Editor's Corner

I was just hunting around for something interesting (some might call that “surfing the net”) and I saw an article called “Ten Awesome Historical Words We Should Bring Back.” Sometimes these sites are just a little stuffy for me, but after seeing a couple of the words, I thought they were worth our attention. I was familiar with a couple of them, but the rest were nice surprises. Here they are for your learning pleasure:

fudgel

Definition: To “fudgel” means pretending to work without actually accomplishing anything.
Example: “Gilbert spent Friday afternoon fudgeling at his desk, while counting down the hours until the weekend.”

grufeling

Definition: Often used in ridicule, to be “grufeling” is to wrap yourself up and lie down comfortably.
Example: “Want to Netflix and grufel tonight?”

callipygian

Definition: “Callipygian” is an antiquated, and maybe more polite, way of saying someone has a nice “rear end.”
Example: “That callipygian woman seems to have inspired a sudden interest in fitness and wellbeing.”

lanspresado

Definition: A “lanspresado” is someone who conveniently shows up without any money.
Example: “There’s no excuse for lanspresados, now that everyone has a credit card.”

[KC – This sounds like a mansplaining desperado.]

pannychis

Definition: The word might not sound like fun, but “pannychis” is defined as an all-night feast or ceremony.
Example: “What a wild pannychis last night! Let’s do it again next weekend!”

philogrobilized

Definition: “Philogrobilized” is how people used to describe a hangover without admitting to having been drinking.
Example: “I’m not hungover. I’m just philogrobilized.”

expergefactor

Definition: “Expergefactor” is a complicated, catch-all term to describe anything that wakes you up.
Example: “Sorry I’m late, my expergefactor (alarm clock) didn’t go off this morning."

frobly-mobly

Definition: “Frobly-mobly” means exactly how it sounds: so-so, feeling neither well nor unwell. [KC – There are many phrases like this in different languages, and the meaning is the same: so so. Some examples: así así (Spanish), comme ci comme ça (French), έτσι κι έτσι (Greek, which sounds like “etsi-ketsi”). Let me know if there are others!]

Example: “At best, Dave was feeling frobly-mobly that morning. Then, he had a coffee.”

twattling

Definition: “Twattling” is another word for idle gossip.
Example: “Their texts showed a record of twattling that went back several weeks.”

kakistocracy

Definition: “Kakistocracy” is a forgotten word that describes an unqualified and incompetent government.
Example: “Our reliable system of checks and balances will prevent a kakistocracy.”

Note: I did look up some of the words so I could help with pronunciation, but I was sent to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and I don’t have a subscription, so they wouldn’t let me in. I checked to see if I should subscribe, but at $100 a year that’s more of an investment. We’ll just have to guess at how they would’ve pronounced pannychis five hundred years ago.

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

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