Word Journal

folie à deux

ragbag — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 16:47:29 +0100

noun •in psychiatry, a form of psychosis in which two people who are intimately associated come to share the same delusions.

also:

fait accompli・noun・something that has been done and cannot be reversed
flânerie・noun・leisurely strolling without a fixed destination
frisson・noun・a sudden, small quiver of fear or emotional excitement; a thrill.

bibliotaph

ragbag — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:40:02 +0100

noun • one who buries books by keeping them under lock and key.

fisselig

ragbag — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:50:45 +0100

adjective • rhymes with “thistle fish” • flustered to the point of incompetence

freols

ragbag — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 19:16:50 +0100

noun • a time of freedom; a day free from work

feax-fang

ragbag — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:33:10 +0000

noun • a taking hold by the hair

kassiber

ragbag — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 21:55:27 +0000

noun • a letter smuggled out of jail, a secret coded message.

this german loanword is derived from the yiddish word kessaw meaning “written.”

aread (verb) • to divine the meaning of obscure words, interpret a dream, or solve a riddle or...

ragbag — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:46:00 +0100

aread (verb) • to divine the meaning of obscure words, interpret a dream, or solve a riddle or enigma.

serendipitist (noun) • a person with an aptitude for making lucky discoveries by accident.

ululate (verb) • to howl or wail; to lament loudly.

these are some of the unusual words that make a cameo in the first chapter of a novel-length book that i wrote.

over at the ragbag (a component of the internet) i recently wrapped up my word summer series. i...

ragbag — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 14:35:00 +0100

over at the ragbag (a component of the internet) i recently wrapped up my word summer series. i have cross-posted a few of these here throughout the summer but because of trust issues, i have not posted all of them…until…now…so…here…you…go…

crookle · to coo as a pigeon
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis · a factitious word alleged to mean ‘a lung disease caused by the inhalation of very fine silica dust’ but ocurring chiefly as an instance of a very long word
gossipry · a body of gossips
pulvil · perfumed powder for powdering the wig
enatation · an escape by swimming
lakke · one hundred thousand items, especially coins
ben trovato · of a story: appropriate even if untrue
gongoozler · a person who stares at anything for a long time
belgard · a kind or loving look
palpebrous · having large eyebrows
tyromancy · divination by means of cheese
polydoggery · the keeping of a number of dogs

smogger

ragbag — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 02:20:25 +0100

noun • the road-sign language of hobos

the pictographic language has a rich history which is said to have been introduced into england in the time of henry viii. here is a great resource for many of these long-lost signs.

belgard

ragbag — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 17:35:12 +0100

noun • a kind or loving look

schlimmbesserung

ragbag — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 13:49:08 +0100

noun • a so-called improvement that makes things worse

tagavaka

ragbag — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 15:42:00 +0100

tagavaka:

noun • a boat that has purposely sailed away, for love, adventure, or suicide

tagavaka is a word from the tokelauan lanugauge. this article from gentlemen’s quarterly magazine explains:

Some-times boats are blown off course; there’s even a Tokelauan word for this: lelea. It’s theorized that the very existence of people on the island—it has been inhabited for a thousand years—is because a Polynesian canoe drifted off course. But there is also another, more complicated Tokelauan word: tagavaka. This applies to boats that have purposely sailed away—for love, adventure, or suicide. These days, Tokelauans commit suicide by driving into the open ocean until the gas runs out.

fribble

eush — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 22:17:47 +0100

verb • /frĭbˈəl/ • to waste; to fritter (something) away.

noun • a frivolity; a trifle; frivolous person.

frivoller

ragbag — Wed, 25 May 2011 16:54:48 +0100

noun • a person with no serious aim in life

zaftig/zoftig

kbkarma — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 13:48:46 +0100

adjective • (US) voluptuous, well-proportioned (to describe a woman)

From Yiddish זאַפֿטיק (zaftik, “juicy, fat”), from German saftig “juicy”.

inky: Stephen Fry on language: kinetic typography edition.

kbkarma — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 23:10:41 +0100

inky:

Stephen Fry on language: kinetic typography edition.

blatherskite

eush — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 02:07:26 +0100

noun • /’blaT͟Hərˌskīt/ • 1) a babbling, foolish person; a person who talks nonsense at great length. 2) foolish talk, nonsense.

sitzfleisch

ragbag — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:38:02 +0100

noun • the ability to endure a boring activity

from German sitzen ‘to sit’ and fleisch ‘flesh’

diegesis

kbkarma — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 13:54:30 +0000

noun • a narration or recitation.

From Ancient Greek διήγησις (diegesis, “narration”), from διηγέομαι (diegeomai, “(I) narrate”).

prolepsis

kbkarma — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 13:44:51 +0000

noun • IPA: /pɹoʊˈlɛpsɪs/ • 1) the assignment of something to a period of time that precedes it (rhetoric). 2) the anticipation of an objection to an argument (logic). 3) a construction that consists of placing an element in a syntactic unit before that to which it would logically correspond (grammar, rhetoric). 4) a so-called “preconception”, ie a pre-theoretical notion which can lead to try knowledge of the world (philosophy). 5) growth in which lateral branches develop from a lateral meristem, after the formation of a bud or following a period of dormancy, when the lateral meristem is split from a terminal meristem (botany)

From Latin prolepsis, in turn from Ancient Greek πρόληψις (prolepsis, “preconception, anticipation”), from the verb προλαμβάνω (prolambano, “(I) take beforehand, anticipate”), itself from προ- (pro, “before”) and λαμβάνω (lambano, “(I) take”).