“Weird Words” is the name of this column — but I’m sure readers can tell that vocab isn’t the only off-the-wall aspect of these pieces; the writer has his eccentricities, too. Chief among these is an apparent inability to finish any given set of weird words in one column; last month, for instance, I launched
“What on earth does that mean?” This query is pretty much the only connection between our new list of weird words and its publication date: Earth Day — April 22. Currently standing at exactly 3200 oddball terms, my running list tends to generate that question when others look through it. But, sad to say, I
Here at Weird Words, I could never do these columns without a good dictionary — several, in fact. At the same time, I also couldn’t do them if I had to check every single word in every dictionary I own. (Trust me — that is starting to get out of hand.) So I have 5-6
According to Britannica’s website, there may have been two men named Valentine — both dating back to ancient times. Both were Christian martyrs, while one was patron saint of lovers — though he’s also associated with epileptics and beekeepers. Since this doesn’t sound terribly romantic, I tend to sidestep Valentine-related terms here at “Weird Words”
Happy New Year! And welcome back to Webb’s Weird Words; we were on a multi-week hiatus while your local linguist labored on seasonal fare like Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life. And while we’re on the welcome wagon: a hearty “Woo-hoo!” for the exciting new update of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Released in November, the
Happy New Year! And welcome back to Webb’s Weird Words; we were on a multi-week hiatus while your local linguist labored on seasonal fare like Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life. And while we’re on the welcome wagon: a hearty “Woo-hoo!” for the exciting new update of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Released in November, the