lexiphilia/lexiphobia what does penultimate mean? Our Buddy Ralph : [ relating an anecdote from the biography of Bill Bowerman] ...but all of this was before Prefontaine . We: Pre-Prefontaine? OBR: Before that even... We: Pre-ante-Prefontaine? OBR: What is that now? We: Well, "penultimate" means "second to last, " right? OBR: Yeah...