Vest-Pocket Vocabulary
Oxyph’ony, n. shrillness of voice.
Word in the Wild: Alex wanted to enter the political life, but was held back by a devastating case of oxyphony.
This word hails from at least 1769, according to the OED, and is a compound of oxy-, meaning keen, sharp or acid, and -phony, meaning sound or tone.
You can find a complete listing of the Word Blog’s Vest-Pocket Vocabulary entries and learn more about where they come from here.
Gonna catch a big one!
For as long as I can remember I’ve been completely fascinated by lexicography. I remember the second time* I went sans parents to the big mall in the city where I grew up… I was in seventh grade and I had saved up $20.00 for the outing. I had to hang on to half my money for the movie my friend Sue and I were going to see, and I was determined to get something fantastic with the other half.
We wandered around the whole place (probably twice), killing time before the show. Luckily she was as bookish as I was and didn’t mind spending a large chunk of that time in the bookstore. I don’t remember what she took home that day, but I bought an Oxford dictionary. It was totally awesome. (It was also the 1980s.) It was 4″ x 6″ with a 3″ spine, and I just knew it was chockablock with words I’d never met. We leafed through it in the theatre, waiting for the show to start, and I kept meandering through it in the years to come. I’m sure I looked up the occasional word, but that dictionary was something I read more for pleasure than for reference.
And I suspect that as a reader of this blog you’re also more than a little interested in dictionaries and the art of compiling them, so I thought I’d share this excellent TED talk with you. In it Erin McKean shares her passion for lexicography.
“When you think about words, you can make beautiful expressions from very humble parts. Lexicography is really about material science. We are studying the tolerances of the materials that you use to build the structure of your expressions, your speeches and your writing.” —Erin McKean
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*My first unchaperoned mall outing also resulted in a bookish purchase: The Complete Works of Shakespeare. It certainly sounded fancy and cultured, and it was handsomely bound (probably in leatheresque vinyl or something) with gilt-edged pages. How could I resist?
Sue and I divvied up the characters in Romeo & Juliet and performed the play (to the best of our hilariously limited abilities) in my room when we got home. I’m not sure we understood most of it, but we did have fun. And even when the plays were too hard for me, I did like the sonnets a lot.
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary
Noctil’ucous, a. shining in the night or dark.
Word in the Wild: My favourite part of going to Las Vegas is walking the strip and admiring the noctilucous neon lights.
You can find a complete listing of the Word Blog’s Vest-Pocket Vocabulary entries and learn more about where they come from here.
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary
Med’icaster, n. a quack who brags of cures.
Word in the Wild: The worst part of insomnia is watching all the overnight infomercials just brimming with medicasters.
You can find a complete listing of the Word Blog’s Vest-Pocket Vocabulary entries and learn more about where they come from here.
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary
Loo’by, n. a lubber; a clumsy fellow.
Word in the Wild: I thought our dog would outgrow that awkward puppy stage, but he’s eight years old now and still a total looby.
You can find a complete listing of the Word Blog’s Vest-Pocket Vocabulary entries and learn more about where they come from here.
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary
Jet’ter, n. a spruce fellow; one who struts.
Word in the Wild: “I saw your brother at the bar last night and, my goodness, doesn’t he think he’s quite the jetter!”
You can find a complete listing of the Word Blog’s Vest-Pocket Vocabulary entries and learn more about where they come from here.
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary
Insci’ence, n. an ignorant state.
Word in the Wild: “Don’t keep me in inscience, Monty! I’m dying to know what’s behind curtain number three!”
You can find a complete listing of the Word Blog’s Vest-Pocket Vocabulary entries and learn more about where they come from here.
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary
Heb’etate, v. to dull; to stupefy.
Word in the Wild: Heather always found that a giant portion of mac and cheese did more to hebetate than fortify her. Yet for some reason she always went back for seconds anyway.
You can find a complete listing of the Word Blog’s Vest-Pocket Vocabulary entries and learn more about where they come from here.
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary
Glose, v. to flatter.
Word in the Wild: Ruby was always amazed at her son’s ability to suddenly glose and fawn whenever he found himself needing the car.
This Vest-Pocket word, also spelled gloze, has been around since the 13oos, but it’s only rarely used now. You’ll sometimes find it used in the phrase “glose it” as in, “if you need to get something from her try glosing it.”
You can find a complete listing of the Word Blog’s Vest-Pocket Vocabulary entries and learn more about where they come from here.
