The 3 Most Common Uses of Irony. Common English usage misconceptions. Paraprosdokians - 37 Examples. 100 Most beautiful words in the English language* 100 Most Beautiful Words In The English Language. 20 obsolete English words that should make a comeback. Photo: Katherine Hodgson If we all start using them, these words can be resurrected.
DURING MY UNDERGRADUATE studies as a Linguistics major, one of the things that struck me most is the amazing fluidity of language. New words are created; older words go out of style. Words can change meaning over time, vowel sounds shift, consonants are lost or added and one word becomes another. Living languages refuse to be static. The following words have sadly disappeared from modern English, but it’s easy to see how they could be incorporated into everyday conversation. Words are from Erin McKean’s two-volume series: Weird and Wonderful Words and Totally Weird and Wonderful Words. 1. Verb trans. – “To confuse, jumble” – First of all this word is just fun to say in its various forms. 2. 3. Verb trans. – “To scrape together; to gather together from various sources” – I’m sure this wasn’t the original meaning of the word, but when I read the definition I immediately thought of copy-pasting. Language: What foreign words are difficult to translate into English.
Lexophiles. LEXOPHILES (LOVERS OF WORDS): 1.
A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired. 2. A will is a dead giveaway. 3. Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana. Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus - An online thesaurus and dictionary of over 145,000 words that you explore using an interactive map. Synonyms. Site. Unusual Words Rendered in Bold Graphics. By Maria Popova A visual A-Z of the hidden treasures of language.
As a lover of language and words, especially obscure and endangered words, I was instantly besotted with Project Twins’ visual interpretations of unusual words, originally exhibited at the MadArt Gallery Dublin during DesignWeek 2011. Acersecomic A person whose hair has never been cut. Biblioclasm The practice of destroying, often ceremoniously, books or other written material and media.
Cacodemonomania The pathological belief that one is inhabited by an evil spirit. Dactylion An anatomical landmark located at the tip of the middle finger. Enantiodromia The changing of something into its opposite. Fanfaronade Swaggering; empty boasting; blustering manner or behavior; ostentatious display. Gorgonize To have a paralyzing or mesmerizing effect on: Stupefy or petrify Hamartia The character flaw or error of a tragic hero that leads to his downfall.
Infandous Unspeakable or too odious to be expressed or mentioned. Jettatura Ktenology Leptosome Welter. Words Redefined: 37 Notable Entries in The Devil’s Dictionary. Adjectives. Rhyming Dictionary.