Words we don’t want to lose
bbc.com
bbc.com
I do have a special affection for the words fingerpost and mountweazel. I'll often use mountweazel as a sort of easter-egg/test page in my new web projects (e.g. https://sweeperscalendar.com/mountweazel)
I think Cassandra is a more deserving epithet for women nowadays than Xanthippe.
Finally, a few favorite terms of mine somewhat in this vein:
- ramshackle
- crackpot
- dogeared
- touchstone
None of these words are lost but they are expressive and exemplify a kind of poetry that words can sometimes capture.
"The difference between the right word and the nearly right word is the same as the difference between lightning and the lighting bug." —Mark Twain
I've certainly never seen the word used before and fully never expect to hear it again. On the other hand, I do come across the French expression, "la grasse matinée"[0], (even in an English context) every once in a while and would expect to hear "I enjoyed a nice fat morning in bed" before I ever hear something like "I had a grand old frowst".
Now then, back to my regularly-scheduled frowst.
It's one of the coolest dictionaries of obscure words I've run across! Similarly, the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is quite excellent:
To endure with grace.