This week: all sorts of fools, raging elephants, violent ways to lynch people (hint: involves burning tires), words not to use, and turnips.
⚛ Units of the Week
Mutchkin: a Scottish unit of liquid measure
Muton: a unit of nucleic acid
Myriad: a very large number
Naira: a monetary unit of Nigeria
Nakfa: a monetary unit of Eritrea
Nanogram: a unit of mass and weight
Nanowatt: a unit of power
Negatron/negaton: an electron
Nephron: an excretory unit of a kidney
Neuron: the basic cellular unit of the nervous system
Neutrino: a subatomic particle
Neutron: a subatomic particle
Newton: a unit of force
Ngultrum: a monetary unit of Bhutan
Ngwee: a monetary unit of Zambia
!!! Unexpected Words of the Week
Musth: a state of frenzy occurring in male elephants (because you really ought to stay out of their way when testosterone surges happen—from Urdu and Persian mast, meaning raving mad, drunk.)
Myiasis: infestation of human tissue by fly maggots (because I know you wanted to know this)
Nabe: a neighborhood movie theater
Nachas: pride in another's accomplishments
Naff: to fool around
Nairu: the lowest rate of unemployment at which there is no inflation (Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment)
Naris: a nostril
Nastic: pertaining to an automatic response of plants
Nates: the buttocks
Naumachy: a mock sea battle (apparently a Roman thing, but the peeps in the 1600s loved the idea)
Nazify: to cause to be like a nazi (first used in the Times, 1933)
Neatnik: a compulsively neat person
Nebbish: a meek person
Neck: to kiss and caress the neck in lovemaking (First of this use: 1825. Growing up and hearing church leaders preach against “necking,” I thought necking was where two people touched necks in a very awkward manner, like ostriches or something. I would have been even more confused had I known that the primary definition of “to neck” is “To strike on the neck, esp. so as to stun or kill; to kill by pulling or wringing the neck.” Another more popular use was to swallow or gulp down, which seems vampiric in this context.)
Necklace: to kill by placing a gasoline-filled tire around the neck and setting it on fire (um, wow. Apparently this happened a few times in the ’80s and ’90s in South Africa. A form of lynching.)
Neddy: a donkey
Neep: a turnip
Negroid: member of the black race (usage discouraged!!)
Nellie: an effeminate male (usage also discouraged!!)
Neoteric: a modern author (first used by the no-longer neoterics of 1577)
Nepenthe: a drug that induces forgetfulness
Nerts: used to express defiance (OED: “Representing a humorous pronunciation of the plural of nut.” OED differs and says nerts means “crazy” or expresses annoyance or incredulity.)
Netizen: a frequent user of the Internet (OED: first use 1984, from Michael Hauben’s net.citizen)
Netop: friend; companion (pidgin Algonquian of southern New England. Noticed that OED uses “American Indian” instead of “Native American.” Slightly surprised.)
Nictate: to wink (Don’t confuse with micturate)
Nidering: a coward
Nidget: an idiot
Niellist: one that niellos (decorates with a black metallic substance, because duh, everybody's doing it)
Nilgai: a large antelope (antelope sighting! Most popular animal in the OSPD!)
