Picture Dictionary of Wonderful Words

In the Social Studies page of yesterday’s Globe and Mail, Michael Kesterton mentioned Christopher Foyle’s collection of all-but-lost words. I was delighted to see that more than half of the sample pulled from Foyle’s Philavery: A Treasury of Unusual Words could be put to immediate use in my kitchen.

Putting my yellowing Bachelor of Education degree to use, I complied a picture dictionary to increase your vocabulary and my blog traffic.

Dentiloquy: the act or practice of speaking through clenched teeth
When returning your Kenmore, a little well-applied dentilquy gets your point across without cussing.

Exheredate: to disinherit
Melt another handle and I’ll exheredate you!

Resipiscence: recognition of past mistakes and the desire to do better in future
Between the burnt appetizers and rancid salad dressing, the room was rife with resipiscence.

Groak: to look or stare at longingly, especially at someone who is eating
My sister groaked at the cake, wondering if she would be forced to share.

Kalopsia: the condition in which things appear more beautiful than they really are
Amish Friendship Bread is kalopsiaic.
Outward appearance

Cruel reality

Murcous: lacking a thumb
I’d clean my oven except I’m murcous.

Same excuse applies to the desk.

Yaffle: to eat and drink, especially noisily and greedily
Barrel Turning turns ordinarily refined men into yafflers.

Eating

Drinking

Not sure why groak and yaffle have fallen out of favour. Anyone with a golden retriever or hungry teenagers could put these powerful verbs to use. Think I’ll pick up a copy of Foyle’s book and see if he has any handy terms for a work surface that messes itself up when you aren’t looking or a descriptive phrase for a person who is easily swayed by advertising.