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idabbleincrazy · 3 years

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was looking for F-words to use in place of Fledge on my Spangel A-Z series since it seemed a bit too repetitive and found this page. I’ve chosen some of my favorites for y’all to weigh in on as which one i should write for:

FACETIAE :A Latin word for “cleverness” or “skillfulness,” facetiae came to be used to refer to a collection of witty sayings in 16th century English. But things took a turn for the worse in Victorian slang, when facetiae came to be used as a euphemism for pornographic literature.

FAMELICOSE: Fames was the Latin word for “hunger,” and it’s from there that both famelic (an adjective meaning “pertaining to being hungry”) and famelicose (an 18th century word meaning “often very hungry”) are derived.

FAMGRASP: Famble was a 16th century word for a hand (probably originally derived from a slang mispronunciation of “fumble”), and from there the English language has gained a number of equally handy fam– words: on its own, a fam was a gold ring in 18th century English; gloves were nicknamed fam-snatchers in 19th century slang; among Victorian criminals, to fam-squeeze someone was to throttle them with your bare hands; and to famgrasp is to shake hands in agreement.

FEDIFRAGOUS: If someone is fedifragous then they’ve broken a promise or pledge, or they’re faithless or disloyal. A fedifraction, likewise, is a breach of an oath or a broken promise.

FELL-LURKING: A Shakespearism, used in Henry VI: Part 2 to mean “hanging around waiting to do something bad.”

FESCENNINE: Fescennia was a city in Etruria, an ancient region of northern and central Italy occupied by the Etruscan civilization more than 2,500 years ago. As the Roman Empire expanded outwards from Rome, it’s thought that a number of local Etruscan songs and poems were adopted into Roman culture in the process. These “Fescennine verses” as they were known were originally sung at harvest time or at large celebrations like weddings, but steadily they became less celebratory and ever more coarse and raucous. Ultimately, the adjective fescennine has ended up being used to describe anything obscene, lewd, or licentious.

FILLYLOO: A noisy uproar or exclamation.

FIRE-SCORDEL: An old English dialect word for someone who lounges around in front of the fire all day. A dog that does precisely that is a fire-spannel.

FIRKYTOODLE: To fondle or caress someone is to firkytoodle them. It probably derives from an earlier work, firk, meaning “to beat.”

FIRTLE: To fidget or move around distractedly is to firtle, as is to look busy despite doing very little.

FLAPDOODLER: Flapdoodle is a 19th century slang word for nonsense or humbug, and so a flapdoodler is someone who talks rubbish.

FLAUNT-TANT: Appropriately enough, a flaunt-tant is a showy array of highfalutin words or language.

FLAYBOTTOMIST: Because they caned unruly pupils’ behinds, schoolteachers were nicknamed flaybottomists in 18th century slang.

FLOCCINAUCINIHILIPILIFICATION: Floccus (literally “a wisp”), naucum (“a trifle”), nihil (“nothing”) and pilus (“a hair”) are all Latin words that can be essentially interpreted as meaning “very little,” or “nothing at all.” The nonsense word floccinaucinihilipilification—apparently coined by students studying Latin at England’s famous Eton College—brings all four of them together in one noun, meaning “the act of estimating something as worthless.” Often considered one of the longest words in the English language and one of the longest words in most dictionaries, floccinaucinihilipilification is related etymologically to the 16th century verb…

FLOCCIPEND: …which similarly means “to regard as insignificant.”

FLUG-FISTED: An Irish dialect word for being left-handed.

FLUMMATY-GUMPTION: An old Yorkshire dialect word for a state of unrest or agitation, or, by extension, a profuse sweating.

FLUNTER-DRAWER: Flunter is an old English dialect word for a loose fragment or piece of something, or for the untidy tail-end of something, like the unraveled end of a rope or piece of string. Derived from that, the flunter-drawer is that untidy, shambolic drawer in which you keep all your odds and ends.

FOLLIFUL: Derived from folly, if you’re folliful then you like to play pranks.

FORFICULATE: …to forficulate is to experience a creeping, tingling sensation. It derives from forficula, the Latin word for an earwig (which also derives from forfex), and so literally means “to have a sensation like an insect crawling over your body.”

FORTRAVAILED: A Scots dialect word meaning “exhausted,” or “wearied by work.”

FUTRAT: A 19th century word for a weasel or ferret—and so, metaphorically, a nickname for someone with a thin face.

bonus: if you’re flexiloquent then you like to deliberately use ambiguous language to confuse people.

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