Welcome to the start of a new (likely irregular) feature—wonderful words. I’ve been having so much fun flipping through the OED I received for Christmas that I want to share some of surprises I’ve come across.
There are many words that I think deserve to be resurrected into our vocabularies. I will present common words with unfamiliar meanings or old words that have fallen into disuse. Expect to see these in my writing and hear them in my conversations.
flannel
verb: To bluff or mislead with flattery.
The OED cites J. Braine in the mid-20th century as the first use. “I managed to flannel him into the belief that I approved of his particular brand of efficiency.”
Posted by kuri at February 22, 2005 09:38 AMOh, do make it a regular entry.
Posted by: Fran on February 22, 2005 09:48 PMI like foxy. No one uses that anymore to mean stinky. Foxy pits.
Florid is kind of cool too. There are a lot of excellent words going unused out there. Thanks for making some of them a weekly highlight!
I have the OED too. Deliciousness.
Posted by: Jenn on February 22, 2005 10:15 PMI do not know if this is the same thing or not but I have often pondered the diffrence between the word “disease” and the milder roots “dis-ease” (to be not at ease) also “illogic” logic that is sick or unwell and “disaster” yea, that one really gets me. I can only assume that “aster” must be pretty good. Hoping you get well soon.
Posted by: filmtunes on February 23, 2005 01:06 PMone of my favorite writers, simply because he’s got a bigger vocabularly than most dictionaries AND he knows how to use it, is harlan ellison. i easily learn 10 new words or different usages with almost every one of his stories.
but instead of “wonderful words,” what about calling it “logorrhea”? :)
Posted by: seth on February 24, 2005 12:00 AM