A man decided to read the whole of the Oxford English Dictionary. Whilst reading it, he discovered many interesting words.
These words show just watch a great language English is.
My favourite has got to be the verb "to grimthorpe" - which means "To restore or renovate an ancient building with excessive spending rather than with skill."
What a rich language English is....
From agelastic to zugzwangs, one man's pick of the weirdest words from the Oxford English Dictionary
By Ammon Shea
25th September 2008
Daily Mail
If you sat down and read the whole Oxford English Dictionary, you would need a lot of spare time on your hands. It would be the equivalent of reading the King James Bible every day for two-and-a-half months or ploughing through a whole John Grisham novel every day for more than a year.
But one man has done just that. The result is a new book which includes a fascinating selection from the total of 59 million definitions, which you can use to impress your friends...
Acnestis (n.) The point of the back that lies between the shoulders and the lower back, which cannot be reached to be scratched.
The fact that there existed a word for this thing which previously I had been sure lacked a name was such a delight that suddenly the whole idea of reading the dictionary seemed utterly reasonable.
-----------------------------------------
Agelastic (n.) A person who never laughs.
Grim, but with fewer wrinkles.
------------------------------------------
Apricity (n.) The warmth of the sun in winter.
A strange and lovely word. Not to be confused with apricate (to bask in the sun), although both come from the Latin apricus, meaning 'exposed to the sun'.
------------------------------------------
Atrate (n.) One dressed in black; a mourner.
Although used specifically to describe a mourner, it is still quite nice to know that since at least the early 17th century there has been a word for that thoroughly modern character, the Goth teen dressed all in black. We also have a word for describing someone who is wearing scarlet (coccinated) and the state of being dressed in purple (porporate).
----------------------------------------------
Bed-swerver (n.) An unfaithful spouse.
Sounds like a possibly gentler or more easily forgiven type of adultery, almost a euphemism, like 'straying'. After all, when one swerves, one can swerve back again.
---------------------------------------------
Bouffage (n.) An enjoyable or satisfying meal.
Comes from an Old French word of the same spelling. Defined in a 1611 French-English dictionary as ' cheek-puffing meat'. Cheek-puffing just does not have the same currency as an indicator of satisfaction that it used to.
---------------------------------------------
Cachinnator (n.) A person who laughs too loud or too much.
A creature more common in our imagination than in real life.
---------------------------------------------
Calisthenical (adj.) Addicted to exercise or calisthenics.
The pleasant thing about such people is that they generally wear themselves out and expire at an early age, sparing the rest of us the monotony of watching them, forever cheerful and virtuous, as they go about proudly proclaiming their bodies their temples.
----------------------------------------------
Desiderium (n.) A yearning, specifically for a thing one once had, but has no more.
The appropriate word for lost youth or innocence, for the great love of your life (who perished from consumption), or for the utopian community to which you belonged that was somehow destroyed by forces of evil.
---------------------------------------------
Elumbated (adj.) 'Weakened in the loins.'
A very delicate treatment of a possibly salacious word.
-----------------------------------------------
Empleomania (n.) A manic compulsion to hold public office.
Anyone stricken with this urge should immediately be banned for life from 'serving' the public in any capacity that requires more responsibility than that of a hot dog salesman.
-----------------------------------------------
Fard (v.) To paint the face with cosmetics, so as to hide blemishes.
It seems to be very difficult to make a four-letter word that begins with 'f' sound like an activity that is polite to discuss at the dinner table.
---------------------------------------------------
Garbist (n.) One who is adept at engaging in polite behaviour.
I am always pleased to make the acquaintance of a garbist, even though I'm not much of one myself.
---------------------------------------------------
Grimthorpe (v.) To restore or renovate an ancient building with excessive spending rather than with skill.
More or less eponymous word, taken from the title of Sir Edmund Beckett (the first Lord Grimthorpe), a London lawyer who enjoyed attempting restorations of old buildings. His efforts did not meet with widespread approval, and gave birth to this word.
-----------------------------------------------------
Grinagog (n.) A person who is constantly grinning.
