Thirteen Medieval Words Ripe for a Comeback

EF Education First ^ | Culture o

[Chicory]

13. Sparple

This word is not only fun to say, it can also come in handy. It means to deflect attention from one thing by making a big deal of something else entirely.

[Chicory]

This is a list of 13 words from Medieval times that the authors thought should "make a comeback." Well, I knew around 10 of the words, but this word I thought we really do need!

Apart from it's silliness, the action it esxribes happens so frequently nowadays that I think we need it.

[Chicory]

Oops! it’s = its, and esxribes = describes

[Melinda in TN]

My Irish grandmother used ‘flummoxed’ a lot.

[PGR88]

According to Google, modern usage of flummoxed is trending hard. Its a good word!

[griffin]

True! Fun article. Thanks!

[dfwgator]

I recall Rush Limbaugh used “flummoxed” a lot.

[griffin]

Oh, i thought you were being cheeky and demonstrating a few medeval words of your own. :)

[Chad C. Mulligan]

Quixotic, Sinecure, Flummox, Blandish, Nefarious, Garrulous, Fastidious.....All pretty common today, at least in MY vocabulary. But “sparple”? I like it. An appropriate word for certain FR posters, so I’ll start using it regularly.

[Dr. Sivana]

I use flummox, sinecure, nefarious, fastidious, quixotic occasionally without trying to be medieval or obscure. While sinecure might technically be a late medieval word in English, it is barely translated Latin going back a LOT farther.

[oldplayer]

This is a fun article. Some of these words are perfect.

BTW EF Education sponsors a pretty solid Tour d’France bicycle racing team/

[Leaning Right]

I don’t think you should have apologized for typing “esxribes”. Instead pass it off as another medieval word. And who knows? Maybe it will catch on.

esxribe: To provide an essential description of something.

[chajin]

Sparple sounds like a carbonated drink brand

[Rurudyne]

I use about half of them already.

[Allegra]

My Irish grandmother used ‘flummoxed’ a lot.

So did my dad, who was raised by his Irish parents.

[Rurudyne]

Or a MLP dragon.

[FrozenAssets]

Does a fopdoodle emit flapdoodle?

[Melinda in TN]

My grandfather’s family were Scottish, and my grandmother’s family were Irish. When we were little, they called us their little ‘Tulla Tulla’s”. I finally looked it up and Tulla is a medieval town in Ireland. I think it’s called Tulloch now, according to a search of the name.

My grandfather called city dwellers ‘lowlanders or flatlanders’ and mountain people ‘highlanders’. I am descended from the original hillbillies of the Appalachians since the 1700’s. LOL

[ealgeone]

esxribes

Could pass for ebonics.

[A strike]

projection

[metmom]

I’ve seen people use nefarious fairly regularly.