Why This Is Hell

John Clute? Surely he can review us out of the crisis?

Apparently (and clearly this is in part a publicity stunt) Collins are to retire 2000 words from their dictionaries, such as:

Abstergent Cleansing or scouring

Agrestic Rural; rustic; unpolished; uncouth

Apodeictic Unquestionably true by virtue of demonstration

Caducity Perishableness; senility

Caliginosity Dimness; darkness

Compossible Possible in coexistence with something else

Embrangle To confuse or entangle

Exuviate To shed (a skin or similar outer covering)

Fatidical Prophetic

Fubsy Short and stout; squat

Griseous Streaked or mixed with grey; somewhat grey

Malison A curse

Mansuetude Gentleness or mildness

Muliebrity The condition of being a woman

Niddering Cowardly

Nitid Bright; glistening

Olid Foul-smelling

Oppugnant Combative, antagonistic or contrary

Periapt A charm or amulet

Recrement Waste matter; refuse; dross

Roborant Tending to fortify or increase strength

Skirr A whirring or grating sound, as of the wings of birds in flight

Vaticinate To foretell; prophesy

Vilipend To treat or regard with contempt


I will henceforth vilipend, despite my fubsyness.

See: http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article4799560.ece

Edit: I assume Collins are owned by the same company that ultimately publishes the Times. Cross promotion, much?

There's also a plug for http://wordia.com/, which is (c) Collins and doesn't contain skirr nor malisons.

Have you ever assumed that "gay" means a liking for showtunes and a peculiar affinity with small girls from Kansas? Do you mourn the hijacking of the word "gay" from its earlier, innocent* meaning?

Fear no more: I intend to track the contemporary meaning of the word to spare your social blushes.

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 ( Endnote )

Postironic is an anagram of positronic.

I think I may use that line in a review I should have written.