Lost and forgotten words

[DanaC]

Saw this in the Guardian today and it made me smile. Mark Forsyth, author of The Etymologicon and The Horologicon sets out ten of his favourite lost and forgotten words:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/boo...-10-lost-words

Who doesn't love a good lost word eh?


here are a couple of my favourites from the list:

1. Wamblecropt

... 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.

4. Uhtcaere.

...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

...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.

Check out the link for more. And I highly recommend the books