Nouns. There are bloody loads of them. Lots of them you know, and lots of them you don’t (probably). I’ve been trawling the interweb for those obscure naming words that you might not have come across before. You’re welcome.
In no particular order…
Apthong
An apthong is the name for a silent letter, like the ‘k’ in ‘knight, ‘the ‘p’ in ‘pneumonia’ and the ‘w’ in ‘wrinkle’. Y’know, those pointless letters that make it really hard to spell loads of English words. (Oh, and if you’d like to find out how the ‘h’ got into ‘ghost’ – and why wouldn’t you – go here.)
Silent letters aren’t always pointless BTdubz. They actually tell us how to pronounce certain words. Someone much cleverer than me has already written an article about this, which you can find here.
Ferrule
The metal bit at the end of a pencil that holds the rubber in. A ferrule is actually any metal band that strengthens the end of a stick-type thing (I can’t think of anything else that isn’t a pencil that fits that description though, sorry).
The name came from a Middle French word ‘virelle’ from the Latin ‘viriola’, which means ‘small bracelet’. The ‘f’ probably replaced the ‘v’ because of the Latin word ‘ferrum’ for ‘iron’.
Aglets
The bits of plastic at the end of your shoelaces that stop them coming unravelled (I guess?). Oh, and easier to get through the holes. Aglets are believed to have been around since ancient Roman times, although they weren’t plastic then (obvs). They were probably made of metal, glass or stone. The word comes from an Old French word ‘aguillete’ which means needle or pin, which itself comes from the Latin word ‘acucula’ meaning ornamental pin (and also pine needle).
Agraffe
The little wire cage that covers a cork in a bottle of champagne. It’s also called a muselet (so disappointing that this isn’t a teeny-tiny muse). An agraffe is also the name of a part in a grand piano, and a very complicated-sounding and old-fashioned fastening used on military uniforms, women’s gowns, ceremonial costumes, and so on (because apparently sometimes a button just isn’t good enough).
Chad
Not just a country in Africa, a chad is also the name for that little bit of paper that’s left after your punch a hole in a piece of paper (assuming anyone still does that…?).
Punt
The indent in the bottom of a wine bottle, which means you get less wine. Apparently no one really knows why wine bottles have this: here are some possible explanations. The word itself is likely a shortening of ‘punt mark’ which is the name for the mark left on a piece of glass where the pontil (AKA the stick thing glass blowers do their blowing through) is broken off.
I wonder if a pontil has a ferrule on the end…?
Grawlix
When someone swears in a comic or graphic novel, the artist will sometimes use a string of symbols instead of the swear itself (as in @#$%&!). And this is called a grawlix. Think of it like bleeping, but in written form.
The word was coined by a cartoonist called Mort Walker who wrote a book called The Lexicon of Comicana, which was published in 1980. A couple of other nice things he included in that are ‘plewds’ for the drops of sweat that are shown when someone’s having a stressful time, and ‘briffit’ which he called the cloud of dust left behind when a character makes a quick getaway.
Grawlixes (grawlixs? I’m not sure which is the right plural, sorry) are also sometimes called obsenicons, which is IMO a much better word, and could also be the name of a sweary superhero.
*Not a very imaginative title, sorry.
