The Obscure of the English Language

Hello!! It's been quite a while! I've been settling in to my new place (still not done) and exploring. My dad and sis came to visit the other weekend...they took my car home with them. I am now officially stuck.

When they were here, I showed them around a bit. I think the only thing we really did in Brooklyn was the Prospect Park Farmer's Market. We had apple cider donuts, chocolate milk (Which is evidently usually made from bloody milk - I don't find this out til the week after. Ew.), and some really good nectarines. But my favorite find at the market was Nicola and the Newfoundlander.


Nicola and the Newfoundlander was set up at a little table on a corner across the street from the market. Their clocks were what first caught my eye. Then the Newfoundlander (the non-female, so by process of elimination...) then explained the work, and I got really excited about these magnets! More so, I got excited about what they're about.

First of all, I should say that everything is made from reclaimed wood - he specifically mentioned wood from Brooklyn water towers, the Coney Island boardwalk, and wine barrels. And these magnets that I'm now in love with feature words forgotten from the english language, words that have no equal. Some are beautiful, many are ironic, and all are due for a comeback. Take it in.

petrichor - the smell of rain on dry earth

maieutic - to give birth to ideas

ploiter - to work with little purpose

zizany - a bad apple that spoils the bunch

vicambulist - a person who wanders the city streets

fey - having a strange, almost other-worldly, whimsical charm

ergophobist - one who fears work

mungo - one who finds beautiful things in the trash

kakistocracy - a government run by its worst citizens

rememble - a false memory

dulosis - the enslavement of ants by ants

limerence - the first moments of love

malist - one who thinks this is a terrible world, but not the worst of all possible worlds

musophobist - one with a deep and sustained fear of poetry

*interesting fact: Only half of these words got the squiggly red underline when typed.

I don't know about you, but hearing of these words (especially knowing that some of them passed the spell check) made me really think about the english language, how limited it can be, and how we limit ourselves even more by using only a few of the words available. I also laugh a little. I know plenty of ergophobists, but I believe I have yet to meet a musophobist. I shouldn't laugh, I apologize.

you can also visit their etsy shop