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Vanishing vocab from days of old
In this Twitter-happy world of instant slang and text speak, it's easy to forget that some of the best words in the English language belong to a bygone age. Phrases like woofits (a hangover) and callipygian (having a nice bottom) are deliciously satisfying and entertaining - yet completely unrecognisable in the context of today.
After our list of 11 wonderful words of old proved so popular, we turned to author Jeffrey Kacirk - who has devoted himself to unearthing of unusual words from years past, as presented in his calendar series and on his website, Forgotten English - to bring you our selection of our favourite vanishing vocab from the 2011 calendar, which can be viewed in the gallery below.
Click an image to launch the gallery. Also, don't be a loitersacke, and do try to make us chuckle like a giglet by sharing the chatillionte sentences you form using these wonderful words with us on Twitter.
Picture credits: Rex Features
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Forgotten English
Scurryfunge A hasty tidying of the house between… More details
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Forgotten English
Scurryfunge
A hasty tidying of the house between the time you see a neighbour and the time she knocks on the door
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Forgotten English
Woofits The unpleasant aftereffects of… More details
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Forgotten English
Woofits
The unpleasant aftereffects of overindulgence, especially drinking
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Forgotten English
Giglet A merry light-hearted, playful, romping… More details
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Forgotten English
Giglet
A merry light-hearted, playful, romping girl
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Forgotten English
Condiddle To convey away secretly More details
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Forgotten English
Condiddle
To convey away secretly
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Forgotten English
Roger To bull, or lie with a woman; from the name… More details
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Forgotten English
Roger
To bull, or lie with a woman; from the name of Roger being frequently given to a bull
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Forgotten English
Shinnicked Benumbed, paralysed with cold More details
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Forgotten English
Shinnicked
Benumbed, paralysed with cold
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Forgotten English
Purfled Short-winded, especially in consequence… More details
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Forgotten English
Purfled
Short-winded, especially in consequence of being too lusty
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Forgotten English
Batten To fatten, or grow fat More details
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Forgotten English
Batten
To fatten, or grow fat
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Forgotten English
Primpit Stiffly or formally dressed More details
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Forgotten English
Primpit
Stiffly or formally dressed
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Forgotten English
Callipygian Of, pertaining to, or having… More details
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Forgotten English
Callipygian
Of, pertaining to, or having well-shaped or finely developed buttocks
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Forgotten English
Loitersacke A lazy, loitering fellow More details
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Forgotten English
Loitersacke
A lazy, loitering fellow
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Forgotten English
Egg-wife-trot An easy jog - such a speed as… More details
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Forgotten English
Egg-wife-trot
An easy jog - such a speed as farmers' wives carry their eggs to the market
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Forgotten English
Nizzle To be slightly intoxicated, to be worse… More details
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Forgotten English
Nizzle
To be slightly intoxicated, to be worse for liquor; to be unsteady
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Forgotten English
Jangle Gossiping, idle talking; to jangle one's… More details
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Forgotten English
Jangle
Gossiping, idle talking; to jangle one's time away
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Forgotten English
Sport ivory To smile; if [someone] smiled, he… More details
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Forgotten English
Sport ivory
To smile; if [someone] smiled, he sported ivory
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Forgotten English
Panshard A passion, a rage. In a panshard, in a… More details
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Forgotten English
Panshard
A passion, a rage. In a panshard, in a rage, out of temper
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Forgotten English
Puckfyst Thirsty. The puckfyst is a dried… More details
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Forgotten English
Puckfyst
Thirsty. The puckfyst is a dried toadstall. Hence, "I feels puckfyst" means I feel as dry as a dried toadstall
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Forgotten English
Wagpastie A term of contempt; a rogue More details
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Forgotten English
Wagpastie
A term of contempt; a rogue
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Forgotten English
Bezonter An expletive, denoting surprise.… More details
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Forgotten English
Bezonter
An expletive, denoting surprise. "Bezonter me! but aw'm fair gormed"
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Forgotten English
Chatillionte Delightful, amusing. [From] French… More details
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Forgotten English
Chatillionte
Delightful, amusing. [From] French chatouiller, to tickle, to provoke with delight
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Forgotten English
Chuffy Haughty, proud, puffed up More details
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Forgotten English
Chuffy
Haughty, proud, puffed up
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Forgotten English
Bouffage A satisfying meal; adopted from Old… More details
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Forgotten English
Bouffage
A satisfying meal; adopted from Old French bouffage
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Forgotten English
Hochle To tumble lewdly with women in open day More details
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Forgotten English
Hochle
To tumble lewdly with women in open day
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Forgotten English
Wolf's head An outlaw, meaning a person who might… More details
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Forgotten English
Wolf's head
An outlaw, meaning a person who might be killed with impugnity, like a wolf
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Forgotten English
Doggo In hiding; desire to be left alone; lying… More details
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Forgotten English
Doggo
In hiding; desire to be left alone; lying doggo
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Forgotten English
Quixotism Romantic or absurd notions or actions More details
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Quixotism
Romantic or absurd notions or actions
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Forgotten English
Dormedory A sleepy, stupid person who does not… More details
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Forgotten English
Dormedory
A sleepy, stupid person who does not get on with work
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Forgotten English
Vinipote A wine drinker More details
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Vinipote
A wine drinker
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Forgotten English
Toozle To pull about – especially applied to… More details
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Forgotten English
Toozle
To pull about – especially applied to any rough dalliance with a female
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Forgotten English
Munz-watcher One of those sneaks that make a… More details
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Forgotten English
Munz-watcher
One of those sneaks that make a practise of watching ... sweethearts on their nightly walks, and if any impropriety is witnessed, demanding hush-money to keep the matter secret
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