WORD WARRIORS

The Word Warriors of Wayne State University (also in Michigan) are trying to rejuvenate English by advocating for words of style and substance that see far too little use. Alarmed by the tendency that people sometimes overuse words that are momentarily popular (like some of those in the LSSU piece), and miss out on English’s inherent beauty and agility, now in its 10th year, Wayne State’s Word Warriors series promotes words especially worthy of retrieval from the linguistic closet. See the archives at https://wordwarriors.wayne.edu/archive

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.