With the recent research unveiled by the University of York discovering lost words in historic texts, we decided to root around in the Collins English Dictionary to uncover a selection of unusual linguistic gems that can be used in everyday conversation.
1. Whiffler – ‘a person who vacillates or shifts position frequently in argument’
2. Cokes – ‘a fool’
3. Impeticos – ‘to put in a pocket’
4. Snollygoster – ‘a politician who cares more for personal gain than serving the people’
5. Pinchcommons – ‘a person who is frugal with food’
6. Attic salt – ‘refined incisive wit’
7. Blatherskite – ‘a talkative, foolish person’
8. Deipnosophist – ‘a person who is a master of dinner-table conversation’
9. Grok – ‘to understand completely and intuitively’
10. Widechapped – ‘open-mouthed’
How many of these words have you heard of before? Are there any lost or uncommon words that you think should make a come back to the Collins Dictionary? Let us know in the comments.
By Rachel Quin
Collins Dictionary
