Diction

The Winnie-the-Pooh franchise, especially the original novels, has an idiosyncratic diction.

Idiosyncrasies

The most prominent quirk of the Winnie-the-Pooh diction is the use of capitalization to highlight a word or phrase as important. For instance, when the bees in the first chapter of "Winnie-the-Pooh" were described as "suspicious", the word "Suspicious" was capitalized.

Another quirk is that if a character gets a word wrong, the narration will use the character's incorrect version of the word instead of the proper usage. For instance, the North Pole expedition was referred to in the narration as an "expotition" because that was how Pooh pronounced it.

Sometimes, characters (chiefly Pooh) will put a contraction at the end of a sentence in a grammatically-incorrect way (e.g. "If you say, 'ho-ho!' twice in a gloating sort of way, you suddenly find that it isn't.")

There are also many words and phrases that were created by the series, or are more common in the series than in normal day-to-day conversation. They are listed below.

Phrases Common or Unique to Winnie-the-Pooh

Afternoon: Usually defined correctly, but Pooh once mistakenly thinks that a knight is called this.
Aha: While the actual definition is similar to "Eureka", Rabbit defines it as "We'll tell you where Baby Roo is, if you promise to go away from the Forest and never come back."
A little something: A snack. This is a real term, but is used very frequently in Winnie-the-Pooh.
Anxious: Defined correctly, but used a lot.
Backson: A misspelling of "back soon", or an animal.
Biscuit cough: A cough you get when you have a biscuit stuck in your throat.
Blinch: To flinch.
Boff: To bounce and cough at the same time.
Bonhommy: Eeyore's mispronunciation of "bonnhommie".
Bother: Used correctly but often, especially by Pooh.
Bounce: Used as a verb meaning to jump into someone.
Blustery: Windy.
Brain: Used as a term for "intelligence". The most common usage is Pooh's description of himself as "A Bear of Very Little Brain".
Breezle: Breeze, seen in "Sneezles".
Buther: An exclamation to express annoyance. Eeyore used it in his poem Poem, as a variation on "bother" to rhyme with "other".
Carelessly: The correct definition is used, but it's used excessively.
Close: Used by Eeyore in "The House at Pooh Corner" as an antonym for "cold".
Coco-nut: Coconut; seen in the poem "The Three Foxes".
Coco-nut shieses: Another term for coconut shies, seen in "The Three Foxes".
Coffy: An adjective meaning "prone to coughing" or "needing to cough".
Come-come: Piglet mangling the word "come" due to fear.
Contradiction: The opposite of an introduction, according to Owl.
Cure-a-Cold soup: A soup featured in My Friends Tigger & Pooh, whose main purpose is, as the name suggests, to cure colds. Its active ingredient is lemons, which likely comes from the vitamin C.
Do nothing: Christopher Robin defines doing nothing as doing something which, when asked what you're doing, you reply, "Oh, nothing".
Don't blame me: Frequently used by Eeyore.
Edward Bear, known to his friends as Winnie-the-Pooh, or Pooh for short: Pooh's common introduction.
Expotition: Expedition.
Fierce: Defined properly, but frequently used, often by Piglet who is nervous at the idea of an animal being fierce.
Flashity-light: Tigger's term for a flashlight, or electric torch, seen in My Friends Tigger & Pooh.
Flashity-freeze: A game invented by Tigger in My Friends Tigger & Pooh. Players must stand in a dark room, and freeze when the room is illuminated (whether by lightning or an electric light).
Freezle: A humorous synonym for "freeze" seen in the poem "Sneezles".
Friend-and-relation: Seems to be defined as an acquaintance who may or may not be related to the one being referred to. Only used when speaking about the acquaintances of Rabbit.
Gaiety. Song-and-dance: A phrase Eeyore uses when lamenting the fact that others are happy but he isn't.
Gollollop: A gulp of liquid.
Handkerchee: Another name for a handkerchief, seen in the poem "Twice Times".
Haycorn: A term for an acorn.
Heffalump: An elephant-like creature who eats honey.
