subject: Obscure English Words You Might Not Know [print this page] No-one knows exactly how many words there are in the English language, but it could be as many as 200,000. Not surprisingly there are many whose meanings are somewhat lost. Try slipping some of these into your everyday conversation. People will either be hugely impressed, or think you've gone ever so slightly mad!
Bibliomancy originally this was a method of assessing the guilt or innocence of someone accused of sorcery. The unfortunate defendant was weighed against the great bible in the church and if they weighed less, they were deemed innocent. Nowadays it refers to the practice of asking a question then randomly opening the bible to divine the answer.
Curmudgeon We all know one or more of these. A curmudgeon is a bad-tempered, difficult or cantankerous person. Famous curmudgeons include the Charles Dickens character Ebenezer Scrooge and Victor Meldrew from the popular BBC television series 'One Foot in the Grave'.
Defenestration This is not something you would particularly want to happen to you as it means the act of throwing a thing or person out of a window! Being defenestrated occurs surprisingly often in history. In the Bible, Jezebel was thrown out of a window by her own servants and as recently as 2007 a Hamas supporter suffered the same fate at the hands of political opponents in Gaza.
Gamophobia Like all phobias it means something to be afraid of and in this case it's a fear of marriage. Just thinking about making the commitment can induce symptoms such as a pounding heart and panic attacks in the sufferer.
Jentacular This adjective applies to anything that's pertaining to breakfast, as in 'my jentacular favourites are sausage, eggs and bacon with a huge mug of tea to wash it all down'.
Margrave A medieval title of nobility passed down from father to son. Margraves had military responsibilities over border provinces. These were seen as more vulnerable because of their exposure to hostile outside opposition. A margravine is the wife of a margrave, or a woman with the title and responsibilities in her own right.
Quisling This might sound a cuddly and cute word but its real meaning is rather different. A quisling is a traitor who collaborates with the enemy occupying his or her own country. It was first coined during World War II, after the Norwegian Vidkun Quisling worked with conquering Nazi forces in order to further his own political ambitions.
Sackbut an ancient trombone-like musical instrument which dates back to the 15th century. It's thought the name comes from an old French word, 'sacqueboute' meaning 'pull-push'.
Vituperate a verb which means to speak bitterly, harshly or abusively of someone or something. A person who does this is a 'vituperator'.
Xenodocheionology hard to pronounce and perhaps just as hard to understand, this word means a love of hotels and inns. The seasoned business traveller would do well to develop this particular taste. Perhaps it's something to do with all those free mini bottles of shower gel and shampoo!
