Famigerate is one of those great ole obscure words that had its heyday in the 17th Century, but since then has fallen out of use and favour. Famigeration is the act of carrying news from abroad, or talking about foreign news. Etymology: from Latin fama (fame) + gerere (to carry).
Next time you breathe deep the smell of the rain-freshened earth, give thanks for petrichor. What a unique scent! What a wonderful word! Petrichor refers to that earthy aroma that wafts up off the ground after rains that follow a particularly dry spell.
Etmyology: From Greek Petros (stone), + Ichor (the ethereal fluid that’s the blood of the gods in Greek mythology). This delightful term was coined in 1964 by the etymologically imaginative duo of I.J. Bear and R.G. Thomas, in an article for the journal Nature.
Oftentimes the well heeled will find ways around sullying their mouths with dirty words. Scatological synonyms will take the place of vulgar verbiage; whether bodily functions or ordure of any kind. So it is with Pulveratricious, a big word that means dusty, or covered in dust. Etymology: From Latin , pulvereus (dusty). But wait, there’s more! The term comes from the Linnean biological classification pulveratores, a type of bird that was deemed dusty, due to the fact that they rolled in the dirt to dislodge bugs from its feathers. As a result, pulveratricious is also an anachronistic term for birds who nest close to the ground.
Look in the mirror. What do you see? A reflection? Nonsense! A reader of Uncommon Parlance observes an enantiomorph: the fancy-pants term for a mirror image. Enantiomorphism also crops up in the field of chemistry where it refers to crystals that are structurally mirror images of each other. Etymology: from Ancient Greek ἐναντίος or enantios (opposite) + μορφή or morphē (form).
Tennis or poker aficionados may not be impressed to find the word deuce on uncommon parlance. However, the word justifies it’s inclusion with a huge number of meanings.
Deuce can refer to the number two, or two of anything, eg. two pounds, dollars, or even euro.
In card games it refers to a card with two spots, one of four in a standard deck of playing cards.
In dice it refers to a side of a die with two spots, or a cast of dice totaling two.
In tennis, it’s tied score, where one player must score two additional points to win.
In the restaurant business, it’s a table for two.
A Deuce Coupe is a slang term for a 1932 Ford Coupe, a car beloved of hot rodders.
In baseball, it’s a curveball.
In the field of animal husbandry, it’s shearing two hundred sheep in one day.
It means “Peace” when used in tandem with the V-sign (the good one).
It’s an exclamation invoking the devil; eg. “What the Deuce!”
Finally, it has a delightfully scatological meaning: to defecate. Etymology: from French deux (two), from Old French deus, from Latin duo.
The word deuce was suggested to Uncommon Parlance by Ben Locker, copywriter extraordinaire and a veritable prince of persiflage.
Do you know an arrogant son of a bitch? A supercilious snob who looks down his nose at everyone and everything? Then you know someone who’s worthy of the word Fastuous. Fastuous is the logophile’s latinate term for one who’s showy, disdainful and haughty. Etymology from Latin, fastus (haughtiness or pride).
Slubberdegullions are primarily nocturnal creatures, found in the vicinity of bars and watering holes. They emit a palpable sense of danger, often smell like cigarettes and cumin and their ham-fists clench and unclench in incessant impotent fury. At closing time they stumble out into the street to threaten each other.
A Slubberdegullion is a filthy, slobbering, slovenly villain; a worthless alcoholic ne’er do well; a knave, a louse. Etymology: from English Slobber, + unknown suffix, but there are some theories on its provenance here.
Owner of a vicious pet, or feral baby? Harassed by a bilious critic with a penchant for vituperation? Then you, dear reader, might have recourse to use the word Mordacious. Mordacious means given to biting and can also be used metaphorically to refer to caustic or viciously sarcastic comment. Etymology: from Latin, mordax (given to biting, corrosive).
When Hamlet prayed: “O that this too too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew”, he was formulating the most famous invocation of deliquesence in the English language. Come to think of it, perhaps the wicked witch of the West’s cries of “I’m melting” are more celebrated. Either way, to deliquesce is to become liquid by absorbing water from the air, or melt into goo as part of the process of decomposition. Etymology: from Latin deliquescere, de-, (down, from, away) + liquescere (to melt, to be fluid).
Glabrous is a fat, ugly sounding disyllabic – and yet it slips satisfyingly from the mouth. The antithesis of hirsuteness, it is the logophile’s alternative to bald. Glabrous refers to a smooth, a surface without hairs or projections. Etymology: from Latin glaber (bald, hairless).