
Words we don’t want to lose - ohjeez
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20171122-twenty-six-words-we-dont-want-to-lose
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klenwell
A lot of these words strike me as arcane and obscure. Keep them in the OED,
mention them in articles like this, but I don't see them having a lot of
practical usage.

I do have a special affection for the words fingerpost and mountweazel. I'll
often use mountweazel as a sort of easter-egg/test page in my new web projects
(e.g.
[https://sweeperscalendar.com/mountweazel](https://sweeperscalendar.com/mountweazel))

I think Cassandra is a more deserving epithet for women nowadays than
Xanthippe.

Finally, a few favorite terms of mine somewhat in this vein:

\- ramshackle

\- crackpot

\- dogeared

\- touchstone

None of these words are lost but they are expressive and exemplify a kind of
poetry that words can sometimes capture.

~~~
ohjeez
You don't want a word to capture the wonderfulness of lazing around on Sunday
morning? _What kind of monster are you?_

"The difference between the right word and the nearly right word is the same
as the difference between lightning and the lighting bug." —Mark Twain

~~~
klenwell
What find of monster? A frumious frowster who, while he certainly appreciates
the rightness of such a term, would argue that it's already lost.

I've certainly never seen the word used before and fully never expect to hear
it again. On the other hand, I do come across the French expression, "la
grasse matinée"[0], (even in an English context) every once in a while and
would expect to hear "I enjoyed a nice fat morning in bed" before I ever hear
something like "I had a grand old frowst".

Now then, back to my regularly-scheduled frowst.

[0]
[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:French_idioms#F](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:French_idioms#F)

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xelxebar
For the fellow logophiles out there:

[http://phrontistery.info](http://phrontistery.info)

It's one of the coolest dictionaries of obscure words I've run across!
Similarly, the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is quite excellent:

[http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/](http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/)

~~~
mromanuk
I desperately need to connect with the logophile community. I'm building a
"mobile game keyboard" where words get scored, based on the frequency of use
in the language. Less frequency, more score. The obscure words should get,
even a higher score.

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mc32
My favorite would be: Those.

To endure with grace.

