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"Lost Words" From The English Language

phrontistery.info — There are rare words, and there are rarer words, but only a very special word qualifies as a bona fide lost word. Of course, no word in the Compendium can be completely lost, or I could never have found it. To as great an extent as possible, I have tried to use a set of criteria by which truly rare but real English words can be classified as lost.

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  • crazybugger, on 10/10/2007, -15/+4Nothing to worry. English is made of many other languages. How can there be lost words. Just pop in new words from other languages.
    • Modulo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4well you just lost the word "about" from your first sentence there.
  • timusca, on 10/10/2007, -3/+66These words drop out of the English language, but words like "Jiggy" and "Bling" make into our dictionary.

    WTF.
    • lukas88, on 10/10/2007, -1/+31No one is going to say those words a decade from now. Remember "rad?" As hard as I try, I can't keep that word alive. It's gone.
      • crawfishsoul, on 10/10/2007, -1/+18Don't worry, rad lives on in our hearts and souls.
      • estvir, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5I actually say rad somewhat often but I simply can't remember the last time I heard it escape someone else's mouth. :(

        We should create a foundation/movement to keep rad alive/to revive it, who's with me?!
      • sundancekid503, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Fortunately "rad" the movie will live on forever.
      • skankyBacon, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6"Rad" is definitely still around.
        • mrFREEZE, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3All you people who say "rad" is dead have never been around surfers in California.
      • sakuraz, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1Rad? you know what's rad?

        RADSCORPIONS!
      • vypergts, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Am I the only one that watches the Totally Rad Show?
      • timusca, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I just played Rad Racer on Nintendo a few days ago, actually. Rad is very much still alive.
    • ngmcs8203, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3Tim is right though. They just added "ginarmous", "smackdowns", "crunk" and a bunch of other slang that shouldn't be in there.

      http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070711/dictionary_words_070711/20070711?hub=World
      • skankyBacon, on 10/10/2007, -2/+6Who says it shouldn't be in there? Whether you like the words or not, if they are common enough they are part of the language.
    • cosmotron, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I was always fond of rad along with righteous.
    • pmagayon, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Chill dude... lol
    • firedrillduckie, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1"EVOO."
    • sabach, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2That's the beauty of English, it's so adaptable and friendly. It's a truly evolutional language. Fits into a modern world. I enjoy resurrecting old words, it adds a lot of character to what you're saying.
    • meatmcguffin, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1How about megagaltastic? Seems appropriate in this discussion :)

      /obscure?
  • murphygr, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8they're found
  • bbrigg1, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6alabandical is a great one.
    • culbeda, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2That reminds me, I need to adimpleate my gas tank...

      Sorry I only got 3 into it before my gaming-induced ADD kicked in and I... hey shiny thing!
  • RVDsb, on 10/10/2007, -14/+5This list would be much longer for George Bush.
    • obxjdt, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4WTF do politics have to do with this article?!?!?
  • wildfire, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6Intelligence.

    (Incorrectly now substituted with "blog", as colloquially stated: "my blog")
  • adb44, on 10/10/2007, -0/+41Embiggens is a perfectly cromulent word!
  • jtb4, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10Awesome collection of words. Dugg!!
  • sockpuppets, on 10/10/2007, -3/+21I like to visit Compton Dollar stores and call the customers niggardly.
    • sp1keNARF, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9their response would undoubtedly be "que?"
  • miriclaire, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3I think "agonarch" is making a comeback!
  • jackalsclaw, on 10/10/2007, -0/+16If some one makes a crossword with these .... that would be insane
    • obxjdt, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3I think you might be on to something!!!!
  • ParaLegalStar, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8Great source for unique Domain Names !!!
  • airwalkery2k, on 10/10/2007, -2/+18I'm sorry. The content is interesting. But I can't help but keep thinking "What a horridly 1990's era webpage."
    • Cause_of_death, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11Who cares?

      It's readable, it's navigable and the content is good. Why does every page need to be whatever the current cutting edge of design is? besides, there are far far worse page designs out there.
    • obxjdt, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7You're right, but the content is better than 75%-80% of most top web2.0 sites.
  • cosmotron, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Uw, I found a rare word! I wonder if it's worth as much as my Pokemon cards!
  • Onibus, on 10/10/2007, -8/+4im in ur english, englimatizing ur edumacation.
  • pmagayon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+19dodrantal adj 1656 -1883
    of nine inches in length
    The male stripper's dodrantal instrument impressed the ladies greatly.

    ***** brilliant.
    • Urusai, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8Now you can impress both the vulgar ladies and the educated ones. "Behold my dodrantal limb!" *ladies swoon*
  • mrmilken, on 10/10/2007, -4/+3I heard that the more obscure words you know the smarter you are.
  • RubberChicken, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1Outdated words on an outdated website. Does the developer drive a Yugo and listen to New Kids on the block as well?
  • 256byteram, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Did you check behind the fridge or under the couch?
  • zadadka, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2From http://phrontistery.info/three.html
    abb = yarn used for warp
    So the Dilithium Crystals were just a made-up then, eh?
  • Spacecow, on 10/10/2007, -0/+12The example sentences on this page are fantastic.

    cacatory adj 1684 -1753
    accompanied by loose bowels
    For the diners, the effects of the chicken cacciatore, alas, were cacatory.

    dicaearchy n 1656 -1658
    just government
    While we dream of living in a dicaearchy, in truth, we're governed by dicks.
    • bflfab, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Agreed, cacatory is now part of my vernacular.
  • phosdex, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Digg has really labascated lately but hopefully sites like this will obstrigillate that trend.

