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Obsolete words that shouldn't have disappeared

 
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world

PostPosted: Sun Jun 02, 2013 11:45 pm    Post subject: Obsolete words that shouldn't have disappeared Reply with quote

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

PostPosted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 1:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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

PostPosted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 2:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thou art a bell-end
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Shroob



Joined: 02 Aug 2010
Posts: 1339

PostPosted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 3:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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

PostPosted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 4:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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

PostPosted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 5:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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

PostPosted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 10:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.

.


Ha ha!! Hey, the comment wasn't aimed at your good self, Mr Tttompatz. Laughing
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