Perhaps this should have also been defined as 'one who deserves to be poked in the eye with a sharp stick.'
-----------------------------------------------------
Gulchin (n.) A little glutton.
The diminutive form of gulch (which presumably is a full-sized glutton).
-----------------------------------------------------
Homodoxian (n.) A person who has the same opinion as you.
A very fancy word for 'friend,' 'assistant,' or 'someone who's got their head on straight'.
--------------------------------------------------------
Hooverize (v.) To be exceedingly sparing, especially with food.
Poor Herbert Hoover. The 31st President of the United States not only presided over the country's descent into the Great Depression, he was also Food Commissioner during the years 1917 to 1919, and his stewardship led to charges that he was overly stingy with food rationing.
------------------------------------------------------------
Cachinnator (n.) A person who laughs too loud or too much
Illutible (adj.) Unable to be washed away.
Suits a wide range of subjects, from bicycle grease to adultery.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Inspirado (n.) A person who thinks himself inspired.
Simple rule of thumb: if someone is describing you with a noun that ends in 'o', chances are, they are not paying you a compliment.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Jehu (n.) A fast or reckless driver.
Jehu was a king of Israel in the ninth century BC, renowned for his furious chariot driving.
-------------------------------------------------------
Jentacular (adj.) Of or pertaining to breakfast.
Some may wonder: 'Why do I need this silly little word that describes "of or relating to breakfast"?'
The answer is you don't need it. But it is also true that you don't need the overwhelming majority of the words you use throughout the day, either, and jentacular is far more charming than most of them.
-----------------------------------------------------
Kakistocracy (n.) Government by the worst citizens.
Any word which describes the worst possible example of something is a word worth remembering.
---------------------------------------------------------
Lant (v.) To add urine to ale, in order to make it stronger.
The English language has displayed an unreasoning fondness for using urine, both human and otherwise, for a dizzying array of purposes. The OED also lists such delightful words and terms as all-flower-water (cow urine, used as an unspecified remedy), puppy-water (the urine of a young dog, used as a cosmetic), and the ever popular lotium (stale urine used by barbers).
--------------------------------------------------------
Levament (n.) 'The comfort which one hath of his wife.'
As defined by lexicographer Henry Cockeram, who found (or made up) more absurd and entertaining words than even the superior Samuel Johnson.
--------------------------------------------------------
Mammothrept (adj.) A spoiled child or infant.
Equipped with a delightful etymology (from the Greek mammothreptos, a child brought up by his grandmother), this word has a touch of mystery. Its first recorded use is by Saint Augustine, which the OED finds puzzling, as Augustine did not know Greek.
------------------------------------------------------
Matutinal (adj.) Active or wide awake in the morning hours.
Perhaps the only thing more annoying than someone who enjoys mornings is the person who wants to tell you what the word for this is.
-----------------------------------------------------
Misandry (n.) Hatred of men.
Enjoys far less currency today than its partner, misogyny.
------------------------------------------------------
Nastify (v.) To render nasty; to spoil.
I have included this word simply because it looks like one that would be fun to have rolling off your tongue.
-----------------------------------------------------
Natiform (adj.) Buttock-shaped.
An obsolete medical term, and one I was surprised to find had never been recorded as having been used as an insult.
--------------------------------------------------------
Onomatomania (n.) Vexation at having difficulty in finding the right word.
Finding a word that so perfectly describes a rather large portion of my everyday existence is one of the things that makes reading the dictionary feel like an intensely personal endeavour.
----------------------------------------------------------
Opsigamy (n.) Marrying late in life.
Don't confuse the opsigamist with the opsimath (a person who begins to learn late in life), as they are of different ilk - the opsigamist has obviously not learned anything at all.
----------------------------------------------------------
Osculable (adj.) Able to be kissed.
Remember, just because someone or something can be kissed does not necessarily mean that it should be.
--------------------------------------------------------
Oxyphonia (n) Excessive shrillness of voice.
I avoid people suffering from this like the plague.
-------------------------------------------------------
Opsigamy (n.) Marrying late in life
Pandiculation (m.) The act of stretching and extending the limbs, in tiredness or waking.
