They say, whoever they is, that even the most verbose writers know only 25 percent of the English language. Given that the latest edition of the Oxford dictionary lists 171,476 words, that means guys like Stephen King have only 42,000 in their gray matter data bank. So, the average scribe like me probably draws on maybe 10,000, not including slang, jargon, and swear.
They also say that 3,000 words covers 95 percent of daily writing—emails, blogs, and books. And English, of the 6,909 distinct languages in the world, is far from wordy. Apparently, the Inuit have over 100 words for “snow”.
I stumbled on a trivial piece the other day on a site called The Morning Brew. It’s a regular stop in my daily routine. I got a kick out of it, and I hope you will, too. It’s a list of long forgotten (but cool) medieval English words.
PEEKGOOSE (english, noun) someone who is silly or a simpleton
MEROBIBA (latin, noun) a woman who enjoys very strong wine
SCORTOR (latin, verb) to spend time in the company of harlots
CUCURBITARIUS (latin, noun) a lover of gourds and squash
GILEYSPEKE (english, noun) a cunning trick or illusion
NOUMBLES (english, noun) the entrails of a beast, especially a deer
STERILIS AMATOR (latin, noun) a lover who has no money
GADELING (english, noun) a comrade, fellow, or vagabond
GRAVILOQUUS (latin, noun) a man who speaks gravely and seriously
LINGULACA (latin, noun) a woman who speaks excessively
ORGULOUS (english, adj.) proud or haughty to excess
DEARWORTH (english, adj.) precious or very valuable
MAGNALIA (latin, noun) great things to be wondered at
LIVERSOON (english, noun) food or sustenance
PROSERPERE (latin, verb) to creep about like a serpent
AGAINWEND (english, verb) to retreat
BESMUT (english, verb)to defile
OVERWERP (english, verb) to boil over, as a pot
WREKER (english, noun) one who avenged
WRAKEFUL (english, adj.) wicked
MALEFICUS (latin, noun) one who does harm to others
OBIURGATRIX (latin, noun) a woman who loves to chide or rebuke
METHFUL (english, adj) peaceful, quiet, or modest
Kill Zoners — Do you have any cool words to add? If you don’t, just go ahead and make something up. Sorry for not responding to comments today, folks. I’m off the internet grid and hunkered in place of tranquility. +48.869 North -123.316 West
‘Apparently, the Inuit have over 100 words for “snow”.’
All are encouraged to read “The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax,” by Geoffrey Pullum.
https://cslc.nd.edu/assets/141348/pullum_eskimo_vocabhoax.pdf
Pullum states: “[This] isn’t about Eskimo lexicography at all, though I’m sure it
will be taken to be. What it’s actually about is intellectual sloth.”
“A True Map of the City” takes place in Deresthia, in the great city of Deres-Thorm. I made up just a sprinkling of terms in Deresthok, such as
splatka nin (no thanks),
criquét (an Albionian game similar to baseball)
¿Neezgo twa guzen damisk? (why are you here?)
Shtandrek nuss (I don’t understand) Rural dialect.
E sokkt no fegrosty (He says he doesn’t understand) Urban dialect
hoskaplop (horse manure)
malapek (Deresthian currency unit)
lork (information)
brodenko (brother)
kai-gai (all gone, the end) idioglossial
A few other words I’ve acquired:
dumpadeedus (bottom)
furdlo (toroidal alien headgear)
felgercarb (crap) from Battlestar Galactica
borosheetu (bull shit) from Lucky Come Hawaii
JG, I would vote for changing “hoskaplop” to “horskaplop.”
🙂 🙂
Yes, indeed, people on the Thorm side of the river say “horskaplop.” But those on the Deres side say “hoskaplop,” since “hoss” is the Deresthok word for horse.
I don’t know how cool it is, especially since JGuenther pointed out that the Inuit have 100 words for snow, but I recently learned that gruntled is a word, and it’s the opposite of disgruntled. Problem is, I’m having trouble using gruntled in a sentence because gruntled SOUNDS grumpy, in poor cheer, and, well, disgruntled.
I use gruntled quite a bit. Also whelmed.
I’d like to see “whaet” come back. It’s more direct and tasteful than starting a sentence with “Yo!”
Good morning, Garry. Enjoy your season of hunkering. (Galiano Island?)
One of my favorite words is the Yiddish term “schnorrer.” It’s a term for the no-goodsy uncle who shows up at your house for a holiday meal, eats your food, drinks all the alcohol, sleeps on the couch, and hangs around for a couple of weeks before leaving to visit another relative. (Not that I know anyone like that. 🙂 )
Great post, Garry!
Not a medieval word, but my favorite British slang word is “gobsmacked.” As in, I was gobsmacked by this post. Which I was.
Hope you have a grand hunker today.
Love these, Garry! And now for your reading pleasure, or displeasure . . .
The Magnalia of Methful
Once upon a time, in the village of Methful, a pretend peekgoose named Harry, and a menobiba named Hilda met on the village street outside the local bar. Harry was on his way to scortor (score?), but Hilda’s beauty stopped him cold. Harry and Hilda ducked into the bar, grabbed a table, ordered some liversoon and got acquainted.
Unbeknownst to Harry, Hilda held a long-standing reputation of being a confirmed sterelis amator. And Harry was secretly an expert at gileyspeke and also wrakeful and maleficus. The evening drew to a close, and the couple left the bar together, according to witnesses.
The next morning, the local cops gathered at the crime scene in an alley down the street from the bar, where the bodies of Harry and Hilda lay side by side methfully. There was not a mark on either of them.
After the investigation concluded, with no arrests and clues exhausted, the report was filed under “M”, for Magnalia, and the village againwended into its former methful existence.
The End
Love it, Deb!
“Mushrump” an earlier version of “mushroom.” During the Regency period, a hanger on of people of nobility was also called a mushrump because mushrumps grow beneath mighty oaks.
After Deb’s post, I’m hesitant to chime in…but anything to keep from looking at my dismal word count…
A few Southernisms
toad-strangler–usually used when it’s raining
frog hair–used after someone asks how you’re doing: I’m fine a frog hair.
cattywampus — used when something is not straight
Doohickey — same as a whatchamacallit
“Toad-strangler” . . . what exactly does it mean, Patricia? Would you use it in a sentence, please?
I’m guessing it means a really, really hard rain. Am I right?
(And does the toad have that fine hair on it?)
🙂
Toad-strangler: That rain is a real toad-strangler. 🙂 And of course it has fine hair…
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