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Carrion Luggage
Carrion Luggage
 
Native to the Americas, the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) travels widely in search of sustenance. While usually foraging alone, it relies on other individuals of its species for companionship and mutual protection. Sometimes misunderstood, sometimes feared, sometimes shunned, it nevertheless performs an important role in the ecosystem.
This scavenger bird is a marvel of efficiency. Rather than expend energy flapping its wings, it instead locates uplifting columns of air, and spirals within them in order to glide to greater heights. This behavior has been mistaken for opportunism, interpreted as if it is circling doomed terrestrial animals destined to be its next meal. In truth, the vulture takes advantage of these thermals to gain the altitude needed glide longer distances, flying not out of necessity, but for the joy of it.
It also avoids the exertion necessary to capture live prey, preferring instead to feast upon that which is already dead. In this behavior, it resembles many humans.
It is not what most of us would consider to be a pretty bird. While its habits are often off-putting, or even disgusting, to members of more fastidious species, the turkey vulture helps to keep the environment from being clogged with detritus. Hence its Latin binomial, which translates to English as "golden purifier."
I rarely know where the winds will take me next, or what I might find there. The journey is the destination.
November 17, 2025 at 8:54am November 17, 2025 at 8:54am
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All words are made up. Some were made up more recently than others. Here's Mental Floss with words that were, at some point, made up.
11 Real Words That Sound Totally Fake 
Start sprinkling bumfuzzle, snickersnee, and collywobbles into everyday conversation—but maybe let quomodocunquizing rest in obsolescent peace where it belongs.
Now I want to start a band called Quomodocunquizing just to bring that one back. Difficulty: no musical talent. But it would be an appropriate name for a band, considering its definition (which you can find below or at the link).
The English language is well known for having complex rules about grammar and spelling, often loaded with exceptions and special use cases.
Except when it's not.
But the quirks of English don't stop at confusing grammar—our language also happens to be a treasure trove of words so delightfully absurd, so wonderfully preposterous, that they sound like they were plucked straight from the pages of a Dr. Seuss book or improvised during a comedy sketch.
Those are still words.
The words below are legitimate, dictionary-certified terms that have survived for centuries, passed down through generations of English speakers who apparently had a sense of humor about their vocabulary.
"Dictionary-certified" isn't the flex they think it is. All it means is enough people have used the word that it's included in the list.
A few are so obscure that even seasoned word nerds might not recognize them.
I will admit that some of them were obscure to me. Also that, after I post this, they'll fade back into my version of obscurity.
This list celebrates real words that might evoke a double-take—and will definitely make you want to slip them into your next conversation.
Or not. Language exists for communication. Throwing in words that hardly anyone knows the definition of is, at best, an exercise in ensuring that the context is sufficient to show their meaning; and at worst, a way to show off your erudicy.
Skipping a few here.
Bumfuzzle
Bumfuzzle is a verb meaning “to confuse, perplex or fluster.” It may be a variation on dumfound.
And here I thought this one was pretty well-known.
Snickersnee
Not to be confused, I suppose, for the sound the Vorpal Sword makes as it beheads the Jabberwock.
Wabbit
The etymology of this adjective, which comes from Scottish, is uncertain, but it means “weary or exhausted”...
Which Scottish, I wonder? Quick research doesn't give me an answer. (And yes, the article acknowledges the more modern definition of wabbit.)
Quomodocunquizing
Quomodocunquizing, a verb from the 1600s that combines the classical Latin word quōmodocunque with the suffix –izing, means “to make money by any means,” even if they’re questionable.
And even classical Latin took it from somewhere.
Kakorrhaphiophobia
This noun describes a fear of failure or defeat.
And if words could experience fear, this one would experience itself because I'm pretty sure this is the first I've ever heard of it.
More at the link. And now to do my best to forget most of these. |
© Copyright 2025 Robert Waltz (UN: cathartes02 at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
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