This week, Webb’s “Weird Words” attempts to set its own record by offering no less than 34 oddball vocabulary terms — thereby matching the number of columns we’ve reached so far in this pawky series.
Here goes:
Acus (AY-kuss, noun) – A needle used in surgery. Relatedly, it’s a shortened synonym for aculeus, which dictionary.com defines in this charming fashion: “the modified ovipositor or sting of certain hymenopterous insects.”
Berberis (BUR-bur-us, noun) – When I first encountered this word, I thought it was a typo for the thiamine-deficiency disease beriberi; but that just shows my slender knowledge of horticulture!
Berberis is actually a common alternate name for the barberry, a widespread, yellow-flowered shrub (also, its fruit).
Carcajou (KAR-kuh-joo, noun) – Another name for the wolverine — a shaggy-haired weasel relative found in frigid northern regions. According to Wikipedia, it has “a reputation for ferocity and strength out of proportion to its size” and is also known as a quickhatch. That latter, a Cree term, is actually a cognate of carcajou, which in turn comes from a First Nation people of Canada called Montagnais or Innu.
In any case, you can kinda see why U of Michigan went with Wolverines instead.
Dadoes (DAY-doze, noun) – Plural form of dado, an architectural term for the part of a pedestal above the base — or the lower portion of a wall; also, a rectangular groove used in woodworking.
I listed the plural form out of personal interest, as I spent years teaching Philip K. Dick’s amazing novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, basis for the 1982 movie Blade Runner. The original title is such a mouthful that I always abbreviated it DADOES in lessons and assignments.
That’s probably not what the author had in mind — but honestly, with Dick, you never can tell.
Eisteddfod (AY-steth-vod, noun) – Annual festival involving poets, musicians and other artists. Another word that looks like a typo — unless you know it’s Welsh, where odd spellings and pronunciations are quite common (see, for instance, crwth, kistvaen and cwm).
Lum (LUM, noun) – Scots word for chimney. According to the generously inclusive Collins English Dictionary, Scots also has lumhat, meaning top hat. (Somehow, one can’t help suspecting those two meanings are related!)
Potoo (poe-TOO, noun) – Collins defines this as “any of several nocturnal tropical American birds of the genus Nyctibius.”
Other weird bird names include shag, loon, lory, lorikeet, barbet, oropendola, troupial, jacana, pochard, motmot, frogmouth, booby, hoatzin, bustard, kakapo and titmouse (aka tomtit; see also the related bushtit).
Phew! One of these days, we’ll have a whole weird-words column devoted solely to oddball birds. (Suggestions welcome at robbwhitefan@gmail.com.)
Qiviut (KEE-vee-ut, noun) – Again from dictionary.com: “the soft, dense, light-brown woolly undercoat of the musk ox, used in making fabrics.”
Subfusc (sub-FUSK, adjective) – Dull, drab, dingy, dark. A shortened form of subfuscous.
Wickiup (WIK-ee-up, noun) – From one of my go-to dictionaries, the wonderful 1970 American Heritage: “a frame hut covered with matting, bark, brush, or the like, used by the nomadic Indians of North America.” Related to the similarly built wigwam, it can also be spelled without the C.
Attentive readers will note only 10 entries here — and perhaps wonder about the 34 I promised at the outset. For the other two dozen: They occur in individual entries — like the birds, or the goofy term in my very first sentence.
You can look those up on your own … if you can find ’em all!
