Methinks there are blatherskites and pettifoggers amongst us
We might think we’ve been having a cold winter, but compared to some places we’ve been basking in the banana belt. For example, Detroit has been enduring a massive cold streak
(temps for the week are a low of 20 a high of 30, with next week featuring lows in the teens and highs in the teens) and lots of snow and wind. That means most Detroiters are staying inside. And that includes the big-brained folks at Wayne State University, a veritable garden spot in lovely Detroit.
The good folks at the university, whose mascot is “Warriors,” have been battling frigid winters with a little game: find weird words in old, musty dictionaries and write about them in an effort to bring them back from the dead letter file. This yearning to bring back the classics is understandable in Motor City, which still years for the return of the 1967 Chrysler New Yorker.
So let’s reward the cold crew from Detroit with a warm welcome for the 15th annual list of “long-lost” words due for a comeback, including blatherskite, rawgabbits, dollop and petrichor.
Wayne State’s “Word Warriors program,” which “aims to resurrect long-lost – but not completely forgotten – words” is compiled from suggestions by website administrators and members of the public, the university proudly proclaimed.
This year’s words include:
• Blatherskite, a person who talks at great length without making much sense (hmm, methinks (another old but very cute and useful word) we could all name more than a few local, state and national politicians who fit nicely in the blatherskite fellowship).
• Curglaff, the shock felt when one first plunges into cold water (a cold dip is now recommended as a health “tip,” but only for Instagram brainiacs under the age of 30. No one in Detroit jumps in freezing water).
• Dollop, a shapeless mass or blob of something (I would protest the inclusion of dollop. How about a dollop of peanut butter on a cracker? Then again, maybe I am just old enough that I am quite familiar with what the rest of the world thinks is “long lost”).
• Kaffeeklatsch, an informal social gathering at which coffee is served (again, isn’t this the time-honored coffee klatch, just spelled differently?).
• Pawky, having a mocking or cynical sense of humor (guilty as charged, you blatherskite).
“Once again, our Word Warriors have provided a collection of words that makes our language a bit livelier,” Chris Williams, head of the Word Warriors program and assistant director of editorial services for Wayne State Marketing and Communications, said in a news release. But wait, there’s more. Other words making the list this year are:
• Petrichor, pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm and dry weather (a scent that arrives in the Owens Valley rather sparingly).
• Pettifogger, an inferior legal practitioner (you mean there are lousy lawyers out there that need another description besides blatherskite?).
• Rawgabbit, a person who speaks confidently but ignorantly (wait a minute, I thought we were done with lawyers, but apparently not).
•Thunderplump, a heavy fall of rain during a thunderstorm (I think the kids in the dorm made this up after puffing on wacky tobaccy, also known as the Devil’s lettuce. My god I really am old).
• Twankle, to twang with the fingers on a musical instrument (I hope that’s all that gets twankled).
PR guy Williams was downright giddy about the list. He gushed, “this year’s list is particularly evocative (kind of a hoitytoity). I love to picture myself inhaling the petrichor after a summer thunderplump or listening to someone twankle away on a guitar.”
OPINION
(Jon Klusmire of Bishop is warming up to the idea of using outdated words.)