I was amused to see this list over at Raconteur Press's Substack. Click the image for a larger view.
I've used literally all of them - they're more common in English-English than in American-English. To one, however, there hangs a tail (you should pardon the expression).
Shortly after I came to this country, thirty years ago, I noticed a number of references to berries that I hadn't encountered in South Africa. There were blueberries, and white mulberries, and more. However, although I occasionally heard the term "dingleberry", I never saw one. Intrigued, I asked a family one day (with whom I was staying for a few days) where I could find "dingleberries".
You can imagine my puzzlement when the father cracked up laughing, the mother had to leave the table with her hands clasped to her face and her shoulders shaking from suppressed merriment, and the two daughters blushed red as roses. When Dad stopped laughing, he explained the true meaning of the word ( for the benefit of non-American readers, it's the third meaning of the noun in the list provided).
My innocence shattered, I declined the opportunity to sample a dingleberry pie . . .
Peter
You might be surprised at how many of those words are Gaelic...
ReplyDeleteWhile I've heard of virtually all of them, I've used virtually none of them. Maybe once or twice, decades ago.
ReplyDeleteAs an engineer, I note that "framastat", "3 pronged gidget" and "kneuden valve" were omitted from the list.
ReplyDeleteHave a Good Day👋
👽
I've used them all. My favorite, which I routinely work into sentences in my classroom, is kerfuffle. In fact saw a t-shirt online just yesterday which said "Off to start a kerfuffle". I can't believe that most people don't know them but maybe it depends on your social circles. I grew up in Canada so more English influence back then.
ReplyDeleteBest misuse of any of the words I've ever seen was canoodle, which for the uninitiated and per Websters, means "to engage in amorous embracing, caressing, and kissing". Saw a male news announcer state that later on he and the female host would be doing a bit of canoodling. She stated in no uncertain terms that they would NOT. I think she was trying to be professional and not die laughing but the male host was completely confused. Can't remember what the topic was so don't know which word he meant to use.
In the land of Oz, dingle berries are the little corks that hang on strings or balls of material that hang from the hats of those who live in the outback. The swinging items shoo the flies away. The Abo's wear their hair long and pull it around in front of their faces to the same effect.
ReplyDeleteDefenestration is my favorite. Some years ago during a blizzard the mayor of Boston had to plead with people to stop throwing themselves out of windows into deep snowbanks because hidden cars were causing injuries. Thus was born the political position of Antiautodefenestrationism.
ReplyDeleteOld Daffy Duck episode - "The Scarlet Pumpernickel".
ReplyDelete