Heffalump call: A noise similar to an elephant trumpeting, made by a Heffalump.
Heffalumping about: How Piglet describes Pooh's noises that he mistakes for those of a Heffalump.
Help, help, a herrible hoffalump! Hoff, hoff, a hellible horralump! Holl, holl, a hoffable hellerump!: Piglet's fearful manglings of "Help, help, a horrible heffalump!".
Ho-ho: Apparently, this is what Heffalumps say when gloating about the fact that they have caught their prey. Piglet once also described the hole he was in as a "trap for ho-hos", when he was messing up his words due to fear.
Ho-ho-ish: Conveying the sentiment expressed by the phrase "Ho-ho!".
Honey-cupboard: A pantry used solely for honey.
Hoosh: To create a splash which washes somebody out of water.
Hot: Usually defined correctly, but Tigger once used it to mean "painful".
How: Used by Eeyore as a synonym for "good" in regards to his feelings.
Hum: When used as a noun, it seems to mean "poem" or "small song".
Hunny: Honey.
Insta go-grow: A potion invented by Rabbit in My Friends Tigger & Pooh to make things grow. Tigger also used this term as a verb meaning "to make something or someone grow".
Is what Tiggers [like/do] best: A common claim Tigger makes.
Jagular: An animal that climbs out of trees and falls on people.
Kanga: When not used to refer to Kanga, this is sometimes used as a synonym for "kangaroo" (e.g. "It was generally regarded that a Kanga was one of the Fiercer Animals".)
Leopard: Used in the poem "Pinkle Purr" as a poetic term for "cat".
Light-itty-uppity bugs: Tigger's term for fireflies in My Friends Tigger & Pooh.
Lumping along: How Christopher Robin describes a Heffalump's movements.
Mastershalum: A kind of plant. Pooh suspected that Piglet meant "nasturtium", but Piglet didn't think so.
Measle: Used in the poem "Sneezles" to refer to a case of the measles.
Mince-pieses: A humorous term for "mince pies" seen in the poem "The Three Foxes".
Missage: Message.
Mouses: A synonym for "mice" seen in the poem "The Three Foxes".
Mystery is history: A phrase used in My Friends Tigger & Pooh when a mystery is solved.
Necessary Dorsal Muscles: Owl gives these as a reason he can't give people rides on his back.
Oo: A sound made by Piglet and Roo when they are excited or nervous.
Organise: The actual definition is "to arrange systematically" or "to make arrangements or preparations for", but Rabbit defines it as "what you do to a search when you don't all look in the same place at once".
Organdize: Organise.
Phtheezles: In the poem "Sneezles", doctors list this as a complication of the diseases "sneezles" and "wheezles" that can occur if the sufferer is exposed to low temperatures.
Pleazle: Used in the poem "Sneezles" as a synonym for the verb "please".
Plum-puddingses: Used in "The Three Foxes" to mean "plum puddings".
Pooh: When not used to refer to Winnie-the-Pooh, or to the swan he was partly (nick)named after, this is sometimes used as a noun meaning "someone like Pooh", and he once used it as a verb meaning "to behave as Pooh does".
Pooh bear: In My Friends Tigger & Pooh, this is used to mean the apparent subspecies of bear that Pooh is, when Rabbit says that on the list of bear types that hibernate, Pooh bears aren't listed.
Pooh party: A party thrown to celebrate Pooh's actions.
Pooh song: A song written by Pooh Bear.
Pouncy: Used by Tigger in his song "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers" to mean "prone to pouncing".
Private ear: Used by Tigger in "Sham Pooh". As a noun, it's a synonym for "private eye", and as a verb, it means to do detective work.
Proudful: Tigger's portmanteau of "proud" and "prideful".
Reazle: A way of making "reason" rhyme with "wheezle" in the poem "Sneezles".
Remembering: When used as a noun, it seems to be a synonym for the noun form of "memory". Christopher Robin stated in the first story that anecdotes of the past must be repeatedly told, because otherwise the story is not a real story, but rather "just a remembering".
Rnig: A misspelling of "ring", seen in an illustration.
Rock lollipop: Used by Beaver to mean a rock shaped like a lollipop.
