A treat for all you snout-fair wordsmiths.
At the University of York, a group of linguists has gotten about 30 words that are lost from the English language. These words are no longer in use but could be used very well nowadays. The BBC reports that they were found by looking at old books as well as dictionaries. According to the press released by York University, the words include:
Ambodexter, n: One who takes bribes from both sides
Betrump, v: To deceive, cheat; to elude, slip from
Coney–catch b, v: To swindle, cheat; to trick, dupe, deceive
Hugger–mugger, n., adj., and adv: Concealment, secrecy; esp. in phr. in hugger-mugger: in secret, secretly, clandestinely. Formerly in ordinary literary use, now archaic or vulgar
So if you are feeling like a slug-a-bed early in the morning. You can now complain about paying ear-rent to your dowsabel, who would likely have the tendency to peacockize.
The sponsor of this project is an insurance company and they are now running some kind of contest where people would vote on any one of the words they would like English speaker to re-embrace. Wasteheart! Do you feel betrumped or coney-catched because of that, like a sillytonian? Dose it bring some merry-go-sorry to your days? Well, you don’t have to be momist, or let this teen you. Words do not belong to anyone. You can check the full list and then get rouzy-bouzy and try many more.
Ambodexter, n: One who takes bribes from both sides
Betrump, v: To deceive, cheat; to elude, slip from
Coney–catch b, v: To swindle, cheat; to trick, dupe, deceive
Hugger–mugger, n., adj., and adv: Concealment, secrecy; esp. in phr. in hugger-mugger: in secret, secretly, clandestinely. Formerly in ordinary literary use, now archaic or vulgar
Nickum, n.: A cheating or dishonest person
Quacksalver, n: A person who dishonestly claims knowledge of or skill in medicine; a pedlar of false cures
Rouker, n.: A person who whispers or murmurs; one who spreads tales or rumours
Man-millinery, adj: Suggestive of male vanity or pomposity
Parget, v: To daub or plaster (the face or body) with powder or paint; to cover with cosmetic
Snout-fair, adj.: Having a fair countenance; fair-faced, comely, handsome
Slug-a-bed, n: One who lies long in bed through laziness
Losenger, n.: A false flatterer, a lying rascal, a deceiver
Momist, n: A person who habitually finds fault; a harsh critic
Peacockize, v.: To behave like a peacock; esp. to pose or strut ostentatiously
Percher, n.: A person who aspires to a higher rank or status; an ambitious or self-assertive person
Rouzy-bouzy, adj.: Boisterously drunk
Ruff, v: To swagger, bluster, domineer. To ruff it out / to brag or boast of a thing
Sillytonian, n.: A silly or gullible person, esp. one considered as belonging to a notional sect of such people
Wlonk, adj + n (also ‘wlonkness’) Proud, haughty / Rich, splendid, fine, magnificent: in later use esp. as a conventional epithet in alliterative verse (N. A fair or beautiful one)
Fumish, adj: Inclined to fume, hot-tempered, irascible, passionate; also, characterized by or exhibiting anger or irascibility
Awhape, v. To amaze, stupefy with fear, confound utterly
Hugge, v. To shudder, shrink, shiver, or shake with fear or with cold
Merry-go-sorry, n. A mixture of joy and sorrow
Stomaching, adj.: Full of malignity; given to cherish anger or resentment
Swerk, v. To be or become dark; in Old English often, to become gloomy, troubled, or sad
Teen, v To vex, irritate, annoy, anger, enrage / To inflict suffering upon; to afflict, harass; to injure, harm
Tremblable, adj. Causing dread or horror; dreadful
Wasteheart, int. Used to express grief, pity, regret, disappointment, or concern: ‘alas!’ ‘woe is me!’ Also wasteheart-a-day, wasteheart of me
Dowsabel, n. Applied generically to a sweetheart, ‘lady-love’
Ear-rent, n. The figurative cost to a person of listening to trivial or incessant talk
