Dakota Beacon

Paying attention to and playing with words becomes second nature to a person who writes. We live at a time of prolific word creation and new words are invented every year. In 2019 alone Merriam-Webster Dictionary added over 1,100 new words. Unfortunately, many young people, especially social media regulars, have little appreciation for the rich repository of archaic English words.

And then there are words that never quite made it into popular diction. As a light break from the heavier screed produced in The Passing Scene, the following comprise a rather curious read. Consider some of these underdogs.

Start with absquatulate. (If you do, you’ll clean it up!) Actually, this means to leave or flee – which I trust you will not do with this column.

To honey-fuggle (get your mind out of the gutter!) means the same as hornswoggle, that is, to cheat, swindle, or deceive. Such actions would possibly be committed by a snollygoster, a word identifying a dishonest politician. Could this person possibly commit talknophical assumnacy? Let’s see. From the editor of the Columbus Dispatch of October 1895 came this tidbit. “A Georgia editor kindly explains that ‘a snollygoster is a fellow who wants office, regardless of party, platform, or principles, and who, whenever he wins, gets there by the sheer force of monumental talknophical assumnacy.’” Nothing like a big-talking bloviater, a pompous and opinionated commentator. That would be a close cousin to a slangwhanger, a politician or editor who attacks the opposition. You betcha!

Back to talknophical assumnacy. The Old English Dictionary has no definition for this term. It has been used but never defined and resides in the outer regions of the lexical universe. It might best be described as a portmanteau, that is, a word whose form and meaning are derived from the blending of two or more word forms. In this case, talknophical could be composed of “talk” and “philosophical.” Assumnacy might combine “assume” and “obstinacy.” Used in context, it could imply gritty political battles coupled with grandstanding. I’ll take it.

Moving right along, if you are looking for a really rare word try “effumability” which means the ability to be converted into a vapor. Effumability is known to have been used only once by Robert Boyle, founder of Boyle’s Law, in his 1680 book ‘Sceptical Chymist.”

Wamblecropt describes the uncomfortable state of being overcome with indigestion.

Sprunt is an old Scots word meaning “to chase the girls around the haystacks after dark.” Enough said.

Groke. Another Scots word meaning “to gaze at someone while they are eating in hopes of getting some of their food.”

Have you ever experienced uhtceare? That would be the anxiety felt when awakening too early in the morning worrying about the day ahead and you can’t get back to sleep.

Most of us have experienced the ultracrepidarian. That would be the person who gives their opinion on something they know nothing about.

Any one of us could probably be a snudge. If so, then we walk around pretending to be busy when in fact we are doing nothing.

Finally, we’ll whip another Scots word on you. In this primary season, you might hear a whipmegmorum. This would be a noisy quarrel about politics.

As an afterthought, why coin new words? Why not resurrect the old ones from the treasure chest of verbiage?

Kudos to Michael Quinion who published “Gallimaufry” in 2006 and which was presented to me by my daughter. She knows my penchant for wordplay. As I told her daughter (my granddaughter) when she was just a tyke, “Go ahead and play with words. When you are finished, clean them off and put them back on the shelf to use another day.”

Oh -- and gallimaufry? That’s a culinary term meaning “a hash made up of odds and ends of leftovers.”

Bon appetit!

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)