A few weeks ago I asked my friends on social media if they had a favorite word that no one seems to use anymore—and the response was fast and furious (I should make a dozen or so movies about it, right?). While there were far too many replies to list them all, here is a list of some of my favorites (and the person(s) who mentioned each), followed by the one word that got the most mentions and “hear, hears.”
assignation (Kristena Mears)
astonish (Nick Harrison)
bamboozle (Sharon Kopf)
brouhaha (Linda Gilden)
cacophony (Molly Jo Realy)
cheroot (Lisa Kibler)
chivalry (Peggy Derr Follrod)
confounded (Gary Fearon)
discombobulated (Diane Viere)
diversion (Sharon Autry)
eschew (Craig Stoker)
flabbergasted (Karen Bender)
flibbertigibbet (Sharon Kopf)
fortnight (Scott Strissel)
frisky (Tez Brooks)
gobsmacked (Dawn Heatwole, Ronie Kendig)
groovy (Pam Zollman, Candy Westbrook, Jerry Eldred)
intuit (Bill Patterson)
jolly (Robin Prince Monroe)
kerfuffle (Sharon Kopf, Lauren Monico-Crews)
lickspittle (Bob Hostetler)
Lilliputian (Julie Patrick-Barnhill)
lollygag (Judy DuCharme, A. E. Schwartz)
meretricious (Craig Stoker)
patootie (Cindy Huff, Daphne Woodall)
penultimate (Sarah Thomas)
persnickety (Marilyn Turk)
pervade (Misty Simco)
plethora (Joshua Masters, Rachel McDaniel)
practicable (Craig von Buseck)
pshaw (Jeanne Gowen Dennis)
recalcitrant (Roberta Brosius)
reckon (Rebekah Dorris)
reprobate (Donna Mumma)
sequester (Chris Storm)
shall (Bob McLaughlin, Don Hostetler)
shan’t (Don Hostetler)
smug (Tez Brooks)
stalwart (Mary Connealy)
verdant (Marilyn Turk)
whilst (Jenn Discher)
yonder (Gail Wofford Cartee)
And the winner, mentioned first by Pam Halter and seconded or repeated by several others: vex.
Thank you to everyone for playing, and join us next time on “Forgotten Words We Ought to Revive.”
