SELDOM KNOWN OR USED WORDS

Words are wonderful in any language! English doesn't say it all; it has only one word for snow, but it says a lot. There is no word that replicates the full meaning of chutzpah, for example. Today a learned the word for the part of the body where one cannot reach to scratch...acnestis pronunciationN: (ak-NEES-tis).

I guess I've always wanted to be a nihilarian. pronunciation: (nih-i-LAR-ee-uhn)
meaning: noun: One who does useless work. Sometimes I wonder if I'm not one and sometimes I wonder if there is such a thing. Useless and work don't seem to go well together. What may be useless to one, may have great value or use to another. Take twiddling one's thumbs, for example. No product is seen from the exercise but if it calms someone and moves them away from an anxiety attack, is that useless? Playing Free Cell on the computer works better from me than drinking alcohol does.

Otiose is another great word. pronunciation:
(O-shee-ohs, O-ti-)meaning: adjective: 1. Superfluous. 2. Futile. 3. Indolent.
ETYMOLOGY: From otium (leisure). The rubber stamping of the Republican House these past 9 years has been otiose, certainly futile in terms of the good of the country. It is how the Conservatives lost their way to demonstrating caring for their fellow man, is it now?

There are also words that really just sound right for their meaning. subfusc is one of those. It doesn't have a happy sound to it for good reason. pronunciation: (sub-FUSK) (It actually has a rather randy sound to it, doesn't it?) meaning: adjective: Dark, drab, or gloomy.
noun: Dark, formal clothing worn at some universities for exams and special occasions. It is hard to imagine being lower than 'fusc'!

There are also words that sound like their meaning. Ding dong and toot are such words. Smooth makes you feel it as compared to the word abrupt which lacks a sense of ease. Comics make a great study of words that make people laugh.

My last comments are about how people hear words more than the words themselves. There are those who deny poetic license and take everything literally. We have many examples of this on wards with schizophrenic patients and in jokes. One such joke goes like this: Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy takes out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator says: "Calm down, I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a gunshot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says: "OK, now what?"