Philosophy
Since June 27th, 2010, POSP stringer Tim has provide an enormous quantity of words to add to one's vocabulary. I wonder if he has heard of the following?
From snollygoster to wamblecropt, these forgotten words just might come handy, says the author of The Horologicon
The Guardian
Everybody has, on occasion, looked up a word in a dictionary and let their eye wander to the next word and thought: "Really? There's a word for that?", whether it's the little plastic aglets on the end of your shoelaces or the nurdle of toothpaste squeezed onto your toothbrush in the morning. I have simply had that feeling more than most.
1. Wamblecropt
Wamblecropt means overcome with indigestion. Once upon a time, you might observe that your stomach was wambling a bit. If the wambles got so bad you couldn't move, you were wamblecropt. It's the most beautiful word in the English language to say aloud. Try it.
2. Sprunt
Sprunt is an old Scots word (from Roxburgh, to be precise) meaning "to chase girls around among the haystacks after dark". I would dearly love to have lived in a time and a place where this was such an everyday activity that they needed a single-syllable word for it. Old dialect words give us a glimpse of lost worlds, and sprunt is my favourite glimpse.
3. Groke
Another old Scots word, to groke is to gaze at somebody while they're eating in the hope that they'll give you some of their food. The word was originally used to refer to dogs – and any dog owner whose canine friend has salivated beside them while they eat a steak will know why – but it can also be used to describe that colleague who sidles up to you from across the office when you open a box of chocolates.
4. Uhtceare
Uhtceare is an Old English word that refers to anxiety experienced just before dawn. It describes that moment when you wake up too early and can't get back to sleep, no matter how tired you are, because you're worried about the day to come.
5. Snollygoster
Snollygoster is a 19th century American word for "a dishonest or corrupt politician". Or, to take an original definition from the editor of a Georgia newspaper: "a snollygoster is a fellow who wants office, regardless of party, platform or principles, and who, whenever he wins, gets there by the sheer force of monumental talknophical assumnacy". The only reason I can imagine such a delicious word would die out is that all politicians are now honest.
6. Ultracrepidarian
Ultracrepidarianism is when you give your opinion on a topic about which you know nothing. What makes this word so useful is that nobody knows what it means. Tell someone they are ultracrepidarian and they'll probably consider it a compliment.
7. Gongoozle
I found gongoozle deep in the Oxford English Dictionary while I was researching The Horologicon. To gongoozle is to stare idly at a canal or watercourse. At the time, I thought it a weirdly precise and unnecessary word, but since then I've noticed gongoozlers everywhere. Walk along a riverbank or seafront on a sunny afternoon and you'll see lots of people happily gongoozling. I realised that I'd been gongoozling for years; I'd just never known the word.
8. Snudge
To snudge is to stride around as though you're terribly busy, when in fact you are doing nothing. It's particularly useful for the modern office, especially with the invention of the smartphone. You can snudge around all day without anyone realising you're checking up on the score in the Ashes.
9. Feague
Feague is a term from around the 18th century that means to put a live eel up a horse's bottom. Apparently, this was a horse dealer's trick to make an old horse seem more lively, which I suppose it would. But it does imply that you should never trust an 18th century horse dealer – especially if you're a horse, or an eel. I hope you find no use for this word. In 2012, a chap who walked into Auckland City Hospital, in New Zealand, could have saved himself a lot of embarrassment if he had simply announced: "I need to be de-feagued".
10. Sir Richard has taken off his considering cap
Benjamin Franklin, when he wasn't inventing bifocals and supporting the American Revolution, collected slang terms for being drunk. This is my favourite one, especially after a hard day's work. It sums up the feeling of work being over and drinking having begun.
Vocabulary list--#1
Vocabulary list--#2
Vocabulary list--#3
Vocabulary list--#4
Vocabulary list--#5
Vocabulary list--#6
Vocabulary list--#7
Vocabulary list--#8
Vocabulary list--#9
Vocabulary list--#10
Vocabulary list--#11
Vocabulary list--#12
Vocabulary list--#13
Vocabulary list--#14
Vocabulary list--#15
Vocabulary list--#16
Vocabulary list--#17
Vocabulary list--#18
Vocabulary list--#19
Vocabulary list--#20
- Vocabulary List--#29
Some kool words from POSP stringer Tim. apercu ap-er-soo noun 1. A brief survey or sketch, outline. 2. An immediate impression, especially an intuitive insight. apophasis uh-pah-fuh-sis noun The raising of an issue by claiming not to mention it....
- Vocabulary List--#27
POSP stringer Tim had some time on his hands...so here is another vocabulary list. ambrosia am-broh-zhee-uh noun 1a. The food of the Greek and Roman gods. 1b. The ointment or perfume of the gods. 2. Something extremely pleasing to taste or smell. 3....
- Vocabulary List--#25
Here'sssssssss Tim with a new list of words. achromic ey-kroh-mik adjective Colorless, without coloring matter. adscititious ad-suh-tish-us adjective 1. Derived or acquired from something on the outside. 2. Supplemental, additional. agnize ag-nahyz...
- Vocabulary List--#23
Marilyn Monroe Reading Ulysses The Valentine heart burst with a new list of words from POSP stringer Tim. aphesis af-uh-sis noun Historical Linguistics. The disappearance or loss of an unstressed initial vowel or syllable, as in the formation of the...
- Vocabulary List--#22
POSP stringer Tim is on a short vacation and sent this short vocabulary list. abecedarian ay-bee-see-dair-ee-un adjective 1a. Of or relating to the alphabet. 1b. Alphabetically arranged. 2. Rudimentary. agnification ag-na-fa-kay-shun noun The representation...
Philosophy
Is POSP's wordsmith Tim aware of these words?
