|
| Abibliophobia |
The fear of running out of reading material. |
| Absquatulate |
To leave or abscond with something. |
| Allegator |
Some who alleges. |
| Anencephalous |
Lacking a brain. |
| Argle-bargle |
A loud row or quarrel. |
| Batrachomyomachy |
Making a mountain out of a molehill. |
| Billingsgate |
Loud, raucous profanity. |
| Bloviate |
To speak pompously or brag. |
| Blunderbuss |
A gun with a flared muzzle or disorganized activity. |
| Borborygm |
A rumbling of the stomach. |
| Boustrophedon |
A back and forth pattern. |
| Bowyang |
A strap that holds the pants legs in place. |
| Brouhaha |
An uproar. |
| Bumbershoot |
An umbrella. |
| Callipygian |
Having an attractive rear end or nice buns. |
| Canoodle |
To hug and kiss. |
| Cantankerous |
Testy, grumpy. |
| Catercornered |
Diagonal(ly). |
| Cockalorum |
A small, haughty man. |
| Cockamamie |
Absurd, outlandish. |
| Codswallop |
Nonsense, balderdash. |
| Collop |
A slice of meat or fold of flab. |
| Collywobbles |
Butterflies in the stomach. |
| Comeuppance |
Just reward, just deserts. |
| Crapulence |
Discomfort from eating or drinking too much. |
| Crudivore |
An eater of raw food. |
| Discombobulate |
To confuse. |
| Donnybrook |
An melee, a riot. |
| Doozy |
Something really great. |
| Dudgeon |
A bad mood, a huff. |
| Ecdysiast |
An exotic dancer, a stripper. |
| Eructation |
A burp, belch. |
| Fard |
Face-paint, makeup. |
| Fartlek |
An athletic training regime. |
| Fatuous |
Unconsciously foolish. |
| Filibuster |
Refusal to give up the floor in a debate to prevent a vote. |
| Firkin |
A quarter barrel or small cask. |
| Flibbertigibbet |
Nonsense, balderdash. |
| Flummox |
To exasperate. |
| Folderol |
Nonsense. |
| Formication |
The sense of ants crawling on your skin. |
| Fuddy-duddy |
An old-fashioned, mild-mannered person. |
| Furbelow |
A fringe or ruffle. |
| Furphy |
A portable water-container. |
| Gaberlunzie |
A wandering beggar. |
| Gardyloo! |
A warning shouted before throwing water from above. |
| Gastromancy |
Telling fortune from the rumblings of the stomach. |
| Gazump |
To buy something already promised to someone else. |
| Gobbledygook |
Nonsense, balderdash. |
| Gobemouche |
A highly gullible person. |
| Godwottery |
Nonsense, balderdash. |
| Gongoozle |
To stare at, kibitz. |
| Gonzo |
Far-out journalism. |
| Goombah |
An older friend who protects you. |
| Hemidemisemiquaver |
A musical timing of 1/64. |
| Hobbledehoy |
An awkward or ill-mannered young boy. |
| Hocus-pocus |
Deceitful sleight of hand. |
| Hoosegow |
A jail or prison. |
| Hootenanny |
A country or folk music get-together. |
| Jackanapes |
A rapscallion, hooligan. |
| Kerfuffle |
Nonsense, balderdash. |
| Klutz |
An awkward, stupid person. |
| La-di-da |
An interjection indicating that something is pretentious. |
| Lagopodous |
Like a rabbit’s foot. |
| Lickety-split |
As fast as possible. |
| Lickspittle |
A servile person, a toady. |
| Logorrhea |
Loquaciousness, talkativeness. |
| Lollygag |
To move slowly, fall behind. |
| Malarkey |
Nonsense, balderdash. |
| Maverick |
A loner, someone outside the box. |
| Mollycoddle |
To treat too leniently. |
| Mugwump |
An independent politician who does not follow any party. |
| Mumpsimus |
An outdated and unreasonable position on an issue. |
| Namby-pamby |
Weak, with no backbone. |
| Nincompoop |
A foolish person. |
| Oocephalus |
An egghead. |
| Ornery |
Mean, nasty, grumpy. |
| Pandiculation |
A full body stretch. |
| Panjandrum |
Someone who thinks himself high and mighty. |
| Pettifogger |
A person who tries to befuddle others with his speech. |
| Pratfall |
A fall on one’s rear. |
| Quean |
A disreputable woman. |
| Rambunctious |
Aggressive, hard to control. |
| Ranivorous |
Frog-eating |
| Rigmarole |
Nonsense, unnecessary complexity. |
| Shenanigan |
A prank, mischief. |
| Sialoquent |
Spitting while speaking. |
| Skedaddle |
To hurry somewhere. |
| Skullduggery |
No good, underhanded dealing. |
| Slangwhanger |
A loud abusive speaker or obnoxious writer. |
| Smellfungus |
A perpetual pessimist. |
| Snickersnee |
A long knife. |
| Snollygoster |
A person who can’t be trusted. |
| Snool |
A servile person. |
| Tatterdemalion |
A child in rags. |
| Troglodyte |
Someone or something that lives in a cave. |
| Turdiform |
Having the form of a lark. |
| Unremacadamized |
Having not been repaved with macadam. |
| Vomitory |
An exit or outlet. |
| Wabbit |
Exhausted, tired, worn out. |
| Widdershins |
In a contrary or counterclockwise direction. |
| Yahoo |
A rube, a country bumpkin. |
| @ |
The “at” sign. |
Just English 
This is a superb list and we at Grammar Rant have featured a number of them and will certainly be featuring some more. JustEnglish is a wonderful blog; long may it continue! You may well want to join our mission to improve standards in British English, through humour, on: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Grammar-Rant/713206725392648
(It would be lovely to have your input.)
I use these words occasionally. I’ve never been struck by anything funny by them before.
Really? ‘Flummoxed’ is one of my favourite words; it’s got real character, and cheers me up. How can someone say: ‘cockalorum’ and not smile. (I use it a lot, because there are a lot of them out there.)
Reblogged this on F is for Fluffy.
Gadzooks, Girl, you’ve titillated us – we need some etymological info too as I can safely declare that it would be most hilarious and edifying. p