[sour-taste]

What if we called them k formations, by applying the same rule we're trying to describe to the word backfoations?

Overwhelmed/underwhelmed -> whelmed Discombobulated -> combobulate Disghust -> ghust

[jprete]

OT, but I looked up "whelmed" in after reading your comment and...we never really needed "overwhelmed" at all. Just plain "whelmed" seems bad enough.

[ajcp]

I use "whelming" almost daily to denote something that I or the person I'm talking to expect to be over/underwhelming, but turns out not to be.

Them: "How'd you like that new burger joint Bad Jimmies? I heard it's amazing!"

Me: "Not bad, but I found their burgers to be...[0] whelming."

0. The pregnant pause-for-effect is very important here, since it makes even the use of "whelming" a whelming experience.