Everyone does it, and no one knows what to call it.
-------------------------------------------------------
Panurgic (adj.) Ready for anything.
Panurge was a character that Rabelais created, and he certainly lived up to his name.
---------------------------------------------------------
Petrichor (n.) The pleasant loamy smell of rain on the ground, especially after a long dry spell.
A lovely word, coined in 1964.
---------------------------------------------------------
Prend (n.) A mended crack.
A pithy word that gets to the point, and serves its purpose admirably, describing something for which I know of no other word.
----------------------------------------------------------
Queaning (n.) Associating with women of immodest character.
At moments like this, when I see the OED clucking about associating with immodest women, I remember that a great deal of what I'm reading in it was actually written over a hundred years ago.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Ruffing (n.) The stomping of feet as a form of applause.
Maybe you do not go through life as I do, plagued by things for which I think 'there's a word for that and I can't remember what it is'. The only balm for this is to discover brilliant words like ruffing.
----------------------------------------------------------
Scrouge (v.) To inconvenience or discomfort a person by pressing against him or her or by standing too close.
Falls within the category of words one wishes one did not have occasion to use on a daily basis, but are fascinating nonetheless.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Semese (adj.) Half-eaten.
To say you'll be serving 'semese' sounds so much less appetising than to declare it 'leftovers night'.
----------------------------------------------------------
Sesquihoral (adj.) Lasting an hour and a half.
Because sometimes you don't feel like saying 'an hour and a half'.
--------------------------------------------------------
Solivagant (n.) A person who wanders about alone.
Create the image of a lone walker who is a tramp or vagrant.
--------------------------------------------------------
Tacturiency (n.) Desire of touching.
This is probably responsible for more dissolved marriages than all other desires combined.
---------------------------------------------------------
Turkish (v.) To transform something, especially for the worse.
I'd assumed that the OED would be filled with all sorts of racist and otherwise offensive words. There are very few of them, however. But there is also 'frenchified' - although without the sense that is given in a number of other dictionaries: 'to be afflicted with a venereal disease'.
---------------------------------------------------------
Umbriphilous (adj.) Fond of shade.
Although a botanical word, used to describe things arboreal, I choose to use it to describe myself.
----------------------------------------------------------
Unasinous (adj.) Being equal to another in stupidity.
If you are uncertain how one might use this word, just think of any two political parties.
----------------------------------------------------------
Vicambulist (n.) One who walks about in the streets.
Now 'streetwalker' has taken on connotations some people may not care to ascribe to themselves, we have a dearth of words to describe someone who simply likes to walk about in the streets of a city.
------------------------------------------------------------
Wine-knight (n.) A person who drinks valiantly.
How does one drink 'valiantly'? Draw your own conclusions.
------------------------------------------------------------
Wonderclout (n.) A thing that is showy but worthless.
Surgically augmented breasts and a large vocabulary are two things that come to mind when I contemplate that which is showy and of little value, but I'm certain that you can think of others.
------------------------------------------------------------
Xanthodontous (adj.) Having teeth that are yellow.
Unlikely to be a compliment - but still a fine word nevertheless.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Xenogenesis (n.) Offspring that does not resemble its parents.
The reason God invented paternity suits.
----------------------------------------------------------
Xerostomia (n.) A dryness of the mouth caused by insufficient production of saliva.
A word that makes my mouth dry just thinking of it.
------------------------------------------------------------
Yepsen (n.) The amount that can be held in two hands cupped together.
A measurement that has never caught on like the teaspoon, this falls within the category of things for which you never thought there was a word - at least, not until some busybody like me came along and told you what it was.
------------------------------------------------------
Zugzwang (n.) A disagreeable position in which a chess player is obliged to move but cannot do so without disadvantage.
This may be a chess term, but it would seem to have wide applicability in everyday life.
******************************************
• Extracted from READING THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY by Ammon Shea, published by Allen Lane on October 16 at £12.99. ° Ammon Shea 2008. To order a copy (p&p free), call 0845 155 0720.
dailymail.co.uk
These words show just watch a great language English is.
