Wiregrass Seniors Magazine May 2018 MAY ISSUE | Page 6

Page 6
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20 "Forgotten" Words That Should Be Brought Back
Languages are living things that shift and evolve over
time. If you look at the history of the English language,
from Anglo Saxon through the Great Vowel Shift to
what we consider Standard English today, you’ll no-
tice that it has undergone some spectacular changes
over the centuries. Some basic words have stuck
around through the ages, like “father”, “house”, “egg”,
“boat” and so on, but just as new words developed
over time, other words were discarded along the way.
Many others from Shakespeare’s time through to the
early 20th century have fallen out of common usage,
and we are undoubtedly the poorer for it. Here are 20
words that could only serve to add a bit more color to
our daily lives if they happened to come back into regu-
lar use.
1. Bunbury - An imaginary person whose name is
used as an excuse to some purpose, especially to
visit a place. “Auntie Jane the cottage dweller” was
my go-to bunbury whenever I wanted to take a day
off to go play in the forest.
2. Scurrilous - The description of something said or
done unfairly to make people have a bad opinion of
someone. Mrs. Mumford had spread rather scurril-
ous gossip about Miss Violet in the hope of tarnish-
ing her reputation. Honestly, who would do that sort
of thing with a llama?
3. Gallimaufry - A hodge-podge, or jumbled medley
(can also refer to an edible dish). Lydia’s casserole
was a veritable gallimaufry of beans, raisins, cauli-
flower, sausage, cheap wine, and cabbage. Guests
never asked for second helpings.
4. Thrice - Three times. I’ve told you twice not to eat
raw pork with mustard or you’ll get sick—don’t make
me say it thrice!
5. Blithering - Talking utterly and completely foolishly,
OR used to describe a foolish person. The blithering
idiot was blithering on about something or other, but
I tuned him out.
6. Pluviophile - A person who takes great joy and
comfort in rainy days. Your average pluviophile will
be in utter glory when the thunder rolls.