Because I'm a crossword enthusiast, I'm familiar with not-so-common words like "eagre" (a tidal flood), and "fop" (a dandy) and "nene" (a Hawaiian goose). I also subscribe to the wonderful A Word A Day e-mail, which educates me on words like "discalced" (shoeless), "psychopomp" (a guide of souls in the afterlife), and "coprolalia" (um... sailor talk). And I can easily maintain a score in the high 40s on that ridiculously addictive FreeRice.com game.
So when I heard about SaveTheWords.org, a website dedicated to rescuing archaic English words, I thought I'd encounter some old friends. Instead, I found a trove of terms I'd never seen before.
Below, I've made my top 10 list of words that really ought to be salvaged before they're lost. My plan is to get my family on board with regularly using at least a couple of these. That way, even if the words never enter wide circulation again, we'll at least have some fun family in-jokes.
- scathefire - n - great destructive fire
- welmish - adj - of a pale or sickly colour
- brochity - n - crookedness of teeth
- snollygoster - n - a shrewd, unprincipled person, especially a politician
- woundikins - int - mild profanity
- stiricide - n - falling of icicles from a house
- jobler - n - one who does small jobs
- kexy - adj - brittle, withered
- sagittipotent - adj - having a great ability in archery
- venustation - n - act of causing to become beautiful or handsome
Visit the site and tell us -- which words would you save?
Ellen Henderson is a novelist and web strategist. She lives in Dallas, Texas, with her husband and son.
