This week there were a lot of useful—albeit somewhat obsolete—direction words for describing where something is:
Forby: close by
Fore: the front part of something
Forepart: the front part
Forepast: already in the past
Foreside: the front side
Fornent: near to
Forrader: further ahead
Forrit: toward the front
Forth: onward in time, place, or order
Forward: being at a point in advance
Frae: from
Fro: away
Fusiform: tapering toward each end
⚛ Units of the Week
While I don't want to state every number or every fraction or every number that ends with -some, I did want to include a [number]-some word and a cardinal number to count as a type of category in my informal study of units that humans use, so I'll include one of each today—I think I already included a number by itself earlier on. If you can't tell, I like seeing how humans divide the world up into units. It takes a great deal of time for all of us—and even then, not all of us—to decide on a common measure to refer to. And some units fall out of favor, particularly types of money, which itself is a unit that must be agreed on to be useful.
Also, while I was looking up -some in the OED (it was used in Old English to make adjectives from nouns or other adjectives), I saw that buhsum, which has become buxom, used to have a much more inclusive definition than "(of a woman) plump, with large breasts." Buxom came from bow + some, meaning easily bent or bowed—compliant, tractable—and it had nothing to do with a plump, busty lady. The second major sense, "blithe, jolly, lively, gay" developed in the sense that one was obliging or indulgent. To take such a great word and reduce it to "fat woman with large breasts" seems like a travesty.
Anyway. I don't mind the fact that English changes and develops, but I do wish we could retain some of the better words and meanings rather than eternally reducing them to some of the lowest common denominators. Reminds me slightly of language revisions in Orwell's 1984.
Follis/folles: a coin of ancient Rome (OED: A bronze or copper coin introduced by Diocletian in 296 AD)
Forint: a monetary unit of Hungary
Foursome: a group of four
Fourth: one of four equal parts
Franc: a former monetary unit of France
Francium: a radioactive element (I also want to include at least one of the chemical elements, but I won't list them all)
Fresnel: a unit of frequency (OED: equal to 1012 Hz (1012 cycles per second).
Fugio: a former coin of the United States (The first official cent of the US, designed by Benjamin Franklin. You can read about it and see the pictures of it here.)
Fungible: something that may be exchanged for an equivalent unit of the same class (Fungible here is a noun, and since it's equal to another unit, I consider it its own unit)
Furlong: a unit of distance (OED: Originally, the length of the furrow in the common field, but it was variable; now the present statute furlong is 220 yards)
!!! Unexpected Words of the Week
Foredoom: to doom in advance (I like foredoomers)
Forwhy: for what reason (“Forwhy?!”)
Fossick: to search for gold
Foughten: exhausted especially from fighting (“Stop! I’m foughten out!”)
Francize: to force to adopt French customs and language (I was a little surprised to see this in here)
Freak: to streak with color
Fremd: strange (Is there a word for a word that describes itself? Reflexive words? Because this word, which means strange, is strange. Comes from Old High German and Gothic)
Frig: to cheat or trick (There is no frigging like a book)
Frottage: masturbation by rubbing against another person (!!!!! Now you know!)
Fulham: a loaded die
Fuller: to groove with a type of hammer (What kind of grooving is up for debate)
Fun, adj.: providing enjoyment (The OED and other dictionaries state that “fun” is only a noun and a verb officially, not an adjective, although it is informally used as an adjective, and its comparative and superlative forms—funner and funnest—are to be disdained)
Funest: portending death or evil (what will happen if you use “funnest” in any formal sense)
Furriner: a foreigner (Again, I’m a little surprised to see this here)
Fusuma: a sliding partition in a Japanese house (Actually, it’s a sliding “partitiion”—I found a typo! In my editing class in college we got extra credit if we could find the typos in the Chicago Manual of Style)
Fylfot: a swastika (Also called a cramponnee; OED says it was extensively used as a decoration (often, apparently, as a mystical symbol) in almost all known parts of the world from prehistoric times to the present day)
Gabelle: a tax on salt (imposed in France before the Revolution)
Gaby: a dolt
♡ Favorite Words of the Week
Fluvial: pertaining to a river
Foehn/fohn/fon: a warm, dry wind
Foliar: pertaining to a leaf
Footle: to waste time
Footler: one that footles
Forestal: of or pertaining to a forest
Forky: resembling a fork
Frabjous: splendid
Fractus: a ragged cloud
Freshet: a sudden overflow of a stream
Fribble: to act foolishly ("Stop your footling, you fribbler!")
