By Bex Surtees
Do you know a philargyrist? Perhaps you are a pamphagous eater? Are you prone to giving tortiloqauys (and no, I don’t mean the Mexican food dish)? What on earth are you talking about you quaeritate?*
Every year, words that are no longer used regularly in the English language are dropped from the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Save the Words is a nifty little campaign launched by the OED to put a stop to our pigtritude and remind us just how colourful the English language really is.
If you want to improve your wordpower, you can adopt one of the many words vying for a conversational home (“pick me”, “choose me” they cry) – hardcore lexical lovers can even purchase T-shirts with their favourite expressions. Or, if you’ve got a particular word in need of a loving foster home, you can contact Save The Words directly ([email protected]) and get it included in the line up.
But that’s enough of my blatercation for one day. Go on and save a word from extinction – or we might all just end up speechless!
If you have any words to adopt, let Bex know @BexySurtees.
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