11 Wonderful Words Of Old - Life - Stylist Magazine

  • 11 words that were
  • 11 words that were
  • 11 words that were
  • 11 words that were

Wonderful words of old

Lost lexicon we wish was still in use

Last week, the Concise Oxford English Dictionary - which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year - announced that modern vocabulary such as "retweet", "sexting" and "jeggings" had been chosen for inclusion in the 12th Edition.

However, a commitment to covering "the language of its own time" inevitably leads to various words being eliminated from the dictionary from edition to edition. In a bid to avoid losing these forever, we asked OED editor Angus Stevenson to dig through the archives to share some of the lost (and wonderful-to-pronounce) words that no longer feature on the dictionary's pages.

Get your tongue around the 11 wonderful words of old below. Now, if you need us, we'll be in our growlery, mafficking with a slapping novel and goluptious glass of wine...

Picture credits: Rex Features

1. Brabble

Meaning: Paltry, noisy quarrel

Removed: 6th edition - 1976

2. Foozle

Meaning: Do clumsily, bungle, make a mess of

Removed: 8th edition - 1990

3. Goluptious

Meaning: Delightful, luscious

Removed: 8th edition - 1990

4. Growlery

Meaning: Growling; place to growl in, private room, den

Removed: 6th edition - 1976

5. Hum

Meaning: A sham, hoax

Removed: 6th edition - 1976

6. Kheda

Meaning: An enclosure used in Bengal to catch elephants

Removed: 6th edition - 1976

7. Maffick

Meaning: To exult riotously

Removed: 8th edition - 1990

8. Mag

Meaning: A halfpenny coin

Removed: 6th edition - 1976

9. Marconigram

Meaning: A message sent by Marconi’s system of wireless telegraphy

Removed: 8th edition - 1990

10. Slapping

Meaning: Very big, good, or fast

Removed: 6th edition - 1976

11. Squiffer

Meaning: A concertina (as seen on Paloma Faith's head, right)

Removed: 6th edition - 1976

Tags: books, writing

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