The Word I'm Thinking Of: A Devilish Dictionary of Difficult Words by Michael Gates

Author:Michael Gates [Gates, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Education & Reference, Words; Language & Grammar, Vocabulary; Slang & Word Lists, Vocabulary
ISBN: 0615738184
Amazon: B00HLONSNY
Barnesnoble: B00HLONSNY
Goodreads: 20870890
Publisher: Zabriskie Street Press
Published: 2013-05-05T05:00:00+00:00

N

nephelococcygia [NEF-el-o-kok-SIJ-ee-uh] (noun)

Cloud gazing; the act of looking for and finding shapes in clouds; also, when capitalized, the name of “Cloud-Cuckoo-Land” in Aristophanes’ The Birds

“Terrence spent Saturday prostrate in the yard and in nephelococcygia, finding inspiration in the thunderheads.”

I remember seeing a lot of things in clouds as a kid: faces, cities, fabulous beasts. I can’t do that anymore, which is sad. Now I just see water vapor, though I still can’t quite believe, sometimes, that I couldn’t sit on one of those diaphanous thrones if I could just get up there.

neroli [NER-uh-lee] (noun)

An essential oil distilled from the flowers of the orange

“The origin of the term ‘neroli’ applied to the otto of orange-blossom is not very definite. It may have been named after the celebrated Roman Emperor Nero, who was so fond of scents that he caused the roof of his dining halls to represent the firmament, and to shower down, night and day, all sorts of perfumes and sweet waters.”

—George William Septimus Piesse, The Art of Perfumery (1867)

I’m not sure I’d want to dine while perfume, however sweet smelling, fell from the ceiling. Night and day?

I read an article about the late author David Foster Wallace, one of my favorites, which listed the words he circled in his dictionary, including neroli. He may have just liked the sound of it—and maybe he also knew that neroli oil is used in aromatherapy as an antidepressant, which is something he definitely needed. It’s also said to be a hypnotic, aphrodisiac and a euphoric—sort of a citrus equivalent to Ecstasy.

nescience [NESH-unss] (noun)

Ignorance; agnosticism

“‘Your nescience never fails to impress me,’ Abigail cooed whenever Mr. Dumas offered yet another of his outrageously ill-informed opinions. He would then grin at what he assumed was her admiration.”

I refuse to be an agnostic. I’m more of a heretic. I believe God is something like the “force” in Star Wars, not like Zeus or the sky deity with the cranky personality described in the Bible. I also believe the historical Jesus had no intention of founding a new religion, and that most of the stories about him are metaphors. Tell me I’m wrong, sailor. Tell me this is nescience.

nihilarian [NYE-hih-lar-ee-an] (noun)

One who deals with useless or unimportant things, or is engaged in trivial activities

“At loose ends after his assignment ended, Caleb became a nihilarian, spending each day starting and then abandoning crossword puzzles, walking aimlessly around the neighborhood, and polishing the silverware.”

“Nihilarian” would be a splendid name for a blog like mine, or maybe “nihilarity.” Blogging may seem useless, but I used to scribble ad nauseum in an actual diary, which nobody read except me. Truly nihilarious, because I couldn’t stand to read it—and still can’t. I tend to be an extreme solipsist when writing only for myself. Or talking to myself—a transcript of that would be a word salad with pine-nut dressing.

ninnyhammer [NIN-ee-ham-er] (noun)

A fool, simpleton or silly person

“You silly, awkward, illbred, country sow...have you no more manners than to rail at Hocus, that has saved

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