Words You Never Heard!

Women have been wearing lipstick for thousands of years. Even the ladies of ancient Rome wore lipstick, however much of the lipstick from the old days were made with toxic ingredients like lead for example.  (No wonder they didn’t live for very long back then.)

Today, lipsticks are safe and come in millions of shades and textures.  What’s another word for the noise made by smacking one's lips?  Plapper! Lipsticks also range from inexpensive to the dramatical, or luxuriously extravagant.  The most expensive and exclusive lipstick in the world is Guerlain’s Kiss Kiss Gold which retails for $64,000 a tube.  Of course, this may be because the tube is made of gold and encrusted with diamonds.

Winston Churchill once remarked that lipstick will continue to be produced during the war because it boosted the morale of the women who wore it, and the men who beheld it.  What’s a word for a person who is attracted to someone’s lips?  A cheiloproclitic! This leads us to the kiss. One kiss uses up to 3 calories, with or without lipstick.  Let's hear it for osculating. What’s a word for the art of kissing?  Philematology 

What’s a word for a device that saves time and labor?  A timmynoggy!  Speaking of timmynoggys, I was hiking in Colorado and found some old cans near an abandoned logging camp.  The cans were so thick, I wondered how in the world did people open these back then? Early cans for storing vegetables were made of iron lined with tin and could be as thick as 3/16th of an inch.  A hammer and chisel wasn’t just the informal way of opening them, it was the manufacturer’s suggested method.

The first can opener was invented by Ezra J Warner who received a patent in 1858. Warner’s can opener was a blade that cut into the can lid with a guard to prevent it from puncturing the can itself.  Though never a big hit with the public, Warner’s can opener served the US Army during the Civil War and found a home in many grocery stores, where clerks would open cans for customers. What’s a word for one who depends on others for food?  An opscheplooper!

Valentine’s Day is almost here, or as guys like to call it, Extortion Day!  My husband doesn’t understand why Cupid was chosen to represent Valentine’s Day. He says when he thinks about romance, the last thing on his mind is a chubby toddler coming at him with a weapon.” Valentines Day is celebrated worldwide. Studies show that 64% of American men don’t make plans ahead.  What’s a word for the act of setting a romantic mood with flowers and a candlelight dinner? Anthorexia!  Sounds more like a disease to me. Anyway, as you can see, love is a many-syllabled thing:)  

This year as men are on a charrette, or last-minute effort to find the perfect Valentin’s Day card, Hallmark alone offers more than 1400 choices from the romantic to the humorous.  Trying to choose the perfect card for your valentine is enough to give anyone abulia, that’s difficulty making a decision! But some don't give a flip! What's a word for the act of falling in love with a schnook when you should have known better? Anaxiphilia!

While many people say “opposites attract”, when it comes to choosing a mate, research suggests people who are similar tend to do better in a relationship.  What’s a word for a well-matched relationship? Homogamosis.

A recent survey of 5000 single people said they would not be able to be in a romantic relationship with someone who didn’t share their political views.  Studies show we are naturally more attracted to people who are similar to ourselves in appearance, beliefs, and interests.  It’s no fun hanging out with someone who thinks your hobbies are stupid, right?

However, it turns out that introverts and extroverts make great couples.  Introverts are typically good listeners and extroverts love to talk.  Sounds like the perfect marriage to me.  What’s a word for an unhappy marriage?  Cagamosis.

Recently, a pilot helping to fight the fires in  California had an unexpected guest board his helicopter mid-flight.  Dan Alpiner, a pilot with Sky Aviation, was helping conduct water drops over the Creek Fire in Medera county when mid-flight, an owl flew in through the window and perched calmly inside his helicopter! What’s a word for something being really strange? Ostrobogulous!

Fortunately, the owl didn’t cause any trouble and after riding in the helicopter for a short time, flew right back out the window. A baby owl is called an Owlet.  A group of owls is called a Parliament. The name Parliament originates from C.S. Lewis’ description of a meeting of owls in The Chronicles of Narnia. Owls are zygodactyl, which means their feet have two forward-facing toes and two backward-facing toes. What's a word for the fear of owls? Strigiformophobia!

There are many towns with funny names, but some are truly unfortunate.  Take the town of Asbestos in Canada. When you’re named after a carcinogenic mineral banned in 60 countries, it's kind of hard to attract visitors.

The towns of Boring, Dull, and Bland, in the US, Scotland, and Australia were all named after the surnames of their early settlers.  Tightwad, Missouri has become somewhat famous for its bank, as customers from all over the country open accounts there just so they can have checks printed with the Tightwad logo on them.  What’s a word for making money any way you can?  Quomodocunquize!

How would you like to live in Accident, Maryland, or Embarrass Minnesota?  There’s even a Belchertown, Massachusetts.  But the town that would win my award for the strangest name is Slickpoo, Idaho.

During these uncertain times, more and more people are feeling pretty stressed out.  Well, there’s a forgotten way to help eliminate the stress that’s making a comeback.  Cow Cuddling!  Some people are turning to this natural wellness practice of snuggling up to cows.  Known as Koe Knuffelen in the Netherlands where this form of therapy supposedly originated, cow cuddling, reduces stress in humans by releasing the bonding hormone oxytocin.

The people who lie down next to cows say they find it very relaxing because of the bovine’s warm body temperatures and calm demeanor.  What’s a word for having a comfort-loving temperament?  Viscerotonic. The word for a cow in Latin is Bos.  This is why many farmers call their cows Bossie.  Cows are attracted to music and also have the ability to recognize human faces.  What’s a word for the condition of not being able to remember faces? Prosopagnosia

Taking a shower isn’t just good for your hygiene, but according to The Psychological Science Journal, they’re also good for your creativity. For many people, taking a shower provides a sort of zeigarnik effect or a brief respite from our tasks that helps to improve our mental focus. More men than women take daily showers. Showers can be a good way to wash off your troubles if you’re feeling narky or ramfezzled.  You might think that Americans take more showers than people in other countries, but Mexico on average has the highest amount of shower takers.

Nolan Bushnell,  creator of Atari and Chuck E Cheese once said, “Everyone who has taken a shower has had an idea. It's the person who gets out of the shower, dries off, and does something about it that makes a difference.”

Have you ever butt-dialed someone?  The Dutch have a word for it, broekzakbellen.  The English translation is “The pocket-dial giveth, and the pocket-dial taketh away. Butt-dialing someone can be an awkward or even embarrassing miskobble.

But it’s pretty funny when it happens to someone else.  What’s a word for deriving pleasure from another’s misfortune?  Schadenfreude.  It’s estimated that over 100 million calls to 911 last year were butt-dialed.  I accidentally pocket dialed my fitness trainer at a restaurant just as I was ordering a cheeseburger and fries.  Boy, I felt like a goomstromnoodle.

What do you call the act of being impolite in a social situation by looking at your phone instead of paying attention to the person you are with?  Phubbing!

Since we’ve all been staying home a lot more, many of us have been spending more time in our slippers!  According to Mark Forsyth's: A Day’s Jaunt Through the Lost Words of the English Language, pantoffle is another word for a bedroom slipper. The word slipper dates all the way back to the mid 1400’s and there’s really nothing more comfortable to wear around the house.

Most people have a pair of slippers they put on after waking up in the morning.  An expergefactor is anything that causes one to wake up.  An expergefactor could be a barking dog, or, of course, an alarm clock.  What’s another word for the snooze button on an alarm clock?  A rawley!

Now that you’re out of bed and your toes are snugly pantoffled, You might look down and notice the indentation on the bed where you’ve been sleeping all night.  This little dip in the mattress is called a staddle!