Since June 27th, 2010, POSP stringer Tim has provide an enormous quantity of words to add to one's vocabulary. I wonder if he has heard of the following?
"Mark Forsyth's top 10 lost words"
From snollygoster to wamblecropt, these forgotten words just might come handy, says the author of The Horologicon
The Guardian
Everybody has, on occasion, looked up a word in a dictionary and let their eye wander to the next word and thought: "Really? There's a word for that?", whether it's the little plastic aglets on the end of your shoelaces or the nurdle of toothpaste squeezed onto your toothbrush in the morning. I have simply had that feeling more than most.
1. Wamblecropt
Wamblecropt means overcome with indigestion. Once upon a time, you might observe that your stomach was wambling a bit. If the wambles got so bad you couldn't move, you were wamblecropt. It's the most beautiful word in the English language to say aloud. Try it.
2. Sprunt
Sprunt is an old Scots word (from Roxburgh, to be precise) meaning "to chase girls around among the haystacks after dark". I would dearly love to have lived in a time and a place where this was such an everyday activity that they needed a single-syllable word for it. Old dialect words give us a glimpse of lost worlds, and sprunt is my favourite glimpse.
3. Groke
Another old Scots word, to groke is to gaze at somebody while they're eating in the hope that they'll give you some of their food. The word was originally used to refer to dogs – and any dog owner whose canine friend has salivated beside them while they eat a steak will know why – but it can also be used to describe that colleague who sidles up to you from across the office when you open a box of chocolates.
4. Uhtceare
Uhtceare is an Old English word that refers to anxiety experienced just before dawn. It describes that moment when you wake up too early and can't get back to sleep, no matter how tired you are, because you're worried about the day to come.
5. Snollygoster
Snollygoster is a 19th century American word for "a dishonest or corrupt politician". Or, to take an original definition from the editor of a Georgia newspaper: "a snollygoster is a fellow who wants office, regardless of party, platform or principles, and who, whenever he wins, gets there by the sheer force of monumental talknophical assumnacy". The only reason I can imagine such a delicious word would die out is that all politicians are now honest.
6. Ultracrepidarian
Ultracrepidarianism is when you give your opinion on a topic about which you know nothing. What makes this word so useful is that nobody knows what it means. Tell someone they are ultracrepidarian and they'll probably consider it a compliment.
7. Gongoozle
I found gongoozle deep in the Oxford English Dictionary while I was researching The Horologicon. To gongoozle is to stare idly at a canal or watercourse. At the time, I thought it a weirdly precise and unnecessary word, but since then I've noticed gongoozlers everywhere. Walk along a riverbank or seafront on a sunny afternoon and you'll see lots of people happily gongoozling. I realised that I'd been gongoozling for years; I'd just never known the word.
8. Snudge
To snudge is to stride around as though you're terribly busy, when in fact you are doing nothing. It's particularly useful for the modern office, especially with the invention of the smartphone. You can snudge around all day without anyone realising you're checking up on the score in the Ashes.
9. Feague
Feague is a term from around the 18th century that means to put a live eel up a horse's bottom. Apparently, this was a horse dealer's trick to make an old horse seem more lively, which I suppose it would. But it does imply that you should never trust an 18th century horse dealer – especially if you're a horse, or an eel. I hope you find no use for this word. In 2012, a chap who walked into Auckland City Hospital, in New Zealand, could have saved himself a lot of embarrassment if he had simply announced: "I need to be de-feagued".
10. Sir Richard has taken off his considering cap
Benjamin Franklin, when he wasn't inventing bifocals and supporting the American Revolution, collected slang terms for being drunk. This is my favourite one, especially after a hard day's work. It sums up the feeling of work being over and drinking having begun.
Vocabulary list--#1
Vocabulary list--#2
Vocabulary list--#3
Vocabulary list--#4
Vocabulary list--#5
Vocabulary list--#6
Vocabulary list--#7
Vocabulary list--#8
Vocabulary list--#9
Vocabulary list--#10
Vocabulary list--#11
Vocabulary list--#12
Vocabulary list--#13
Vocabulary list--#14
Vocabulary list--#15
Vocabulary list--#16
Vocabulary list--#17
Vocabulary list--#18
Vocabulary list--#19
Vocabulary list--#20
- Vocabulary List--#29
Some kool words from POSP stringer Tim. apercu ap-er-soo noun 1. A brief survey or sketch, outline. 2. An immediate impression, especially an intuitive insight. apophasis uh-pah-fuh-sis noun The raising of an issue by claiming not to mention it....
- Vocabulary List--#27
POSP stringer Tim had some time on his hands...so here is another vocabulary list. ambrosia am-broh-zhee-uh noun 1a. The food of the Greek and Roman gods. 1b. The ointment or perfume of the gods. 2. Something extremely pleasing to taste or smell. 3....
- Vocabulary List--#25
Here'sssssssss Tim with a new list of words. achromic ey-kroh-mik adjective Colorless, without coloring matter. adscititious ad-suh-tish-us adjective 1. Derived or acquired from something on the outside. 2. Supplemental, additional. agnize ag-nahyz...
- Vocabulary List--#23
Marilyn Monroe Reading Ulysses The Valentine heart burst with a new list of words from POSP stringer Tim. aphesis af-uh-sis noun Historical Linguistics. The disappearance or loss of an unstressed initial vowel or syllable, as in the formation of the...
- Vocabulary List--#22
POSP stringer Tim is on a short vacation and sent this short vocabulary list. abecedarian ay-bee-see-dair-ee-un adjective 1a. Of or relating to the alphabet. 1b. Alphabetically arranged. 2. Rudimentary. agnification ag-na-fa-kay-shun noun The representation...