    Then again, maybe I'm just a phlyarologist.
  • TitaniumJackal, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11It's time to bring back "homerkin" as a unit of measure for beer. Just too damn appropriate.
  • radinator, on 10/10/2007, -5/+2One of the rules for a "Lost Word" is that it not appear in its proper English context on any web page. Then they list the words on a web page and give an example of usage in proper English context. They should now be called "Found Words" since they are no longer lost. Buried as inaccurate.
  • sodypop77, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Did anyone catch this one? Nice use in the example sentence

    homerkin n 1662 -1663
    old liquid measure for beer
    "I'm so thirsty I could drink a homerkin of beer," Simpson lamented.
  • LexMortis, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5brephophagist n 1731 -1875
    one who eats babies
    The character Fat Bastard is a disgustingly obese Scottish brephophagist.

    What. The. *****.
  • skankyBacon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I wonder if Colin Meloy has that page bookmarked.
  • vx69, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1after reading all that I have the urge to fumificate a cigarette murklins.
  • MajorPaine, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1For those of you who haven't noticed, he has a section of his (admittedly large) website devoted to some of the more appalling emails he has received regarding his lost word quest, and his reaction or response to them -- it can be found here (http://phrontistery.info/sottisier.html), and is absolutely hilarious!

    A sample entry:

    Email: Any help would be appreciated: After showering I discovered that there was something eating on the left side of my left foot. It was mostly black, and had eaten a valley of slightly over 1/4 inch. I tried to dislodge it with a tooth scraper....I finally got hold of its circular grainee head and pulled it out...a very black wavy tail, maybe 1/2 inch in length was pulled out. I have 2 reddish holes, where the head was and where the tail came out. Do you have any idea what this might have been. Thank you for your time and consideration.
    Reaction: This is the most disgusting, awful thing I have ever received in my e-mail. The only way this could have been worse is if there had been a picture. I apologize for sharing it with you.
  • Cranq, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Dudes! Look at all the new processor names!
  • bombshelter13, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Oh, man, I'm totally going to have to work 'circumbilivagination' into a conversation.
  • wonderlane, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0I love this!
  • rocket2dmn, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I'm gonna go home and watch bromography.
    What? I enjoy good food.
  • retawd, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Holy crap. I've been looking for something like this for a while.
  • po43292, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2surgation n 1688 -1688
    erection of the penis
    His surgation caused him embarassment when he had to speak in front of the class.
  • pkraft, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2Now that all of these words appear on this web page and each is used in it's proper context they violate rule #2. This means that they are no longer in qualification to be on the list. So they must be removed from the list. So then they...
  • stinkypyper, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2brephophagist n 1731 -1875
    one who eats babies
    The character Fat Bastard is a disgustingly obese Scottish brephophagist.
  • skankyBacon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1inveteratist n 1715 -1715
    opponent of reform; one who inveterately holds to tradition
    The golf course's manager, being an inveteratist, continued to refuse women entry.

    His use of the word in its definition notwithstanding, this is actually a pretty cool word.
  • svnft, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1slimkin
    murklins
    icasm
    fabrefaction
    aquabib
    homerkin

    These are all registered .com domain names. How lost could they be?
  • eatupmartha, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2It can't be that difficult to figure out which pedal is the velocitator and which is the decceleratrix.
  • cobbs, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2There are now no lost words thanks to your effort.
  • ripitinhalf, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Dear Mr. Cheney-

    I've had just about enough of your garrulous blateration, you clod!

    Love,
    The American Public
  • layzie1989, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0I was looking through those and an odd number of them sounded like they could be pokemon...
  • twistee, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1gardevisure n 1610 -1840
    visor of a helmet as shown on heraldic devices
    Since you're so ugly, why not place a gardevisure on your coat of arms?
  • obxjdt, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Very cool. Now I need to learn & work them into day-to-day live ;-D
    • fezzen, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0I'd work on the ones you currently use first.
  • po43292, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2truthiness
  • arono, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3So, the moment I blog with one of these (well, as soon as Google spiders it) is the moment it's no longer a lost word according to criterion #2, right? We'll have that site wrecked in no time.
  • GangsterCompute, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Prenzie

    It's in Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure." My ca. 1930's Webster's tome defines it as "a word of unknown meaning."
    So now you know.
    • LLLSecretChimp, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Damn lazy lexicographers. Like they couldn't just make up something.
  • Vanburene, on 07/20/2008, -0/+0ABB wins $77-million power order for Delhi International Airport
    http://www.sourcerelease.com/corp/kw7?r=ammmmd
  •  

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