Honorificabilitudinitatibus is a monstrous and rare word, but it was once claimed to reveal who really wrote Shakespeare’s plays.
Source: World Wide Words updates
Filed under Grammar Updates by on Apr 20th, 2011. Comment. 
Gardeners know Hedera as the scientific name for ivy, but it’s also an antique punctuation mark.
Source: World Wide Words updates
Filed under Grammar Updates by on Apr 17th, 2011. Comment.
It’s ancient and obsolete, but tilly-vally might still be a useful alternative to words such as hogwash.
Source: World Wide Words updates
Filed under Grammar Updates by on Apr 15th, 2011. Comment.
A serendipitous encounter led to a long-defunct bit of Eton College slang: brosiering.
Source: World Wide Words updates
Filed under Grammar Updates by on Apr 11th, 2011. Comment.
A lustrum means a period of five years. It’s linked to the ancient Roman census.
Source: World Wide Words updates
Filed under Grammar Updates by on Apr 4th, 2011. Comment.
Manavilins is an old sailor’s term for odds and ends or small items of tasty food.
Source: World Wide Words updates
Filed under Grammar Updates by on Mar 26th, 2011. Comment.
Chronograms are encoded dates on such items as medals and bells to show their date of manufacture.
Source: World Wide Words updates
Filed under Grammar Updates by on Mar 22nd, 2011. Comment.
Something that bursts forth, particularly the fruiting body of a fungus, may be said to be erumpent.
Source: World Wide Words updates
Filed under Grammar Updates by on Mar 14th, 2011. Comment.
If you’ve ever said something when you mean the opposite, you’ve used a phrop.
Source: World Wide Words updates
Filed under Grammar Updates by on Mar 11th, 2011. Comment.
A selmelier is a specialist waiter who helps you choose the most appropriate satl to season your meal.
Source: World Wide Words updates
Filed under Grammar Updates by on Mar 5th, 2011. Comment.
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