51吃瓜

There Is Such a Thing as Too "Educated"

English is a great language (yeah, we鈥檙e biased), but it wasn鈥檛 always so. In the 1500s, scholars coined hundreds of terms using Greek and Latin influences to help refine 鈥渂arbarous鈥� English.

These “educated” words were eventually considered too pretentious for common use. They were known as inkhorn terms because the ivory-tower wise men penned their fancy-pants words using ink stored in containers of animal horn. Let鈥檚 explore some of these superciliously silly inkhorn terms and be grateful they were fatalities of the English language.

Exolete

If this means 鈥渁 sadly obsolete device of exquisite excellence鈥� we鈥檒l be the first to admit that some of us still cherish the exolete Nokia 3310 we got as tweens in 2000. The monochrome display! 35 spectacularly tinny ringtones! T9 txtmsgs! Alas, exolete cannot command such semantic perfection, because it was merely a synonym of obsolete.听

Adnichilate

We think you might be able to decipher what this one means鈥攐r was meant to have meant. Remove the 鈥榙鈥� and the 鈥榗鈥� and you鈥檒l have a cousin of a pretty devastating word.

Got it? How about in a sentence: 鈥淲e鈥檙e forever grateful words like these were adnichilated from the face of Modern English.鈥澛�By making a few adjustments, this inkhorn term survived to become the contemporary annihilate. And given its grim, life-ending meaning, we鈥檙e definitely glad we don鈥檛 need two of these guys. 聽

Adminiculation

When Gordon Ramsay slices open a finger, he won鈥檛 cry 鈥渉elp鈥�; he鈥檒l shout a different, but equally concise word. After that expletive expulsion, you can be sure he won鈥檛 be yelling for 鈥渁dminiculation,鈥� or what some Renaissance hot shot thought would be a great term for aid.

Why, we鈥檒l never know鈥攚ith the constant evolution of language, it鈥檚 not easy to trace reasons behind an archaic word鈥檚 creation, use (unless it鈥檚 recorded in writing), diminishment or extinction.

But what we鈥檇 posit is simply: the dang thing鈥檚 a mouthful. When every particle of your being is devoted to the mangled mess of your hand, your brain can鈥檛 possibly strain for a 14-letter word. Pain is quick, and help needs to be just as fast.

Fatigate

Not difficult to see where this sleepy term lies. As with some of the other inkhorns we鈥檝e seen, this word closely resembles another鈥攊n this case, fatigue鈥攖hat gained control in everyday parlance. Perhaps fatigate was an attempted verb form of fatigue. We can just as easily fatigue over the course of a long day as we can fatigate. Unless you want to be a 500-year-old fogey, we suggest you stick to the former. 聽

Illecebrous

Oooh, this has an aura of scandal about it. What sorts of illicit, illecebrous activities can we get entangled in? In the 1500s this word鈥檚 meaning wasn鈥檛 in reference to illegality but rather a sense of allure, and attractiveness. But we humans are sometimes attracted to illicit behaviors! We turned our back on illecebrous long ago, because it wasn鈥檛 illecebrous enough for us!

Ingent

Ingent was a term loaned from Latin meaning huge, very great or immense. Of course, these synonyms have successfully usurped the inkhorn term, leaving the awkward sounding聽ingent聽by the wayside.听

Nullifidian

Nullifidian seems like it’s just a combination of 鈥渘ullify鈥� and 鈥渙bsidian,鈥� leaving us with a bleak picture of black nothingness. But, centuries ago,聽nullifidian was actually a proposed synonym for atheist. We don鈥檛 see a point in resurrecting this old word, although we concede it would help distinguish between a theist and atheist, one who believes in a God and one who does not.