dancingthroughchaos

‘Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.’ – JK Rowling

Happy Birthday, to my blog! This is my 100th posting, so it seems the perfect time to celebrate the wonder and power of words which are, after all, the life and soul of a writer.  

We select them, blend them and craft them with whatever magic the muses allow in order to draw in our readers.  Learning new words not only stretches our brains and increases our vocabulary, but puts more ingredients in our creative lexicon.

But what about words we’ve forgotten or have never known? Old English words pop up fairly regularly on my social media threads. Fascinating and often funny as they are, they are not always appropriate to use in a piece of contemporary prose.  So indulge me as I use this opportunity to share with you ten of my recent favourites.

Snollygoster – a person who may be intelligent but is without principle.  We could perhaps apply  it to to a number of people who spend their working hours in the SW1A postcode around Westminster. 

Funifugal – This 19th century word means to avoid the end of something because you enjoy it so much, be it a good book, a jar of marmalade or your favourite box-set series.

Brabble  – to argue persistently and belligerently about useless things (see also Snollygoster).

Twattling – to talk in an idle, time-wasting way (a simple hop and a skip to another word in popular usage has been derived from this. Again, see snollygoster).

Perhaps you suffer from clinomania?  The familiar desire to simply stay in bed. Preferably all day.

Wamblecropt – the overwhelming feeling brought on my chronic indigestion of either food or alcohol.

This may lead to you being crambazzled – excessively aged from too much of the inebriating family of drinks.

Caliginous – a sixteenth century word covering gloom, mist, darkness and a generally spooky atmosphere. 

A natural pair: bumfuzzled and dumfoozled.  Nineteenth century words which both mean perplexed, or quite probably bamboozled, to the point of needing to take a break and regroup preferably horizontally, and possibly in a darkened room.

Boodlery – an appropriate and final number ten, since it refers to ‘unprincipled behaviour in public office’.  So, Number ten in every sense then.  Allegedly. (See snollygoster. Again.)

A combined effort to revive some of these seems a worthy project which may bring some sunshine to the last of your winter days.  Definitely worth a go.

Whether you’re new to my blog, just passing through or eager to trawl the back catalogue, I plan to be stitching and welding words together for however long I have breath and the ability to use a keyboard and/or a pen.  Feel free to subscribe and join me.

Thanks for celebrating this milestone with me.

[Thanks to Pixabay and Unsplash for images]