WORD POWER 1
Crambazzled
(adjective)
- prematurely aged by drinking
Origin : Yorkshire slang. 19th
century English.
Example: Keith Richards looked crambazzled after a
lifetime of rock ‘n’ roll.
Ostrobogulous
(adjective)
-bizarre
Origin : Unknown
Example : Her whimsical book contained many
ostrobogulous drawings.
Fornale
(verb)
- spend money before you’ve earned it
Origin: 15th century English
Example: When the ship docked, the sailors
fornaled two days before payday.
Cagg
(noun)
- vow not to get drunk
Origin: Military slang. 19th
century English
Example:
Macrology
(noun)
- tedious and empty talk
Origin: Greek macros (long) and logos
(word)
Example: The party was rich in macrology.
Accidie
(noun)
-apathy
Origin: Latin accidia (listlessness)
Example: His accidie deepened as he waited on
Platform 8.
Quidnunc
(noun)
- someone desperate to know what’s going on
Origin: Latin quid nunc (what now?)
Example:
Dudgeon
(noun)
- resentful anger
Origin: Old English (the wood used to make
dagger hilts)
Example: He stormed off the American Idol
set in high dudgeon.
Deipnosophist
(noun)
- brilliant dining companion
Origin: Greek deipnon (dinner) and sophos
(wise)
Example: The deipnosophist made up for the
salmon mousse.
Cachinnate
(verb)
- laugh loudly
Origin: Latin chachinnare (laugh loudly)
Example:
Dundrearies
(noun)
- long side-whiskers
Origin: Victorian English(Lord Dundreary in
the 1858 play our American Cousin)
Example:
Godwottery
(noun)
- pretentious use of old language
Origin: 19th century English
exclamation, ‘God wot!’
Example: Stephen Fry likes to mock
godwottery on television.
Philtrum
(noun)
- groove below the nose
Origin: Latin philtrum
Example: There was a thin moustache
nestling on his philtrum.
Smidsy
(noun)
- a motorbike accident
Origin: 20th century acronym
(Sorry Mate, I Didn’t See You)\
Example: The greasy road surface led to a
boom in smidsies.
Brendice
(noun)
- cup used to drink to another’s health
Origin: 17th century English
Example: We raised a brendice to absent
friends.
Taken from : Reader's Digest April 2011