Lost for words? Try some of these old ones...

BEING betrumped could have been a term devised by foes of the US President. And we can be sure that Donald Trump counts himself as snout-fair, writes Gillian Crawley.

Confused? Well in fact they are old words that have been rediscovered by linguists who claim they perfectly explain the irritations of modern life.

Betrump is a verb meaning to deceive, cheat or elude while a snoutfair is a handsome man.

Language experts at the University of York have unearthed what they refer to as 30 Lost Words.

Dr Dominic Watt, of the Department of Language and Linguistic Science, spent three months scouring historic texts and etymological dictionaries.

He said: “We’ve chosen words that fit within themes still relevant to the average person.

“We’ve identified lost words that are both interesting and thoughtprovoking, in the hope of helping people re-engage with language of old.”

Other examples include a slug-a-bed to describe someone who lies in bed through laziness, peacockize is to strut ostentatiously while insults include a sillytonian to describe a gullible person and a losenger is a lying rascal.

These terms might make you fumish – inclined to fume, sad as you are swerked while a wasteheart could see you disappointed.

Christian Mendes, head of Privilege home insurance, which commissioned the survey, said: “We believe in using plain English and the need to communicate clearly.

“Research like this highlights the constantly evolving nature of the English language.”

ALIST of forgotten words such as betrump (to deceive or cheat) and snout-fair (handsome) has been compiled by academics who think they should be resurrected. One can only hope they’ve told Jacob Rees-Mogg. With a vocabulary few can match and a love of the arcane, the widely popular backbench MP would be the perfect man to bring these ancient words back into fashion.