The Cemetery of Lost Words by Connie Berry

                                                      Tom Gauld. Used with permission.
 

My favorite line in J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan describes Captain Hook: “The man is not wholly evil—he has a thesaurus in his cabin.” 

I love that. Words are important. They convey meaning and create an intellectual and emotional response. Since we know words can hurt or heal, we should be certain ours are understood.

 

Some words are imprecise, flabby, and liable to misinterpretation. Other words nail the intended thought with such clarity and precision that the mind of the hearer or reader is enlightened and enlarged. I admire people—even Captain Hooks—who know interesting and beautiful words and use them with skill and artistry. That’s the job of the writer, after all.

The English language has no shortage of words. One million is the current estimate, with more added each year. In 2019, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary added almost 700 new words, phrases, and definitions, including buzzy (speculative or excited talk or attention); snowflake (someone who is overly sensitive); and unplug (temporarily refrain from using electronic devices).

 

 My interest isn’t so much in the new words being created as in the old words being lost through neglect—or downgraded in meaning. I agree with those who say, “Don’t use a fancy word when a plain one will do.” The problem is sometimes a plain word just won’t do.

With that in mind, I’ve compiled a list of eight delightful forgotten or endangered words I think we should use more often so as to preserve them for future generations.

1. Eventide: the onset of dusk or twilight; a lovely word to use when all is right with the world, and it’s time to sit on the porch with your sweetie and a glass of wine.

 

2. After-wise: the feeling of knowing exactly what you should have said or done when the opportunity to say it or do it has passed you by. Yup.

 

3. Susurration: the whispering, murmuring, or rustling of wind or water; a perfect example of onomatopoeia (another endangered word).

 

4. Bunbury: to get out of a commitment by inventing an imaginary person you must visit; from Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Ernest, where Algernon invents a sick friend named Bunbury as an excuse to avoid his relatives. Secondary meaning: to galavant around (another word in danger of being forgotten) under a false identity. The first bunburying often leads to the second.

 

5. Slugabed: a person who stays in bed long after the usual or proper time to get up; helpful when raising teenagers.

 

6. Énoument: the bittersweetness of having arrived in the future and seeing how things turn out, but not being able to tell your past self.

 

7. Ephemeral: lasting for a very short time; fleeting; transitory. A word used primarily by those over fifty.

 

8. Chimerical: hoped-for but illusory and impossible to achieve; or something that exists only as the product of unchecked imagination, like Big Foot or world peace.

 

 I read a fascinating article recently on the subject of lost words by Wilfrid M. McKay in The Hedgehog Review (Fall 2019). McKay said, “Like a lover of endangered species, the lover of endangered words jumps for joy when he sees a word being rescued, and is grateful when a writer restores to currency a semantic possibility that had fallen into desuetude. It is as if a lovely antique table has been rediscovered after many years of gathering dust up in the attic, and when brought downstairs and cleaned up and polished, imparts a splendor and unbought grace to the room that no shiny new object could possibly match.”

 

Do you have some favorite old words? How about a favorite author who makes you get out your dictionary and thesaurus? What words do you hope we save for future generations?

WORDS by Nancy L. Eady

            I love the fact that English is a changing language. Based on the times we live in, recent inventions, new slang expressions and circumstances, the English language is constantly evolving, adding new words while allowing other words to become obsolete. For example, the Oxford English Dictionary, which attempts to define every word and certain phrases in the English language, has made 21 changes to its massive dictionary solely based on Covid-19—new words, sub-entries or revisions and additions to existing definitions. They moved up their normal quarterly update to catalog those changes.

            Which leads me to one of my shameful secrets—I am a hopeless word nerd and subscribe to the Oxford English Dictionary’s “word of the day” emails. The words they select to share range over a broad variety of subjects, and they don’t always mean what they sound like they should mean.  

            For example, one word was “bombogenesis.”  Looking at it, you might think the word refers to the initial stages used in manufacturing a bomb. But no, “bombogenesis” describes a sudden drop in barometric pressure in the center of an extratropical storm.

            Then there was the word “pacation.”  Since one of the earlier daily words had been “staycation,” I could be forgiven for thinking “pacation” referred to a vacation you pay for. Nope. “Pacation” is the act of calming, or pacifying someone down, or the state of being peaceful or appeasement. I’m not sure when “pacation’s” heyday was, but it is rare now.

