So what happens to the words that are rare in English or any language? Do they get used infrequently or what? Examples of rare words in English?
Huh??
This is what happens:
Buy this and knock yourself out.
Mrs Byrne’s Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure, and Preposterous Words by Josefa Heifetz Byrne
What?
Actually, that is a misconception. While some rare words are rarely used, other rare words are used almost constantly by almost everyone.
Are we still talking about Zipf’s Law? It’s not exact, of course.
No, I was replying to this:
So what happens to the words that are rare in English or any language? Do they get used infrequently or what?
As for the other question:
Examples of rare words in English?
Zoofpoople has only ever been used once.
They go to Scrabble games to die.
Here’s one:
Pleonasm.
Bet you’ll never hear that one in conversation…
(Unless it’s with me).
They were a really great poster. Haven’t seen them in years.
Sesquicentennial
Once every 150 years
You really want some random rare words? Drabbery, tralineate, subfuscous.
I like “scrofulous”.
Hyperparallelopiped
Plectrum
Syzygy
Some rare words are sesquipedalian.
Did you know that the word paradimethylaminobenzaldehyde can be sung to the tune of the Irish Washerwoman?
Rare words, if authenticated and properly preserved, get auctioned off at the semi annual Funk-Webster International Verbage Auction in Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico.
An essential work in the PT reference library:
The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Words
@Czarcasm: I see what you did there. Well played Good Sir.