As we wrapped “Weird Words” for 2024, your local vocab-lover focused on oddball terms starting and ending with the letter X. (This was an effort to finish out the Xmas theme that suffused our issues throughout December.)
So it seems logical to follow that with sets of words employing Y and Z — either at the start or the end. Let’s look at Y first, and save Z for later:
Brumby (BRUM-bee, noun) – Australian term for a wild, unbroken horse. I came upon this recently in Nevil Shute’s cult-fave novel A Town Like Alice (1950) — which makes a great excuse to plug this sadly neglected author, who was aptly nicknamed “the prince of storytellers.” Though On the Beach is his best-known, I prefer Pied Piper, Pastoral, Trustee from the Toolroom or the recently reissued Landfall.
Joukery (JOOK-uh-ree, noun) – Scottish word that means swindling or trickery. It’s a form of jouk, meaning to duck or dodge — with a related classic in the world of weird words: joukerypawkery (a.k.a., jiggery-pokery). Among many dictionaries, I could find that mouthful only in Merriam-Webster online — where it’s essentially a synonym for joukery. Good luck getting it past your spell-checker.
Numpty (NUMP-tee, noun) – Also Scottish slang, this means fool or idiot — any person lacking intelligence.
Sonsy (SAHN-zee, adj.) – Yet another slang term from the British isles, sonsy means buxom or attractive. The former of those two synonyms is a word we don’t use much anymore; it means: “vigorously or healthily plump,” “full-bosomed” or “full of gaiety” (again from MW online). Also spelled sonsie.
Syzygy (SIZZ-uh-jee, noun) – Complex term having to do with an alignment of three celestial bodies, such as the earth, the sun and another planet. I had to look up this charming word after hearing it in the 1986 movie Desert Bloom — another sadly neglected cultural artifact, in this case featuring what I consider Jon Voight’s finest performance.
(Note: This “syzygy” entry is reprised from an early “Weird Words” in 2023; but given our current theme, I couldn’t resist re-using a three-syllable word whose only vowel is Y!)
Thymy (TIE-mee, adj.) – This is simply the adjective form of thyme: “of, pertaining to, resembling, or characteristic thyme” (Dictionary.com).
Yashmak (YAHSH-mahk [or YASH-mack], noun) – Veil over the face worn by Muslim women in public.
Yemmer (YEM-uh, noun) – Only the massive and idiosyncratic Collins has this one: “a southwest English form of ember.” As in much regional British speech, the final R-sound is unpronounced. (As an example: Can’t you just hear a British person saying, “E’s veddy clev-uh.”)
On a cool side-note: If you follow this R-less pronunciation principle for Winnie-the-Pooh’s friend Eeyore, you get “EE-yaw” — which, of course, sounds exactly like a donkey braying.
Yobbo (YOB-oh, noun) – Hmm. We seem to be majoring in British slang this week. Here’s another from that category; it means “a teenage lout or hooligan.”
Ytterbium (ih-TURR-bee-um, noun) – A rare soft metal, element No. 70 on the periodic table. The similar ytterbite is a related mineral substance (a.k.a. gadolinite). According to Dictionary.com, both of these strange-sounding terms originate from Ytterby, a Swedish quarry where the metal was discovered.
Yurt (YURT, noun) – Another reprise from an earlier “Weird Words” (Oct. 2023), this can’t-leave-it-out Y-word indicates an Asian tent — a sort of dome made with skins stretched over latticework; similar to a wigwam.
Always seeking suggestions for future themes in these word columns (robbwhitefan@gmail.com). Happily, I was able to think of some decent groupings in recent weeks — and now you know Y.