Fug: to make stuffy and odorous
Fugacity: lack of enduring qualities
Fulsome: repulsive (another –some word that has survived)
Fumulus: a thin cloud
Furibund: furious
Fore: the front part of something
Forepart: the front part
Forepast: already in the past
Foreside: the front side
Fornent: near to
Forrader: further ahead
Forrit: toward the front
Forth: onward in time, place, or order
Forward: being at a point in advance
Frae: from
Fro: away
Fusiform: tapering toward each end
⚛ Units of the Week
While I don't want to state every number or every fraction or every number that ends with -some, I did want to include a [number]-some word and a cardinal number to count as a type of category in my informal study of units that humans use, so I'll include one of each today—I think I already included a number by itself earlier on. If you can't tell, I like seeing how humans divide the world up into units. It takes a great deal of time for all of us—and even then, not all of us—to decide on a common measure to refer to. And some units fall out of favor, particularly types of money, which itself is a unit that must be agreed on to be useful.
Also, while I was looking up -some in the OED (it was used in Old English to make adjectives from nouns or other adjectives), I saw that buhsum, which has become buxom, used to have a much more inclusive definition than "(of a woman) plump, with large breasts." Buxom came from bow + some, meaning easily bent or bowed—compliant, tractable—and it had nothing to do with a plump, busty lady. The second major sense, "blithe, jolly, lively, gay" developed in the sense that one was obliging or indulgent. To take such a great word and reduce it to "fat woman with large breasts" seems like a travesty.
Anyway. I don't mind the fact that English changes and develops, but I do wish we could retain some of the better words and meanings rather than eternally reducing them to some of the lowest common denominators. Reminds me slightly of language revisions in Orwell's 1984.
Follis/folles: a coin of ancient Rome (OED: A bronze or copper coin introduced by Diocletian in 296 AD)
Forint: a monetary unit of Hungary
Foursome: a group of four
Fourth: one of four equal parts
Franc: a former monetary unit of France
Francium: a radioactive element (I also want to include at least one of the chemical elements, but I won't list them all)
Fresnel: a unit of frequency (OED: equal to 1012 Hz (1012 cycles per second).
Fugio: a former coin of the United States (The first official cent of the US, designed by Benjamin Franklin. You can read about it and see the pictures of it here.)
Fungible: something that may be exchanged for an equivalent unit of the same class (Fungible here is a noun, and since it's equal to another unit, I consider it its own unit)
Furlong: a unit of distance (OED: Originally, the length of the furrow in the common field, but it was variable; now the present statute furlong is 220 yards)
!!! Unexpected Words of the Week
Foredoom: to doom in advance (I like foredoomers)
Forwhy: for what reason (“Forwhy?!”)
Fossick: to search for gold
Foughten: exhausted especially from fighting (“Stop! I’m foughten out!”)
Francize: to force to adopt French customs and language (I was a little surprised to see this in here)
Freak: to streak with color
Fremd: strange (Is there a word for a word that describes itself? Reflexive words? Because this word, which means strange, is strange. Comes from Old High German and Gothic)
Frig: to cheat or trick (There is no frigging like a book)
Frottage: masturbation by rubbing against another person (!!!!! Now you know!)
Fulham: a loaded die
Fuller: to groove with a type of hammer (What kind of grooving is up for debate)
Fun, adj.: providing enjoyment (The OED and other dictionaries state that “fun” is only a noun and a verb officially, not an adjective, although it is informally used as an adjective, and its comparative and superlative forms—funner and funnest—are to be disdained)
Funest: portending death or evil (what will happen if you use “funnest” in any formal sense)
Furriner: a foreigner (Again, I’m a little surprised to see this here)
Fusuma: a sliding partition in a Japanese house (Actually, it’s a sliding “partitiion”—I found a typo! In my editing class in college we got extra credit if we could find the typos in the Chicago Manual of Style)
Fylfot: a swastika (Also called a cramponnee; OED says it was extensively used as a decoration (often, apparently, as a mystical symbol) in almost all known parts of the world from prehistoric times to the present day)
Gabelle: a tax on salt (imposed in France before the Revolution)
Gaby: a dolt
♡ Favorite Words of the Week
Fluvial: pertaining to a river
Foehn/fohn/fon: a warm, dry wind
Foliar: pertaining to a leaf
Footle: to waste time
Footler: one that footles
Forestal: of or pertaining to a forest
Forky: resembling a fork
Frabjous: splendid
Fractus: a ragged cloud
Freshet: a sudden overflow of a stream
Fribble: to act foolishly ("Stop your footling, you fribbler!")
Fug: to make stuffy and odorous
Fugacity: lack of enduring qualities
Fulsome: repulsive (another –some word that has survived)
Fumulus: a thin cloud
Furibund: furious
(Pages 211–224)
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