Nimrod: a hunter
Ninny: a fool
Nitwit: a stupid person
Nixy: an undeliverable piece of mail
Noddy: a fool (lots of fools this week)
Noma: a severe inflammation of the mouth
Nombril: a point on a heraldic shield (I’ve learned a lot about heraldry . . . )
Nonwar: a war that is not officially declared (but is nevertheless a war and thus not a nonwar . . . :P)
Nosh: to eat snacks between meals
Nostrum: a medicine of one's own invention (use at your own risk)
♡ Favorite Words of the Week
Nabobery: the state of being a nabob (one who becomes rich and prominent)
Nacre: the pearly internal layer of certain shells
Nadir: a point on the celestial sphere
Napiform: shaped like a turnip
Nebula: a cloud-like interstellar mass
Newspeak: a deliberately ambiguous language
Niveous: resembling snow
Nonfarm: not pertaining to the farm
Mutchkin: a Scottish unit of liquid measure
Muton: a unit of nucleic acid
Myriad: a very large number
Naira: a monetary unit of Nigeria
Nakfa: a monetary unit of Eritrea
Nanogram: a unit of mass and weight
Nanowatt: a unit of power
Negatron/negaton: an electron
Nephron: an excretory unit of a kidney
Neuron: the basic cellular unit of the nervous system
Neutrino: a subatomic particle
Neutron: a subatomic particle
Newton: a unit of force
Ngultrum: a monetary unit of Bhutan
Ngwee: a monetary unit of Zambia
!!! Unexpected Words of the Week
Musth: a state of frenzy occurring in male elephants (because you really ought to stay out of their way when testosterone surges happen—from Urdu and Persian mast, meaning raving mad, drunk.)
Myiasis: infestation of human tissue by fly maggots (because I know you wanted to know this)
Nabe: a neighborhood movie theater
Nachas: pride in another's accomplishments
Naff: to fool around
Nairu: the lowest rate of unemployment at which there is no inflation (Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment)
Naris: a nostril
Nastic: pertaining to an automatic response of plants
Nates: the buttocks
Naumachy: a mock sea battle (apparently a Roman thing, but the peeps in the 1600s loved the idea)
Nazify: to cause to be like a nazi (first used in the Times, 1933)
Neatnik: a compulsively neat person
Nebbish: a meek person
Neck: to kiss and caress the neck in lovemaking (First of this use: 1825. Growing up and hearing church leaders preach against “necking,” I thought necking was where two people touched necks in a very awkward manner, like ostriches or something. I would have been even more confused had I known that the primary definition of “to neck” is “To strike on the neck, esp. so as to stun or kill; to kill by pulling or wringing the neck.” Another more popular use was to swallow or gulp down, which seems vampiric in this context.)
Necklace: to kill by placing a gasoline-filled tire around the neck and setting it on fire (um, wow. Apparently this happened a few times in the ’80s and ’90s in South Africa. A form of lynching.)
Neddy: a donkey
Neep: a turnip
Negroid: member of the black race (usage discouraged!!)
Nellie: an effeminate male (usage also discouraged!!)
Neoteric: a modern author (first used by the no-longer neoterics of 1577)
Nepenthe: a drug that induces forgetfulness
Nerts: used to express defiance (OED: “Representing a humorous pronunciation of the plural of nut.” OED differs and says nerts means “crazy” or expresses annoyance or incredulity.)
Netizen: a frequent user of the Internet (OED: first use 1984, from Michael Hauben’s net.citizen)
Netop: friend; companion (pidgin Algonquian of southern New England. Noticed that OED uses “American Indian” instead of “Native American.” Slightly surprised.)
Nictate: to wink (Don’t confuse with micturate)
Nidering: a coward
Nidget: an idiot
Niellist: one that niellos (decorates with a black metallic substance, because duh, everybody's doing it)
Nilgai: a large antelope (antelope sighting! Most popular animal in the OSPD!)
Nimrod: a hunter
Ninny: a fool
Nitwit: a stupid person
Nixy: an undeliverable piece of mail
Noddy: a fool (lots of fools this week)
Noma: a severe inflammation of the mouth
Nombril: a point on a heraldic shield (I’ve learned a lot about heraldry . . . )
Nonwar: a war that is not officially declared (but is nevertheless a war and thus not a nonwar . . . :P)
Nosh: to eat snacks between meals
Nostrum: a medicine of one's own invention (use at your own risk)
♡ Favorite Words of the Week
Nabobery: the state of being a nabob (one who becomes rich and prominent)
Nacre: the pearly internal layer of certain shells
Nadir: a point on the celestial sphere
Napiform: shaped like a turnip
Nebula: a cloud-like interstellar mass
Newspeak: a deliberately ambiguous language
Niveous: resembling snow
Nonfarm: not pertaining to the farm
(Pages 365–378)
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