My favourite has got to be the verb "to grimthorpe" - which means "To restore or renovate an ancient building with excessive spending rather than with skill."
What a rich language English is....
From agelastic to zugzwangs, one man's pick of the weirdest words from the Oxford English Dictionary
By Ammon Shea
25th September 2008
Daily Mail
If you sat down and read the whole Oxford English Dictionary, you would need a lot of spare time on your hands. It would be the equivalent of reading the King James Bible every day for two-and-a-half months or ploughing through a whole John Grisham novel every day for more than a year.
But one man has done just that. The result is a new book which includes a fascinating selection from the total of 59 million definitions, which you can use to impress your friends...
Acnestis (n.) The point of the back that lies between the shoulders and the lower back, which cannot be reached to be scratched.
The fact that there existed a word for this thing which previously I had been sure lacked a name was such a delight that suddenly the whole idea of reading the dictionary seemed utterly reasonable.
-----------------------------------------
Agelastic (n.) A person who never laughs.
Grim, but with fewer wrinkles.
------------------------------------------
Apricity (n.) The warmth of the sun in winter.
A strange and lovely word. Not to be confused with apricate (to bask in the sun), although both come from the Latin apricus, meaning 'exposed to the sun'.
------------------------------------------
Atrate (n.) One dressed in black; a mourner.
Although used specifically to describe a mourner, it is still quite nice to know that since at least the early 17th century there has been a word for that thoroughly modern character, the Goth teen dressed all in black. We also have a word for describing someone who is wearing scarlet (coccinated) and the state of being dressed in purple (porporate).
----------------------------------------------
Bed-swerver (n.) An unfaithful spouse.
Sounds like a possibly gentler or more easily forgiven type of adultery, almost a euphemism, like 'straying'. After all, when one swerves, one can swerve back again.
---------------------------------------------
Bouffage (n.) An enjoyable or satisfying meal.
Comes from an Old French word of the same spelling. Defined in a 1611 French-English dictionary as ' cheek-puffing meat'. Cheek-puffing just does not have the same currency as an indicator of satisfaction that it used to.
---------------------------------------------
Cachinnator (n.) A person who laughs too loud or too much.
A creature more common in our imagination than in real life.
---------------------------------------------
Calisthenical (adj.) Addicted to exercise or calisthenics.
The pleasant thing about such people is that they generally wear themselves out and expire at an early age, sparing the rest of us the monotony of watching them, forever cheerful and virtuous, as they go about proudly proclaiming their bodies their temples.
----------------------------------------------
Desiderium (n.) A yearning, specifically for a thing one once had, but has no more.
The appropriate word for lost youth or innocence, for the great love of your life (who perished from consumption), or for the utopian community to which you belonged that was somehow destroyed by forces of evil.
---------------------------------------------
Elumbated (adj.) 'Weakened in the loins.'
A very delicate treatment of a possibly salacious word.
-----------------------------------------------
Empleomania (n.) A manic compulsion to hold public office.
Anyone stricken with this urge should immediately be banned for life from 'serving' the public in any capacity that requires more responsibility than that of a hot dog salesman.
-----------------------------------------------
Fard (v.) To paint the face with cosmetics, so as to hide blemishes.
It seems to be very difficult to make a four-letter word that begins with 'f' sound like an activity that is polite to discuss at the dinner table.
---------------------------------------------------
Garbist (n.) One who is adept at engaging in polite behaviour.
I am always pleased to make the acquaintance of a garbist, even though I'm not much of one myself.
---------------------------------------------------
Grimthorpe (v.) To restore or renovate an ancient building with excessive spending rather than with skill.
More or less eponymous word, taken from the title of Sir Edmund Beckett (the first Lord Grimthorpe), a London lawyer who enjoyed attempting restorations of old buildings. His efforts did not meet with widespread approval, and gave birth to this word.
-----------------------------------------------------
Grinagog (n.) A person who is constantly grinning.
Perhaps this should have also been defined as 'one who deserves to be poked in the eye with a sharp stick.'
