‘Long-Lost’ Words We Should Resurrect This Year
How about upping your vocabulary with long-lost but “not completely forgotten” words? Michigan’s Wayne State University Word Warriors dropped their latest word list. This list is unique because it aims to resurrect long-lost words.
Their 15th annual list is composed of submissions from both administrators of the website as well as the public. “Once again, our Word Warriors have provided a collection of words that makes our language a bit livelier,” said Chris Williams, assistant director of editorial services for Wayne State Marketing and Communications, and head of the Word Warriors program. “This year’s list is particularly evocative. I love to picture myself inhaling the petrichor after a summer thunderplump or listening to someone twankle away on a guitar. It’s really a great selection this year.”
If you want to expand your vocabulary this year in the weirdest way possible, these word suggestions may be exactly what you need. They suggested that we revive the word “blatherskite.” Apparently, it’s a person who talks at great length without making much sense. For instance, they used the example. “The cable TV commentator was a blatherskite who produced 30 minutes of angry nonsense each night.”
Another word on their revival list is “pawky.” According to the Word Warriors, it’s having a mocking or cynical sense of humor.
Other words on the list seem to be a bit more comical regarding pronunciation. “Rawgabbit” made the list. It’s a person who speaks confidently but ignorantly. This word would be great to use when referring to your social media feed. Just full of “rawgabbits” trying to explain everything.
“Thunderplump” also weirdly rolls off the tongue. If you’re wondering what it means, it’s a heavy fall or rain during a thunderstorm.
These are odd words but useful ones. Check out the complete list of long-lost words here.
6 Baby Names You Probably Should Avoid
Messiah
In 2013, a child support magistrate in East Tennessee ruled that a 7-month-old boy named Messiah must have his name changed to Martin. “The word ‘Messiah’ is a title, and it’s a title that has only been earned by one person, and that one person is Jesus Christ,” said Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew.
Adolf Hitler
In 2009, New Jersey parents Heath and Deborah Campbell were taken into state custody after authorities got involved in a cake incident. A bakery refused to decorate a cake with the words “Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler.” The Campbell’s gave their three children Nazi-inspired names including Adolf Hitler . Though the state said that their names were not the reason, it’s been reported that the parents didn’t believe them.
Allah
In 2018, Elizabeth Handy and Bilal Walk of Georgia sued their home state after officials refused to let them name their daughter ZalyKha Graceful Lorraina Allah. The issue was Allah, the two-year-old girl’s last name. Georgia law requires that children bear the last name of at least one of their parents. The parents won the case, with the help of lawyers from the ACLU.
1069
In 1976, the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled that short-order cook and high school teacher Michael Herbert Dengler could not change his name to “1069.”
Santa Claus
In December 1999, Robert William Handley of Ohio filed a petition to change his name to Santa Robert Claus. Judge Lawrence Belskis denied his petition saying that “the public has a proprietary interest, a proprietary right in the identity of Santa Claus, both in the name and the persona.”
III
A 1984 ruling from the California Courts of Appeal denied a request from Thomas Boyd Ritchie III to change his name to the Roman numeral “III,” pronounced “Three.” The court said that, “a change to a roman numeral did not constitute a name change within the meaning of the law and that the new ‘name’ used by appellant was inherently confusing.”
