Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Smegmat’ic, a. soapy, cleansing. Word in the Wild: Are you sure you rinsed this cup properly? My tea tastes awfully smegmatic. Smegmatic comes from the Greek smegma, meaning a detergent, soap, or unguent. I think it’s such a fun word to say a bunch of times in a row, having an aptly slippery […]

Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Pre’dy, adj. cleared and ready for engagement. Word in the Wild: After a bitter defeat at Scrabble, Seamus poured a belt of Scotch, returned the tiles to their gunmetal-grey bag, and demanded that Louis return to the predy game board for a rematch. The OED tells us that predy was historically applied to ships […]

Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Nidoros’ity, n. a belching up the taste of roast meat. Word in the Wild: A guest’s nidorosity after a meal may be either a compliment to the chef or a sign that the entrée had spoiled. According to the OED this word is now obsolete: we can hope this is because the condition […]

A Word for Mother’s Day Matrisate v. to imitate a mother. Word in the Wild: Look at the little ones matrisating with their dolls. Aren’t they sweet? Here’s a nice obsolete word for you on Mother’s Day. If, like me, you have a brilliant, funny, thoughtful, and kind mother, you’ll be delighted if someone accuses […]