This week, Webb’s World of Weird Words marks its 20th installment.
In honor of that auspicious occasion, I’ve chosen 20 unusual terms from page 20 of my long-running oddball vocabulary list. (Pronunciation only where necessary.)
Besprent (adj., bee-SPRENT) – Old-fashioned word meaning sprinkled or strewn.
Brume (noun) Mist or fog. Related to brief, it comes from “brevima,” Latin for shortest, referring to the Winter Solstice (shortest day), when this climatic phenomenon might often be seen.
Ciguatera (noun, see-gwa-TURR-uh) – Tropical disease caught from eating certain reef fish. The bad news is that ciguatoxins cannot be destroyed by cooking, and there is no treatment. Good news: rarely fatal; usually clears up on its own.
Cnidarian (noun, nie-DARE-ee-un) – Phylum of marine invertebrates (hydra, jellyfish, anemone, etc.) with stingers around the mouth. Also called coelenterate (si-LEN-turr-ate).
Dight (adj., rhymes with bite) – Adorned or dressed. Another archaic word, it’s related to deck, as in “deck the halls”; fittingly, it occurs in Dickens’s Christmas Carol, where the Crachits’ pudding is “bedight with Christmas holly.”
Elapid (noun, ELL-uh-pid) – Any venomous snake whose fangs are permanently erect. (By contrast, many species—like rattlesnakes and Gaboon vipers—have retractable teeth.) The elapids include king cobras, coral snakes, kraits and black mambas.
Fribble (verb) – To act in a foolish, frivolous or wasteful manner (“Stop fribbling and get back to work!”). Also a noun for such a person or object: “Don’t waste your money on such fribbles.”
Gank (verb) – To rob or steal. According to dictionary.com, it is also video-game slang for a killing where the perpetrator has an unfair advantage.
Hau (noun, HOW) – Either of two types of trees, one shrubby and tropical (used in making boats), the other taller and West Indian (used for cabinets and gunstocks). Also called majagua (muh-HOG-wuh).
Helve (noun, one syllable) – The handle of a tool or weapon; haft.
Josser (noun) – British slang for fellow, chap—often one who is old or foolish; in Australia, it can refer to a clergyman. (Let’s hope those meanings aren’t interchangeable!)
Mingy (adj.) – A blend of mean and stingy; that’s its definition—and it will help you pronounce it, too.
Picaroon (noun, pik-uh-ROON) – Rogue, vagabond, thief or pirate; also a verb for acting like one.
Pishogue (noun, pi-SHOHG [rhymes with rogue]) – An Irish word meaning spell, hex, sorcery or witchcraft.
Snickersnee (noun, snik-ur-SNEE) – Another now obsolete term, it means knife (esp. when used as a weapon); or a knife fight. Related to stick.
Sprog (noun) – Child or baby. In Britain, a military recruit or newbie; in Australia, humorous slang meaning to produce children.
Swaddy (noun) – Also British slang for a soldier; possibly related to squaddie.
Testudinate (adj. or noun; te-STOOD-in-it [or -ATE]) – While this sounds like some kind of slightly obscene verb, it is actually a reptilian order that includes turtles, tortoises and terrapins. Derived from testudo, an armored, movable, hut-like shelter used by Roman soldiers as a siege weapon.
Tohubohu (noun, toe-hoo-BOE-hoo) – An ancient Hebrew word meaning disorder, chaos or confusion; used in Genesis 1:2 to describe the void out of which God brought all creation. The two halves of the word also appear separately, but with parallel construction, in Isaiah 34:11.
Yurt (noun) – Common but still entertaining word for an Asian tent—a sort of dome made of skins stretched over latticework; similar to a wigwam.
To close on an even lighter note: How about the patient who told his psychologist that he kept having weird dreams—sometimes he had turned into a wigwam, and other times a tepee. “I know what your problem is,” said the good doctor. “You’re two tents.”
Ha ha. See you here next week.
