Words Wednesday: Surprising Words (I)

Sometimes words simply can take us by surprise.

We can be amazed that a word even exists for a particular concept, even when one might have thought it unnecessary to have one in the first place.

Take a look at this batch of words and see how many surprise you.

an aglet (circled)

acronymania – a craze for forming acronyms
adespota – anonymous works
agelast – someone who never laughs
aglet – the tag on the end of a lace
amphibology – a phrase or sentence
that is ambiguous in its construction

angels’ share – the amount of a spirit lost
in a cask through evaporation
aristology – the art of dining

save a share for the angels.

Balmorality – enthusiasm for the superficial
trappings of Scottish culture
batology – the study of brambles
beblubbered – disfigured by weeping

bedizen – to dress gaudily
callipygous – having beautiful buttocks
deipnosophist – a person who converses
learnedly at dinner
dreikanter – a pebble faceted by windblown sand
emunctory – relating to nose-blowing

fipple

fipple – (in wind instruments) the plug
in the mouthpiece
flew – the pendulous upper lip of
a bloodhound or similar dog
flimp – to rob (someone) while
a partner hustles
floccinaucinihilipilification – setting
at little or no value (facetious)
genethliac – relating to a birthday
or the casting of horoscopes

genethliac - relating to horoscopes

incede – to advance majestically
Jonah word – a particular word that
is a problem for a stammerer
kakistocracy – government by the worst
kreng – a whale carcass after the
blubber has been removed
logomachy – contention about
words or in words

More next week when we conclude our look at these words which may surprise you.

* All words in this blog post have been supplied by The 12^th edition of The Chambers Dictionary. ISBN 97805501002379