I like words.

The English language is full of interesting, silly, fun to say words that are either half forgotten or technical in nature. These words don’t pop up too often, but when they do it’s always good for a grin.

Following is a list of some of my favorite words, and their meanings. There’s no particular order here, just a group of words I like. Hopefully some of your favorites are here too. Maybe you’ll even find a new favorite or two to throw out there when you’re trying to impress someone (usually somebody cute or someone with way more clout than you have) so that you can feel intelligent for two seconds, and enjoy watching them try to figure out what it was you just said.

Well, a guy’s gotta have a hobby.

Anyway, here goes.

Bumbershoot– an umbrella

Hullaballoo– a commotion. Also a hip television music show from the 1960’s.

Bamboozle– to trick someone into doing something

Gobbledygook– gibberish

Fartlek– ewww, no, not that. It’s a type of training where runners switch between sprinting and jogging.

Everywhen– all the time, or always.

Megadeath– a unit measuring “one million deaths” when discussing nuclear warfare. It’s also the name of a heavy metal band (misspelled) that is either highly over or under rated depending on who you ask.

Kumkwat– sounds vaguely dirty, but it’s just a citrus fruit that I have never eaten.

Bumfuzzle– confused or perplexed.

Dipthong– not a bathing suit for hillbillies. This is when two vowel sounds join together in one syllable to form one sound, like “ou” in out or “oy” in toy.

Discombobulate– to confuse, frustrate or upset.

Indubitably– expressing certainty about an action. Side note: my father claimed this to be my first word. Indubitably so.

Dongle– an adapter or cord that connects one device to another.

Biblioklept– a person who steals books.

Hoecake– Sounds like an insult, but really is just a Southern style cornbread.

Draggle– to make something wet or dirty by dragging it. Not cute little creatures created by Jim Henson.

Perissology– being overly wordy. Something I have been accused of in the past, and probably a good place to end this list.

Well that was fun. And nerdy. I hope you liked it. See you next week.