Roosbreakfast: A substance that Tigger and Roo eat with a spoon. Tigger takes it as medicine, and Roo supposedly eats it for breakfast.
Rumbly: Used as either an adjective meaning "possessing a grumbling stomach", or a noun meaning "an instance of a stomach grumbling".
Rumpledoodle: A type of cookie eaten by Heffalumps.
Scerch: To search.
Shillings: Used by Pooh in a poem as a weight. When Piglet pointed out that this was incorrect, Pooh defended his misuse of the word by saying that the term "wanted to come" to his poem.
Shopses: Used in the poem "The Three Foxes" to make "shops" rhyme with "copses".
Silly old Bear: What Christopher Robin says or thinks whenever Pooh does something silly.
Sing ho!: A common song lyric, used to praise someone or something (ex. "Sing ho! for the life of a bear!", "Sing ho! for Piglet!")
Singy: An adjective describing the state of wanting to sing or compose poetry.
Slap one's cap: Used in My Friends Tigger & Pooh to refer to donning a cap.
Smackerel: Another term for a snack.
Sneezles: A supposed disease featuring in the poem of the same name. It isn't described, but its name suggests that sneezing is a symptom. According to doctors, if this condition is ridiculed, it can lead to measles, but if it is humoured, it is unlikely to.
Sockses: Used in the poem "The Three Foxes" to make "socks" rhyme with "foxes".
Solverate: Used by Tigger in "Darby, Solo Sleuth" to mean "solve".
Spudge: Defined by Roo as what happens when a sponge gets dirty or destroyed.
Squoze: Used as a noun to mean "sensation of being squeezed", or a verb to mean the past tense of "squeeze".
Squch: The sensation of being squashed.
Squz: Noun, meaning "a squeezing movement".
Stoutness Exercises: A series of stretches that Pooh does in the mornings.
Strengthening medicine: What Kanga calls the extract of malt she gives to Roo.
Strornry: Used by Tigger to mean "extraordinarily".
Super Sleuth: A term used in My Friends Tigger and Pooh to refer to a particular type of detective.
Swimmed: Used by Roo as a synonym for "swam".
Swingses: Swings, used in "The Three Foxes".
Tearified: Used in My Friends Tigger & Pooh to mean "teary-eyed".
Teazle: A term for "tease" used in the poem "Sneezles".
The old, grey donkey: Eeyore's common description.
Ther: The exact definition is unknown, but C hristopher Robin used it in Winnie-the-Pooh's name in place of "the" when clarifying that he doesn't call him just "Winnie", which is a female name.
Thingish: Essentially, this means "substantial" when referring to an idea.
Think, think, think: A quote in Disney productions, meaning to think hard.
Thistly: Full of thistles.
Thotful: A misspelling of "thoughtful", seen in the book "Don't Talk to Strangers, Pooh!".
Tigger: When used as a noun, it seems to refer to Tigger's apparent species or to individuals like him.
Trouncy: Used by Tigger in "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers" as a synonym for "energetic", based on the verb "trounce" meaning "to defeat heavily".
Trousies: A term for "trousers" seen in the poem "The Three Foxes".
Tumbly: Pooh's synonym for "stomach", likely derived from the term "tummy".
Tweet: Used in the poem "Market Square" to describe the sound of footsteps.
Twystymes: Pooh's mishearing of "twice times".
Unbounce: To make someone no longer bouncy.
Very Small Animal: How Piglet defines his and Roo's size.
Whatever-it-is: Used by Pooh to mean an unknown subject.
Whatever-it-was: Used as a noun or a proper noun to mean an unknown subject that was in the past.
Wheezles: Supposedly a disease, as seen in the poem "Sneezles". The name suggests that it could involve wheezing and, much like sneezles, it can apparently lead to measles if ridiculed but is unlikely to if humoured.
Wizzle: A mysterious creature similar to a woozle.
Woozle: A weasel-like creature who eats honey..
Wops: A type of creature featured in the poem "The Three Foxes".
Wormses: Worms, seen in "The Three Foxes".
Worraworraworraworraworra: The noise Tigger makes for no apparent reason in his debut.
Wuss: Pooh's attempt at making "worse" rhyme with "us".
You never can tell with (X): Has the correct definition, but is used a lot in Winnie-the-Pooh.