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
15 comments:
You might be surprised at how many of those words are Gaelic...
While I've heard of virtually all of them, I've used virtually none of them. Maybe once or twice, decades ago.
As an engineer, I note that "framastat", "3 pronged gidget" and "kneuden valve" were omitted from the list.
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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.
Best 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.
Defenestration 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.
Old Daffy Duck episode - "The Scarlet Pumpernickel".
My husband's favorite word to confuse students with was plethora. He once was called into the office because he told a student their behavior was asinine. From that point forward, the student's vocabulary words became far more 'interesting.'
I and my fellow American work buds at RAF Spadeadam in the mid 90s learned that 'fanny pack' did not have the same meaning in England as in the US.
What about skiwampus, fiddly, and sparking?
In Oz the fecal build-ups in sheep's wool around the anus are known as "dags". When dry they rattle with movement,
So being told "to rattle your dags" is to get a move on
Wobblecotted, meaning damaged beyond proper functionality
lol... only two that I havent used and many of them are common usage for me and my family. My daughters get a lot of comments on their vocabulary and it's breadth. They grew up with me a obsessive compulsive reader and my wife who is a grade school, school teacher. If only their massive vocabulary directly translated in to better grades! lol.
Also one of my favorite breads
Gobsmacked.
Doohickey.
Zounds!
Chicanery.
Nitpick.
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