Joe Gillard - The Little Book of Lost Words: Collywobbles, Snollygosters, and 86 Other Surprisingly Useful Terms Worth Resurrecting

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you to the many hard-working people who helped make this book happen. First, my editor at Ten Speed Press, Lisa Westmoreland, and all the other talented people at Ten Speed who put all this together. And a huge thanks to my agent, Mark Gottlieb, at Trident Media Group, for his support, guidance, and talent from the very beginning of the project. To these people, and the other professionals who had a hand in the book, I am deeply and sincerely grateful.

To the people in my life who have cheered for me and enabled me to work on this book, I owe enormous gratitude. My wife, Nicole Persun, is my biggest source of inspiration and guidance in creative endeavors. My mother, Sue; my father, Steve; my sister, Jessica; and my longtime compeer, Caton White, have encouraged and helped me in huge ways that I will never be able to properly repay or thank them for. I also want to thank my father-in-law, Terry Persun, for his support and business advice, and my mother-in-law, Cathy Persun, for the love and support shes shown me.

Thanks to Alan Kessler, Ken Gunn, Jeff Sanschagrin, Coleman White, Sally Davis, Marci Van Cleve, Kip Hubbard, Aaron Vallat, and the late Julie Marston, all of whom have mentored, supported, taught, influenced, and helped me personally and professionally.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

NICOLE J. PERSUN

Joe Gillard is the creator of History Hustle, an online history publication and Facebook page for the digital, mobile generation, and works in digital marketing. When hes not digging through historical facts, words, and anecdotes, Joe and his wife spend their time traveling, visiting museums and bookstores, and reading by the ocean in the Pacific Northwest.

Absquatulate

Verb | ab- skwah -choo-leyt | Nineteenth century. English.

TO RUN OFF WITH SOMEONE IN A HURRY. TO ABSCOND.

When Codys mother started lecturing him about safe sex in front of his girlfriend, they had no choice but to absquatulate.

Accismus

Noun | ak- siz -muhs | Sixteenth century. English.

A FAKE REFUSAL OF SOMETHING YOU REALLY WANT.

Michael may be a master at accismus, but he cant say no to pizza bagels.

Adamitism

Noun | ad -uhm-i-tiz-uhm | Nineteenth century. English.

THE SUPPORT OR PRACTICE OF NUDISM OR PUBLIC NUDITY, ESP. FOR RELIGIOUS REASONS.

Her husband had lately been practicing a casual form of adamitism around the house, creeping out the cat.

Aischrolatreia

Noun | ahys-kroh-luh- trahy -uh | Early twentieth century. English.

THE WORSHIP OF LEWDNESS AND OBSCENITY.

Nearly every online community eventually becomes overrun with aischrolatreia.

Akrasia

Noun | uh- krey -zhee-uh | Ancient Greek.

THE ACT OF KNOWING YOU SHOULDNT BE DOING SOMETHING, BUT DOING IT ANYWAY. DELIBERATELY ACTING AGAINST GOOD JUDGMENT.

Was it akrasia for him to get drunk at his bosss kids birthday party? Maybe, but bouncy houses arent as fun when youre sober.

Allotriophagy

Noun | al-uh-tree- ah -fuh-jee | Nineteenth century. English. Medical terminology.

A STRONG URGE OR DESIRE TO EAT FOOD THAT IS ABNORMAL OR UNHEALTHY.

Mike claimed he ate nothing but ramen noodles and pork rinds because he was broke and in collegea poor excuse for his allotriophagy.

Amphigory

Noun | am -fi-gohr-ee | Nineteenth century. English.

A PIECE OF WRITING THAT APPEARS TO HAVE MEANING BUT IS REALLY JUST FOOLISH NONSENSE.

His poetry was amphigory; it read like a late-night drunk text.

Apanthropy

Noun | uh- pan -thruh-pee | Nineteenth century. English. Medical terminology.

A DESIRE TO BE ALONE; A DISTASTE FOR THE COMPANY OF OTHERS.

Sarah, your apanthropy is getting old; you cant spend another weekend alone with mac and cheese and romcoms.

Aprosexia

Noun | ap-ruh- se hx -ee-uh | Nineteenth century. English. Medical terminology.

A COMPLETE INABILITY TO FOCUS OR CONCENTRATE DUE TO A DISTRACTED, WANDERING MIND.

Johnsons aprosexia kept him from retaining anything from the three-hour board meeting.

Aquabib

Noun | ahk -wuh-bib | Nineteenth century. English.

A WATER-DRINKER. A TEETOTALER.

Cheryl, the office aquabib, took frequent trips to the bathroom.

Ataraxia

Noun | at-uh- rak -see-uh | Ancient Greek.

A STATE OF PEACEFUL SERENITY, CALMNESS, AND BLISS.

As soon as the kids left for school, she got into the bath, lit a candle, and let the ataraxia envelop her entirely.

Betweenity

Noun | bee- tween -i-tee | Eighteenth century. English.

BEING IN THE MIDDLE, OR BETWEEN TWO THINGS.

He was in a state of perfect betweenity, faced with the choice of pizza or Chinese food.

Blatteroon

Noun | blat-er- oon | Eighteenth century. English.

A PERSON WHO TALKS OR BOASTS INCESSANTLY AND CONSTANTLY.

The blatteroon with the Bluetooth headset was a walking clich.

Bumfodder

Noun | bum -fah-der | Seventeenth century. English. Slang.

TOILET PAPER. A NEWSPAPER, MAGAZINE, OR USELESS DOCUMENT.

Clickbait is the bumfodder of the twenty-first century.