More Fun With Words

As promised, I've found a few more words that tickle, frustrate or confuse me, so I thought I'd share them:

Purblind:  People use this word all the time.  I wish I could find subtle ways to fit it into a sentence. For whatever reason, it sounds so erudite to me, even though all it means is that someone has impaired or defective vision or is dimwitted or slow to understand something.

Fey:  I like using this word, since it's beyond political correctness, although I'm sure the PC police will find some way to stigmatize its usage.  It means having a vague unwordliness, or being clairvoyant.

Orotundity:  This is almost an onomatopoeaic word:  It means bombastic, strong, fullness of voice.

Phumpher:  I give Loni Anderson, whose autobiography I read recently, credit for teaching me this one:  It's another onomatopoeaic word meaning to stutter to the point of incomprehensibility.  It can also mean to be evasive in word or deed, but if one is incomprehensible, I guess naturally one is evasive.

Ablute:  One of my favorite authors, Bill Bryson, brought me this word and, shamefully, I can't believe I didn't know about it.  I've known about doing one's morning ablutions for years.  Well, this is what one does for his ablutions:  He ablutes, or washes.

Parlous:  Another word I wish I could use freely.  Not that I have to pay to use it, I just can't seem to find ways to work it into my writings.  It means full of danger or uncertainty.

Feckless:  To be feckless is to be feeble, weak, ineffectual or irresponsible.  Somehow, saying someone is feeble or weak isn't nearly as insulting as calling him feckless, especially since the odds are great that he won't know it's meaning.  It does beg the question of whether one can be feckful, though.

Purchase:  I've always be intrigued by this word when it means grip or traction.  To gain purchase means, in a highfalutin way, to get a grip.

Truck:  Again, another common word that has an uncommon usage.  To have no truck with means to have nothing to do with something.  Evidently, it's based on a French term, troque, meaning barter or trade.  I'm glad, because I don't want to have to say I have no lorry with something.

Translucent:  Oddly, the first time I ever heard this word was on an episode of M*A*S*H involving Blythe Danner, the long-suffering mother of Gwyneth Paltrow.  Hawkeye Pierce, played by Alan Alda, uses it to describe his lover, played by Ms. Danner.  I've never forgotten it since I saw that episode.  It also goes to prove my parents were wrong when they said I couldn't learn anything useful from watching television.

Robust:  I enjoy the many uses of this word but always wondered about its origins.  It comes from the Latin robustus, for oaken, or strong.  That makes sense, since the Spanish word for oak is roble.

Erstwhile:  Hmmm, I enjoy using this term but wondered about its origins as well.  All I can find is that it was first used in 1569.  I have no truck with that.

Emacity:  This is for my girl.  I saw it on some goofy online test about one's vocabulary.  Its a fancy way of having a fondness for shopping.  That's all I'm going to say about this one.

Umbrage:  Another word of which I'm fond, I wondered at its origins, which are Latin for shade or shadow.  Makes sense to me.

Dongle:  When Karen first taught me this word, I thought she was making one up, like widgit or gadget.  Apparently, it's just a small piece of hardware that attaches to a computer.  The problem is, that could be just about anything these days which, for me, leads to endless confusion if someone asks for a dongle.

Callow:  This refers to someone of inexperience or someone lacking sophistication, typically in regards to a young person.  That's mildly amusing, because its origins are from the Middle English, Old English, Old German and Old Church Slavic for bald.  Just out of curiosity, I wonder if New German and New Church Slavic feel the same way about this.

Williwaw:  Reading John Ferling's account of the American Revolution, Almost a Miracle, taught me this one.  It means a blast of wind from a mountainous coast out to the sea.  I wish more weathermen would use this.

Pother:  Again, Mr. Ferling taught me this word.  When I first read it I thought I'd misread bother. This means mental turmoil or a confused or fidgety flurry of activity.  I wonder if I can be pothered. It's a fun word, nevertheless.

And with that, class is dismissed.

(c) 2014 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles