From Foyle’s Philavery: A Treasury of Unusual Words, some choice selections coming soon to a post near you:
captious: inclined to find fault or raise trivial objections
claque: 1. a group of people hired to applaud a performer in a theater etc. or a speaker at a meeting; 2. a circle of admirers and flatterers
contumacy: stubborn refusal to obey or comply; resistance to authority
crepuscular: 1. relating to twilight; dim; 2. denoting animals that are active or appear at morning or evening twilight
enantiodromia: a process by which a strong force produces its opposite, and the interaction between the two
facinorous: extremely wicked
feculent: 1. polluted; fetid, filthy; 2. containing sediment or faeces
flagitious: 1. deeply criminal; utterly wicked; 2. infamous; scandalous; shamefully disgraceful
lethologica: the inability to remember a word or call to mind the right word
December 1, 2022 @ 12:02 pm
“Feculent” is interesting. My wife and I recently went to see the movie “The Banshees of Inisherin” (two thumbs up, by the way). The Irish characters use “fecking” as an adjective all the time, but then sometimes they use “fucking” too. I assumed “fecking” was just a slightly softened way of saying the same the same thing but now I wonder if there’s any chance the e-spelling is derived from something like “feculent.” Unlikely, I suppose.
December 1, 2022 @ 12:10 pm
The former is probably correct, but the latter would be far more interesting. We should create a fake etymology for it and see if we can get it established.