? What’s an inchoate?

 

Arthur: Exactly! There’s no way ‘inchoate’ is a real word.

   It sounds like a rash from pond water.

 

Arthur: Or a line of kelp-based organic lozenges.

   Or a distinctly French type of existential dread.

   Or an artisanal beverage made from dried chia seeds.

 

Arthur: Anyway, I refuse to look up the definition.

   Who has the time, with all the taxes we need to inchoate.

Sheldon: I inchoated an ENTIRE bean-and-cheese burrito once.

 

What does inchoate really mean? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary says:

 

Inchoate (adjective):

“being only partly in existence or operation: incipient

  especially: imperfectly formed or formulated: formless, incoherent.”

 

And, similarly, the Oxford English Dictionary says:

 

Inchoate (adjective):

“Just begun, incipient; in an initial or early stage; hence elementary, imperfect, undeveloped, immature.”