-----------------------------------------------------
Gulchin (n.) A little glutton.
The diminutive form of gulch (which presumably is a full-sized glutton).
-----------------------------------------------------
Homodoxian (n.) A person who has the same opinion as you.
A very fancy word for 'friend,' 'assistant,' or 'someone who's got their head on straight'.
--------------------------------------------------------
Hooverize (v.) To be exceedingly sparing, especially with food.
Poor Herbert Hoover. The 31st President of the United States not only presided over the country's descent into the Great Depression, he was also Food Commissioner during the years 1917 to 1919, and his stewardship led to charges that he was overly stingy with food rationing.
------------------------------------------------------------
Cachinnator (n.) A person who laughs too loud or too much
Illutible (adj.) Unable to be washed away.
Suits a wide range of subjects, from bicycle grease to adultery.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Inspirado (n.) A person who thinks himself inspired.
Simple rule of thumb: if someone is describing you with a noun that ends in 'o', chances are, they are not paying you a compliment.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Jehu (n.) A fast or reckless driver.
Jehu was a king of Israel in the ninth century BC, renowned for his furious chariot driving.
-------------------------------------------------------
Jentacular (adj.) Of or pertaining to breakfast.
Some may wonder: 'Why do I need this silly little word that describes "of or relating to breakfast"?'
The answer is you don't need it. But it is also true that you don't need the overwhelming majority of the words you use throughout the day, either, and jentacular is far more charming than most of them.
-----------------------------------------------------
Kakistocracy (n.) Government by the worst citizens.
Any word which describes the worst possible example of something is a word worth remembering.
---------------------------------------------------------
Lant (v.) To add urine to ale, in order to make it stronger.
The English language has displayed an unreasoning fondness for using urine, both human and otherwise, for a dizzying array of purposes. The OED also lists such delightful words and terms as all-flower-water (cow urine, used as an unspecified remedy), puppy-water (the urine of a young dog, used as a cosmetic), and the ever popular lotium (stale urine used by barbers).
--------------------------------------------------------
Levament (n.) 'The comfort which one hath of his wife.'
As defined by lexicographer Henry Cockeram, who found (or made up) more absurd and entertaining words than even the superior Samuel Johnson.
--------------------------------------------------------
Mammothrept (adj.) A spoiled child or infant.
Equipped with a delightful etymology (from the Greek mammothreptos, a child brought up by his grandmother), this word has a touch of mystery. Its first recorded use is by Saint Augustine, which the OED finds puzzling, as Augustine did not know Greek.
------------------------------------------------------
Matutinal (adj.) Active or wide awake in the morning hours.
Perhaps the only thing more annoying than someone who enjoys mornings is the person who wants to tell you what the word for this is.
-----------------------------------------------------
Misandry (n.) Hatred of men.
Enjoys far less currency today than its partner, misogyny.
------------------------------------------------------
Nastify (v.) To render nasty; to spoil.
I have included this word simply because it looks like one that would be fun to have rolling off your tongue.
-----------------------------------------------------
Natiform (adj.) Buttock-shaped.
An obsolete medical term, and one I was surprised to find had never been recorded as having been used as an insult.
--------------------------------------------------------
Onomatomania (n.) Vexation at having difficulty in finding the right word.
Finding a word that so perfectly describes a rather large portion of my everyday existence is one of the things that makes reading the dictionary feel like an intensely personal endeavour.
----------------------------------------------------------
Opsigamy (n.) Marrying late in life.
Don't confuse the opsigamist with the opsimath (a person who begins to learn late in life), as they are of different ilk - the opsigamist has obviously not learned anything at all.
----------------------------------------------------------
Osculable (adj.) Able to be kissed.
Remember, just because someone or something can be kissed does not necessarily mean that it should be.
--------------------------------------------------------
Oxyphonia (n) Excessive shrillness of voice.
I avoid people suffering from this like the plague.
-------------------------------------------------------
Opsigamy (n.) Marrying late in life
Pandiculation (m.) The act of stretching and extending the limbs, in tiredness or waking.
