Words from Josefa Heifetz Byrne

One of my most prized specialized dictionaries is Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure, and Preposterous Words. (The Citadel Press, 1976) Not sure if it's out of print or not. Try both new and used bookstores.

A few examples of the gems to be found within:

acalculia: the inability to work with numbers; a mental block against arithmetic (now you know what it's called!)
canoodle: to caress
omphaloskepsis: meditation while gazing at one's navel
lethologica: inability to remember the right word (something I hope to find a way to counteract)
godling: a puny or small-time god

More some other time . . .

Answers to 1/22/12 "Heckle and Jeckle" Quiz

Who said what?

Despicable: Daffy Duck
Excellent: Mr. Burns on "The Simpsons"
Indubitably: Heckle or Jeckle
Ni: Month Python and the Holy Grail knights
Jejune: Woody Allen, Love and Death
Fascinating: Mr. Spock, "Star Trek"
Meathead: Archie Bunker, "All in the Family"
Obtuse: Andy Dufresne, The Shawshank Redemption

I hope some of you enjoyed trying to figure this out.

Exquisite

A word most of us know but, as with so many other serviceable words, I rarely hear it used in conversations.

I think this word is generally reserved for references to women. Try using it when you have a chance to compliment a spouse, girlfriend, or lover on her appearance, e.g., "You really look exquisite tonight."

Or perhaps to describe a particularly spectacular feature of said person's body, e.g., "You really have exquisite [use your imagination here] or an exquisite [ditto]."

Shemp

That's all I have to say tonight.

Words We Know But Don't Use

Scroll through the following
list of words: How many of
them do you know the meaning
of? (Probably most or all of them.)
Which of them do you recall
using in conversation or writing
over the last few months? Do you
think you can start incorporating
some of them into your daily life?
What I'm trying to do here is
encourage you to actually use
words you're familiar with.
Captivating ______
Bumpkin     ______
Delectable  ______
Seethe         ______
Titillating    ______
Grotesque   ______
Breathtaking _____
Gregarious  ______
Harmonious _____
Absorbing   ______
Browbeat   ______
Detestable  ______
Outlandish ______
Renowned ______
Putrid        ______
Ritzy         ______
Terse        ______
Succulent ______
Exquisite  ______
Luscious   ______
Sultry       ______
Chastise   ______
Affable    ______
Despicable _____
Lackey     ______

                                 

Heckle and Jeckle Quiz

Still getting the hang of how these blog entries are formatted. Obviously the spacing is screwy on my last posting, but presumably you'll be able to figure out what's going on.

Remember Heckle and Jeckle?

Demonstrate your knowledge of words used in popular culture in the following "quiz" without using the Internet. My intent is to highlight how expressive words are all around you. Match the word in the first column with who said it in the second column. Answers will be provided in a future blog entry.

The Word                                                       Who Said It?

1. despicable                                                     a. Heckle or Jeckle, cartoon characters
2. excellent                                                        b. Daffy Duck, cartoon character
3. indubitably                                                    c. Archie Bunker, "All in the Family"
4. ni                                                                   d. Mr. Burns, "The Simpsons"
5. jejune                                                             e. Mr. Spock, "Star Trek"
6. fascinating                                                     f. Andy Dufresne, The Shawshank Redemption
7. meathead                                                       g. Woody Allen, Love and Death
8. obtuse                                                            h. Monty Python and the Holy Grail