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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world
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Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2013 11:45 pm Post subject: Obsolete words that shouldn't have disappeared |
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Say what??
18 obsolete words, which never should have gone out of style
By Carmel Lobello, DeathandTaxesMag | March 2013
(Source: http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/195348/18-obsolete-words-which-should-have-never-gone-out-of-style/ )
Just like facts and flies, English words have life-spans. Some are thousands of years old, from before English officially existed, others change, or are replaced or get ditched entirely.
Here are 18 uncommon or obsolete words that we think may have died early. We found them in two places: a book called �The Word Museum: The Most Remarkable English Words Ever Forgotten� by Jeffrey Kacirk, and on a blog called Obsolete Word of The Day that�s been out of service since 2010. Both are fantastic� you should check them out.
Snoutfair: A person with a handsome countenance � �The Word Museum: The Most Remarkable English Words Ever Forgotten� by Jeffrey Kacirk
Pussyvan: A flurry, temper � �The Word Museum: The Most Remarkable English Words Ever Forgotten� by Jeffrey Kacirk
Wonder-wench: A sweetheart � �The Word Museum: The Most Remarkable English Words Ever Forgotten� by Jeffrey Kacirk
Lunting: Walking while smoking a pipe � John Mactaggart�s �Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopedia,� 1824
California widow: A married woman whose husband is away from her for any extended period � John Farmer�s �Americanisms Old and New�, 1889
Groak: To silently watch someone while they are eating, hoping to be invited to join them � ObsoleteWord.Blogspot.com
Jirble: To pour out (a liquid) with an unsteady hand: as, he jirbles out a dram � Wordnik.com
Curglaff: The shock felt in bathing when one first plunges into the cold water � John Jamieson�s Etymological Scottish Dictionary, 1808
Spermologer: A picker-up of trivia, of current news, a gossip monger, what we would today call a columnist � �The Word Museum: The Most Remarkable English Words Ever Forgotten� by Jeffrey Kacirk
Tyromancy: Divining by the coagulation of cheese � �The Word Museum: The Most Remarkable English Words Ever Forgotten� by Jeffrey Kacirk
Beef-witted: Having an inactive brain, thought to be from eating too much beef. � John Phin�s �Shakespeare Cyclopaedia and Glossary�, 1902
*censored*: Cheats who throw themselves into the water in order that they may be taken up by their accomplices, who carry them to one of the houses appointed by the Humane Society for the recovery of drowned persons, where they are rewarded by the society with a guinea each, and the supposed drowned person, pretending he was driven to that extremity by great necessity, is also frequently sent away with a contribution in his pocket. � �The Word Museum: The Most Remarkable English Words Ever Forgotten� by Jeffrey Kacirk
Englishable: That which may be rendered into English � John Ogilvie�s �Comprehensive English Dictionary�, 1865
Resistentialism: The seemingly spiteful behavior shown by inanimate objects � ObsoleteWord.Blogspot.com
Bookwright: A writer of books; an author; a term of slight contempt � Daniel Lyons�s �Dictionary of the English Language�, 1897
Soda-squirt: One who works at a soda fountain in New Mexico � Elsie Warnock�s �Dialect Speech in California and New Mexico�, 1919
With squirrel: Pregnant � Vance Randolph�s �Down in the Holler: A Gallery of Ozark Folk Speech�, 1953
Zafty: A person very easily imposed upon � Maj. B. Lowsley�s �A Glossary of Berkshire Words and Phrases�, 1888
(End of article)
* You'll need to go to the article's website to see why this word wouldn't have made it pass the Mods. |
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tttompatz
Joined: 06 Mar 2010 Posts: 1951 Location: Talibon, Bohol, Philippines
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Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 1:52 am Post subject: |
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You mean:
Q.u.e.e.r.p.l.u.n.g.e.r.s.: Cheats who throw themselves into the water in order that they may be taken up by their accomplices, who carry them to one of the houses appointed by the Humane Society for the recovery of drowned persons, where they are rewarded by the society with a guinea each, and the supposed drowned person, pretending he was driven to that extremity by great necessity, is also frequently sent away with a contribution in his pocket.
PC has never been one of my shortfalls (especially since the word was coined about 200 years before being politically correct was).
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JustinC
Joined: 15 Mar 2013 Posts: 138 Location: The Land That Time Forgot
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Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 2:08 am Post subject: |
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Thou art a bell-end |
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Shroob
Joined: 02 Aug 2010 Posts: 1339
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Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 3:46 am Post subject: |
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These are great. I may have to revive a few, though not sure how 'wonder-wench' would be received...
I can't remember where but there was also a list of, 'Words which the English language needs'. It was a list of words that other languages have that can't be expressed succinctly in English/lose their meaning in translation. |
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johntpartee
Joined: 02 Mar 2010 Posts: 3258
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Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 4:11 am Post subject: |
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I like "discommodate"; antonym of "accommodate". (Yes, it was [is] a real word.) |
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tttompatz
Joined: 06 Mar 2010 Posts: 1951 Location: Talibon, Bohol, Philippines
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Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 5:47 am Post subject: |
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JustinC wrote: |
Thou art a bell-end |
Yes, I can be a P.R.i.C.k at times but I am not the only one who isn't worried about being politically correct.
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JustinC
Joined: 15 Mar 2013 Posts: 138 Location: The Land That Time Forgot
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Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 10:47 am Post subject: |
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tttompatz wrote: |
JustinC wrote: |
Thou art a bell-end |
Yes, I can be a P.R.i.C.k at times but I am not the only one who isn't worried about being politically correct.
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Ha ha!! Hey, the comment wasn't aimed at your good self, Mr Tttompatz. |
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