Everyone does it, and no one knows what to call it.
-------------------------------------------------------
Panurgic (adj.) Ready for anything.
Panurge was a character that Rabelais created, and he certainly lived up to his name.
---------------------------------------------------------
Petrichor (n.) The pleasant loamy smell of rain on the ground, especially after a long dry spell.
A lovely word, coined in 1964.
---------------------------------------------------------
Prend (n.) A mended crack.
A pithy word that gets to the point, and serves its purpose admirably, describing something for which I know of no other word.
----------------------------------------------------------
Queaning (n.) Associating with women of immodest character.
At moments like this, when I see the OED clucking about associating with immodest women, I remember that a great deal of what I'm reading in it was actually written over a hundred years ago.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Ruffing (n.) The stomping of feet as a form of applause.
Maybe you do not go through life as I do, plagued by things for which I think 'there's a word for that and I can't remember what it is'. The only balm for this is to discover brilliant words like ruffing.
----------------------------------------------------------
Scrouge (v.) To inconvenience or discomfort a person by pressing against him or her or by standing too close.
Falls within the category of words one wishes one did not have occasion to use on a daily basis, but are fascinating nonetheless.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Semese (adj.) Half-eaten.
To say you'll be serving 'semese' sounds so much less appetising than to declare it 'leftovers night'.
----------------------------------------------------------
Sesquihoral (adj.) Lasting an hour and a half.
Because sometimes you don't feel like saying 'an hour and a half'.
--------------------------------------------------------
Solivagant (n.) A person who wanders about alone.
Create the image of a lone walker who is a tramp or vagrant.
--------------------------------------------------------
Tacturiency (n.) Desire of touching.
This is probably responsible for more dissolved marriages than all other desires combined.
---------------------------------------------------------
Turkish (v.) To transform something, especially for the worse.
I'd assumed that the OED would be filled with all sorts of racist and otherwise offensive words. There are very few of them, however. But there is also 'frenchified' - although without the sense that is given in a number of other dictionaries: 'to be afflicted with a venereal disease'.
---------------------------------------------------------
Umbriphilous (adj.) Fond of shade.
Although a botanical word, used to describe things arboreal, I choose to use it to describe myself.
----------------------------------------------------------
Unasinous (adj.) Being equal to another in stupidity.
If you are uncertain how one might use this word, just think of any two political parties.
----------------------------------------------------------
Vicambulist (n.) One who walks about in the streets.
Now 'streetwalker' has taken on connotations some people may not care to ascribe to themselves, we have a dearth of words to describe someone who simply likes to walk about in the streets of a city.
------------------------------------------------------------
Wine-knight (n.) A person who drinks valiantly.
How does one drink 'valiantly'? Draw your own conclusions.
------------------------------------------------------------
Wonderclout (n.) A thing that is showy but worthless.
Surgically augmented breasts and a large vocabulary are two things that come to mind when I contemplate that which is showy and of little value, but I'm certain that you can think of others.
------------------------------------------------------------
Xanthodontous (adj.) Having teeth that are yellow.
Unlikely to be a compliment - but still a fine word nevertheless.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Xenogenesis (n.) Offspring that does not resemble its parents.
The reason God invented paternity suits.
----------------------------------------------------------
Xerostomia (n.) A dryness of the mouth caused by insufficient production of saliva.
A word that makes my mouth dry just thinking of it.
------------------------------------------------------------
Yepsen (n.) The amount that can be held in two hands cupped together.
A measurement that has never caught on like the teaspoon, this falls within the category of things for which you never thought there was a word - at least, not until some busybody like me came along and told you what it was.
------------------------------------------------------
Zugzwang (n.) A disagreeable position in which a chess player is obliged to move but cannot do so without disadvantage.
This may be a chess term, but it would seem to have wide applicability in everyday life.
******************************************
• Extracted from READING THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY by Ammon Shea, published by Allen Lane on October 16 at £12.99. ° Ammon Shea 2008. To order a copy (p&p free), call 0845 155 0720.
dailymail.co.uk