从A到Z:26个奇葩英文单词
Have you ever worn winklepickers or salopettes? Is the saying about French women and their oxters true? Do your friends complain that you bibble too much? Have you ever experienced zoanthropy and been convinced you were an elephant? If you’re confused as to how to answer any – or all – of these questions, never fear! We’ve created this confusion, and we’re here to clear it up with this alphabetical list of 26 weird English words and their meanings. 1. agastopia n. – admiration of a particular part of someone’s body 2. bibble v. – to drink often; to eat and/or drink noisily 3. cabotage n. – coastal navigation; the exclusive right of a country to control the air traffic within its borders 4. doodle sack n. – old English word for bagpipe 5. erinaceous adj. – of, pertaining to, or resembling a hedgehog Although she won’t know what it means, never, ever tell your date Erin that she is “looking quite erinaceous this evening.” 6. firman n. – in Turkey and some other Oriental countries, a decree or mandate issued by the sovereign 7. gabelle n. – a tax on salt 8. halfpace n. – a platform of a staircase where the stair turns back in exactly the reverse direction of the lower flight 9. impignorate v. – to pawn or mortgage something 10. jentacular adj. – pertaining to breakfast 11. kakorrhaphiophobia n. – fear of failure This is the last word that someone with kakorrhaphiophobia would want to encounter in a spelling bee. 12. lamprophony n. – loudness and clarity of enunciation 13. macrosmatic adj. – having a good sense of smell 14. nudiustertian n. – the day before yesterday 15. oxter n. – outdated word meaning “armpit” 16. pauciloquent adj. – uttering few words; brief in speech 17. quire n. – two dozen sheets of paper 18. ratoon n. – small shoot growing from the root of a plant 19. salopettes n. – high-waisted skiing pants with shoulder straps 20. tittynope n. – a small quantity of something left over 21. ulotrichous adj. – having wooly or crispy hair 22. valetudinarian n. – a sickly or weak person, especially one who is constantly and morbidly concerned with his or her health 23. winklepicker n. – style of shoe or boot in the 1950s with a sharp and long pointed toe 24. xertz v. – to gulp down quickly and greedily 25. yarborough n. – hand of cards containing no card above a nine 26. zoanthropy n. – delusion of a person who believes himself changed into an animal |