DETROIT – The Wayne State University Word Warriors have put out their list of words that they say deserve to be used in the everyday language more often.
As part of its initiative to draw attention to some of the English language's most expressive — yet regrettably neglected — words, the Word Warriors have applied their trenchant insight and released their annual list of the year's top 10 words that deserve to be used more often in conversation and prose.
Now beginning its tenth year, Wayne State's Word Warriors series promotes especially worthy of retrieval from the linguistic cellar.
The Word Warriors' extensive list is composed of submissions from both administrators of the website as well as the public; participants worldwide have seen their favorite words brought back from the brink of obsolescence at wordwarriors.wayne.edu. New entries are posted there – as well as on Facebook each week.
"A decade in, and we're just scratching the surface of weird, beautiful words that have sadly fallen out of use over the years," said Chris Williams, assistant director of editorial services in Wayne State's Offices of Marketing and Communications, and head of the Word Warriors program. "The English language is so versatile and unique, and it's been especially fun to see Word Warriors from around the world bring so many of these words to our attention."
And now, the Word Warriors' 2019 list of eminently useful words that should be brought back to enrich our language:
- Anechdoche
- A conversation in which everyone is talking, but no one is listening.
- What started as a civil debate turned into a deafening anecdoche, in which every person believed they possessed the ideal solution.
- Anhedonia
- Inability to feel pleasure.
- Despite the fact that he was sitting on the beach in the middle of summer, a crippling anhedonia overtook John, making him yearn for a quiet bedroom to pass the day in alone.
- Coadunation
- The union (as of dissimilar substances) in one body or mass.
- While the ingredients weren't appetizing on their own, mixing them together created a pleasant coadunation that was the hit of the potluck.
- Fubsy
- Fat and squat.
- The accountant, a fubsy man whose suit was far too tight, squeezed himself into the tiny booth.
- Lickpenny
- Something that uses up money.
- The car was a lickpenny in constant need of repair.
- Logorrhea
- Excessive and often incoherent talkativeness or wordiness.
- Internet blogs and podcasts foster logorrhea from effusive writers and speakers, who lay waste to years of schooling that encouraged brevity.
- Salubrious
- Health-giving; healthy.
- He loved camping; the fresh air and sunshine created a salubrious atmosphere that rejuvenated him after a week in the office.
- Slonk
- To swallow greedily
- He slonked down his spaghetti as if he hadn't had a meal in years.
- Slugabed
- A lazy person who stays in bed late.
- He wanted to get up early and exercise, but the slugabed slept past his alarm and woke up five minutes before his exam.
- Trenchant
- Vigorous or incisive in expression or style.
- The critic made a trenchant argument for the movie's awfulness.