Sofie's Words of the Week #2

Greetings and salutations to all! Hopefully, this week has been good to you.  Perhaps some of you went bang-a-bonking scrumdifferously, or others created crude tmeses for the purposes of lalochezia. Whatever you’ve experienced this week, have five more Dent-ian words to scatter throughout your sentences!

Panglossian (adj. – 19th century): Optimistic to the point of irrationality, or one who believes everything is for the best in all situations. The word comes from a character from Voltaire’s Candide, Dr. Pangloss, who embodied that unreasonable optimism. It’s a bit of an insult (many of these words are), so refrain from calling people Panglossian to an excessive degree. Perhaps you could suggest that a teacher was behaving in a Panglossian manner to expect that every one of their students would turn in the essay on time because they gave them a lot of time to work on it.

Panglossian

Bayard (noun – 16th century): Another insult! We’re being mean today it seems. A bayard is a person who is self-confident because of their ignorance, somebody who has more bravado than sense. I’m sure there are a number of people each of us can imagine that would befit the title, but for an unbiased example– “the bayard, Nugget Bronzebelly, led his team through Perilous Pass, not knowing that the common rockfalls were caused by a slumbering (and highly sensitive) ancient red dragon.”

Bayard

Ramfeezled (adj. – 18th century): By the time Friday comes around, it seems everyone has become a little ramfeezled; school has a tendency to wear out even the most enthusiastic students. You could use ‘ramfeezled’ to describe how you feel when you are running on empty–when your legs feel wobbly and you are particularly enfeebled.

Ramfeezled

Apricity (noun – 17th century): Here in Southern California we don’t have much use for this delightful wintry word, which means the warmth of the sun on a cold winter’s day. Perhaps you can give this obsolete word to relatives in chilly climes, or maybe you will be traveling this winter break. Regardless of who uses it and why, apricity is a lovely descriptor for a lovely occurrence.

Apricity

Hirple (verb – Scottish): Have you been ever told that nothing rhymes with purple? You’d be forgiven for thinking that’s true because the word that does rhyme with purple is a Scottish dialect word meaning ‘to hobble’ or ‘to limp’. Next time you’re late for school, hirple in apologetically when you hand in your late slip.

Hirple

Till we speak again my darlings! And see you next time with another Words of the Week!