By David Jesse
Detroit Free Press
Stuck filing paperwork today as you return to the office? Tell your boss you don’t want any more stultifying work while daydreaming about your bucolic vacation.
While Wayne State University scholars aren’t recommending you tell your boss off, or pass the hours daydreaming, they are recommending that you expand your vocabulary and start using some words you’ve either never known or forgotten about.
The Wayne State Word Warriors recently released its ninth annual list of words worthy of returning to regular use. “The English language has perhaps more words in its lexicon than any other,” said Jerry Herron, dean of WSU’s Irvin D. Reid Honors College and a member of the Word Warriors editorial board. “By making use of the repertoire available to us, we expand our ability to communicate clearly and help make our world a more interesting place. Bringing these words back into everyday conversation is just another way of broadening our horizons.”
Here are the words they recommend you start using:
Acedia: Spiritual or mental sloth; apathy.
When she broke up with him, he fell into a state of acedia and didn’t leave the apartment for two months.
Anfractuous: Indirect and containing bends, turns or winds; circuitous.
The road used to reach the castle was anfractuous.
Blithering: Senselessly talkative, babbling; used chiefly as an intensive to express annoyance or contempt.
His Facebook posts were the confused ramblings of a blithering fool.
Bombinate: Buzz; hum.
A fly bombinated in the corner of the sun porch, making it hard for Tom to relax.
Bucolic: Of or relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life.
Sitting on the subway, surrounded by angry city folk, Jack felt a twinge of longing for his bucolic childhood on the farm.
Effulgent: 1. Shining brightly; radiant. 2. (Of a person or their expression) emanating joy or goodness.
Her beauty was enhanced by her effulgent personality.
Gauche: Lacking ease or grace; unsophisticated and socially awkward.
His gauche demeanor made Tom stand out like a sore thumb in the crowd of New York socialites.
Guttle: To eat or drink greedily and noisily.
As the man across from her guttled his meal, Sabrina knew the blind date had been a mistake.
Mugwump: A person who remains aloof or independent, especially from party politics.
Ever the mugwump, John refused to take a side in the partisan bickering that divided his office.
Stultify: Cause to lose enthusiasm and initiative, especially as a result of a tedious or restrictive routine.
The stultifying file work robbed the young intern of the joy she’d shown on the first day.
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