            The word “ayuh” sounds like it was an Indian word that revolved into the English language during England’s occupation of India. Instead, it means “yes,” chiefly used in New England and especially Maine.

            Once the writers lure you into believing none of the daily words’ meanings can be deduced from the way they sound or look, they hit you with a word like “cox-combery,” which means conceitedness, vanity, pretentious affectation or [here’s another good word] foppery. That meaning is foreshadowed from the word’s spelling.

            Some words are just fun to say, like “simi-dimi,” an English word from the Caribbean, mostly Trinidad. It refers to mumbo jumbo or meaningless, elaborate rituals.

            As you will have already noticed from these words, a lot of nations contribute words to our language. For example, were you aware of “Nigerian English”?  The word “bukateria” is from Nigerian English. A bukateria is a roadside restaurant or stall with seating that sells cooked food at low prices.

            I saved the best word for last— “quank.”  A quank sounds like a confused or grumpy sub-atomic particle or a cranky duck. The cranky duck idea isn’t so far from the mark—to “quank” is to utter a harsh croaking or honking cry.

            So what are the interesting words you’ve found? 

An English Curmudgeon by Nancy L. Eady

As both a writer and voracious reader, I am a fan of the English language. I love its variety, flexibility and changeability. But every so often words and phrases creep into the language or morph into a form that drives me crazy, akin to Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe’s loathing the use of “contact” as a verb.

Phrases that have infiltrated American English that make me cringe when I hear (or even worse, use) them include “at risk,” “actually,” “reach out to” and “it is what it is.” 

“At risk” is a phrase promoted by the 24-hour news media crowd. “Your child is at risk for measles” sounds exponentially more urgent than “one out of 1000 children catch measles each year.”  (None of the children in the United States should catch measles; they should be vaccinated against them.)  If I am told I am at risk for heart disease, flu or just catching a cold, I am more concerned than if I am told that there is a chance that I could develop or catch the same thing.  What the people using that phrase don't mention is that I am also at risk for winning the lottery, flying to the moon and winning the Nobel Peace Prize - but I'm not holding my breath for any of those things to happen soon, either!  And, if you think about it, everyone who has been born as “at risk” of dying sometime.

“Actually” has become an overused meaningless filler word. Most of the time, I hear “actually” in sentences such as “I actually went to the store and bought groceries.”  Well, yes, I assumed you did “actually” go to the store; I didn't think you sent your evil twin instead. I suppose the argument could be made that “actually” is meant to indicate personal presence as opposed to “virtual” which would indicate that a person viewed or did something by computer, but most of the people who use the word interminably are not trying to be that precise. People use “actually” now much in the way we used to say “ummm...” when we didn't know what to say. Perhaps it’s time to stop “actually” doing things, and simply do them.

I started hearing “reach out” from salespeople in high-tech fields first. Legal research engines, website designers, cable providers and other such businesses’ sales representatives started “reaching out” to me to see if I was interested in any of the various products they were selling. Every time I see the phrase in an email, I have this image of a zombie apocalypse with millions of zombies stumbling towards me with their hands “reaching out.” And let’s not overlook the fact that the six words “I’m reaching out to you to…”  can be deleted from most emails without the content or intent of the email suffering in any form. For example, “I’m reaching out to you to see if you are satisfied with your data plan” means the same thing as “Are you satisfied with your data plan?” 

“It is what it is” is the English equivalent of “c’est la vie,” the spoken equivalent of a shrug. The phrase usually pops up after a minutes long discourse on an existing evil, serious problem, or irritating issue about which nothing can be done. It carries a defeatist message, doesn’t it?  If “it is what it is,” it (whatever “it” is) can’t be fixed. I like to solve problems, not let them defeat me.

I am grateful that “reaching out” and “at risk” manage to stay out of my spoken and written vocabulary. I have caught myself using “actually” and “it is what it is.” And even though I am an avid Nero Wolfe fan, I use “contact” as a verb as well as a noun. Even (or especially!) curmudgeons aren’t perfect.

What phrases or words (profanity doesn’t count; that’s a different issue) make you cringe when you hear or read them?  I’d love to know that I’m not the only English curmudgeon out there!