While reading the news this morning I wandered off track slightly to the POV section in the Magazine section of BBC online. That in turn led me to an article showing the title contents. I thought this was worth sharing and, maybe, for consideration as being worth propagating.
For those of you adverse to clicking such things here are said words from the URL.
Uhtceare- “There is a single Old English word meaning ‘lying awake before dawn and worrying.’ Uhtceare is not a well-known word even by Old English standards, which were pretty damn low. In fact, there is only one recorded instance of it actually being used."
Expergefactor- “An expergefactor is anything that wakes you up. This may simply be your alarm clock, in which case it is time to hit the snooze button. But it may be a dustman or a milkman or a delivery van, in which case it is time to lean out of your window and shriek: ‘Damn you all, you expergefactors!’ This ought to keep them quiet until one of them has at least found a good dictionary.”
and 4. Pantofle and Staddle- “Once your toes are snugly pantofled, you can stagger off to the bathroom, pausing only to look at the little depression that you have left in your bed, the dip where you have been lying all night. This is known as a staddle.”
Grubbling- “It’s time to check whether you’ve got your keys and your phone and your purse or wallet. This is done by grubbling in your pockets. Grubbling is like groping, except less organised. It is a verb that usually refers to pockets, but can also be used for feeling around in desk drawers that are filled with nicknacks and whatnot.”
Mugwump- “Mugwump is a derogatory word for somebody in charge who affects to be above petty squabbles and factions. So when your boss tries to make peace at the meeting table like an impartial angel, he is being a mugwump.”
Rawgabbit- “A rawgabbit, just in case you were wondering, is somebody who speaks in strictest confidence about a subject of which they know nothing. A rawgabbit is the person who pulls you aside and reveals in a careful whisper that the head of Compliance is having an affair with the new recruit in IT, which you know to be utterly untrue because the head of Compliance is having an affair with you, and the new recruit in IT hasn’t started yet.”
Vinomadefied- “Once you are properly vinomadefied all sorts of intriguing things start to happen. Vinomadefied, by the way, does not mean ‘made mad by wine,’ but merely ‘dampened by it.’”
Lanspresado- “A lanspresado is (according to a 1736 dictionary of thieves’ slang): ‘He that comes into Company with but Two-pence in his Pocket.’ Lanspresados are everywhere. They have usually forgotten their wallets or can’t find a cashpoint or some intensely complicated thing has happened with their rent, which means that they’re skint till Thursday.”
Vomitorium- “A vomitorium is not a room in which ancient Romans would throw up halfway through a banquet in order to make room for the next course. That’s a myth. A vomitorium is simply a passage by which you can exit a building, usually a theatre.”
Hmm. One wonders whether the person is actually a rawgabbit (wrong) or a Cassandra (right, but not believed)?
Relatedly, is it true that there’s no Old English word for “gullible (especially in trusting people who have shown that they’re happy to lie to someone else)”?
The word “vomitorium” (more often given in its English form, “vomitory,” or abbreviated as “vom”) is still used in certain theaters. In my local community theater where I do shows, we often have characters making entrances or exits through the “vom.” Which in our case is a curtained passageway into the audience from the side of the auditorium.
Yeah, looking at the link, I think it means “old English words” to mean “words that were used in English in the past” rather than words from the actual language that is called Old English.
Such words that come down to a single contemporary example strike me as likely to be a misspelling, a mistranscription or just an oddity of the writer.
I like grubbling. It sounds so right when the activity at hand is rummaging through the junk drawer looking for the right size of screw or a couple of “AAA” batteries.
It could be. As far as I know, the only existing example of it is from the Wife’s Lament, a poem in the Exeter book and dates to some time in the 1000’s. It does break apart sensibly. Uht means just before dawn and ceare, or cearu, means anxiety or concern and gave us the english word care.
That was my impression as well, although I’m sure there is a plethora of worthy words in Old English for consideration. I thought uhtcaere was particularly good, similar to frisson in French where it can be used as a placeholder for a particular feeling that most people can relate to.
I’ve sneaked in yclept a couple times, saying it quickly so people heard it and understood it from context, and nobody’s called me on it. Middle English, not Old, when it would be ġeclipod.
I’ve seen *yclept * used in Alistair Maclean 's ** HMS Ulysses ** in the phrase "stoker yclept Nobby ". However in recent editions the word yclept has been dropped as well as the word “amn 't”
I was called mugwump as president of a high-school club in the late '70s, but they were using it incorrectly–I was always eager to start a fight or jump into the middle of one. The also called me “Once-ler,” but I’m not sure why.
