Skip to comments.
18 obsolete words, which never should have gone out of style
Death and Taxes ^
| March 8, 2013
| Carmel Lobello
Posted on 05/31/2013 8:49:04 AM PDT by EveningStar
Just like facts and flies, English words have life-spans. Some are thousands of years old, from before English officially existed, others change, or are replaced or get ditched entirely.
Here are 18 uncommon or obsolete words that we think may have died early. We found them in two places: a book called "The Word Museum: The Most Remarkable English Words Ever Forgotten" by Jeffrey Kacirk, and on a blog called Obsolete Word of The Day that's been out of service since 2010. Both are fantastic- you should check them out.
(Excerpt) Read more at deathandtaxesmag.com ...
TOPICS: Books/Literature; Chit/Chat; Education; Society
KEYWORDS: english; englishlanguage; language; obsolete; obsoletewords; words
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-68 next last
To: Borges; Slings and Arrows
2
posted on
05/31/2013 8:49:29 AM PDT
by
EveningStar
("What color is the sky in your world?" -- Frasier Crane)
To: EveningStar
3
posted on
05/31/2013 8:50:41 AM PDT
by
KC_Lion
(Build the America you want to live in at your address, and keep looking up.-Sarah Palin)
To: EveningStar
I don't want to grow up to be a queerplunger.
4
posted on
05/31/2013 8:56:25 AM PDT
by
BipolarBob
(Happy Hunger Games! May the odds be ever in your favor.)
To: EveningStar
California widow: A married woman whose husband is away from her for any extended period
In the Navy they were called West Pac[ific] widows. The West Pac widows are generally thought to cheat on their husbands while they are out on deployment.
5
posted on
05/31/2013 8:57:58 AM PDT
by
Blood of Tyrants
(Inside every liberal and WOD defender is a totalitarian screaming to get out.)
To: EveningStar
Spermologer: A picker-up of trivia, of current news, a gossip monger, what we would today call a columnist — “The Word Museum: The Most Remarkable English Words Ever Forgotten” by Jeffrey Kacirk
6
posted on
05/31/2013 8:59:53 AM PDT
by
Windflier
(To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
To: BipolarBob
queerplunger
Ah, an extremely succinct way to describe a most typical Obama (or Dem) voter.
To: EveningStar
They missed my personal favourite: Bellytimber. Simply another word for FOOD.
8
posted on
05/31/2013 9:05:14 AM PDT
by
Don W
(There is no gun problem, there is a lack of humanity problem!)
To: EveningStar
Somehow, I imagine strange looks resulting from hearing, “The spermologer went lunging with his zaftig wonder-wench.”
9
posted on
05/31/2013 9:06:31 AM PDT
by
Tanniker Smith
(Rome didn't fall in a day, either.)
To: Blood of Tyrants
That one is still is use, sort of, football widows, for instance.
10
posted on
05/31/2013 9:07:45 AM PDT
by
Tanniker Smith
(Rome didn't fall in a day, either.)
To: Don W
wonder-wench...here I come to save the day!
To: EveningStar
Since the topic is usage, may I point out that the headline should be "18 obsolete words that never should have gone out of style"?
12
posted on
05/31/2013 9:12:40 AM PDT
by
oblomov
To: BipolarBob
I don't want to grow up to be a queerplunger. It's probably okay, as long as you don't jirble too much.
13
posted on
05/31/2013 9:13:39 AM PDT
by
workerbee
(The President of the United States is DOMESTIC ENEMY #1)
To: EveningStar
Resistentialism: The seemingly spiteful behavior shown by inanimate objects —
reminds me of JC Penney's hitler tea kettle.
14
posted on
05/31/2013 9:13:59 AM PDT
by
PuzzledInTX
(Everything will be OK in the end. If it is not OK, then it isn't the end.)
To: EveningStar
I rather miss ‘clotpole’.
15
posted on
05/31/2013 9:14:10 AM PDT
by
Bloody Sam Roberts
(For me, I plan to die standing as a free man rather than spend one second on my knees as a slave.)
To: EveningStar
Wow - so Chimpster never made the list....
16
posted on
05/31/2013 9:14:48 AM PDT
by
LadyBuck
(Strangeways, here we come....)
To: EveningStar
Oh well,,,, Flounder and founder today seem to mean the same thing.
To: EveningStar
I remember “right” and “wrong,” from back in the day.
18
posted on
05/31/2013 9:16:05 AM PDT
by
golux
To: LadyBuck
I guess niggardly is still valid then as well.
19
posted on
05/31/2013 9:16:47 AM PDT
by
BipolarBob
(I have sexdaily. Oops, I meant dyslexia.)
To: EveningStar
In Obamaland, I think the word “work” has gone out of style.
20
posted on
05/31/2013 9:16:49 AM PDT
by
Cowboy Bob
(Democrats: Robbing Peter to buy Paul's vote.)
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-68 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson
