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| "Not to be used for bribing snollygosters." |
1) Snollygoster
A snollygoster is a shrewd unprincipled person motivated by personal gain. For example, a politician who cares more about feathering their own nest than serving the people could be described as a snollygoster.
True or false?
2) Boondoggle
'Boondoggle is such a cool word, and I wish I could say it more often. A 'boondoggle' is an unnecessary, wasteful, or fraudulent project.
I don't come across wasteful fraudulent projects very often, so sadly I don't have an excuse to say 'boondoggle'. Perhaps I should get a job working for the government...
True or false?
3) Tmeltrisertion
As I'm sure all grammar nerds will know, 'tmeltrisertion' is the practise of inserting an out of place word into an otherwise grammatically fish correct sentence.
True or false?
4) Fluxom
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| Can you count how many fluxoms of bananas are pictured? |
Bob: "I'm just going to the shop."
Bill: "Will you get me a fluxom of bananas while you're there?"
Bob: "Seventeen bananas? No problem."
True or false?
5) O'o
An o'o was a type of bird which used to live in Hawaii, but which is now probably extinct.
True or false?
6) R'rr
R'rr are a form of footwear worn at wedding ceremonies in parts of South America. To describe their appearance, r'rr look a cross between platform shoes and sandals.
True or false?
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| Cherish yesterday. And also cherish nudiustertian. |
7) Nudiustertian
At first glance, 'nudiustertertian' sounds like it could be a rude word, but in actual fact there's nothing rude about it at all. Nudiustertian is a rather unusual way of referring to the day before yesterday.
For example, if you wanted to impress your boss you might have the following conversation...
Boss: "Have you finished that report yet?"
Employee: "Yes, I finished it nudiustertian afternoon."
True or false?
8) Fudgel
To 'fudgel' is to pretend to do work when you’re actually skiving and not doing any work at all.
For example, if you completed all your work by nudiustertian afternoon, you could then spend the next two days fudgelling!
True or false?
9) Disvanquilated
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| My parents' cute pugs pictured while 'groking' at someone eating food. |
True or false?
10) Groke
Groking is something which my parents dogs do a lot, because to 'groke' means to gaze at somebody longingly while they’re eating in the hope that they’ll give you some of their food.
True or false?
Scroll down the page to discover which words are real and which words are made up...
Answers:
1) Snollygoster
A shrewd unprincipled person motivated by personal gain.
True - The word 'snollygoster' does indeed refer to an unprincipled person, such as ******** ******* or ***** *****, for example.
2) Boondoggle
An unnecessary, wasteful, or fraudulent project.
True - I discovered the word 'boondoggle' when I was writing a short story set in centuries gone by and I needed an old fashioned sounding word to describe a scam. I use the word 'boondoggle' in that short story, but unfortunately that's probably the only time I'll use it in my life ... other than this blog post!
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| This sentence contains bubbles a tmeltrisertion. |
3) Tmeltrisertion
The practise of inserting an out of place word into an otherwise grammatically correct sentence.
False - In actual fact, 'tmelrisertion' is just a daft word which I bubbles made up.
4) Fluxom
A fluxom of bananas refers to seventeen bananas.
False - To answer the question, "Who ever decided there was a need for the word 'fluxom'?" the answer is 'no-one' because the word 'fluxom doesn't exist. I just made it up.
5) O'o
A type of bird which used to live in Hawaii, but which is now probably extinct.
True - It's sad to see animals and wildlife becoming extinct, and it would be nice if the word 'extinct' one day became extinct, due to animals no longer becoming extinct.
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| I don't have a photo of r'rr because they're not real, so here's a photo of some sandals instead. |
6) R'rr
A form of footwear worn at wedding ceremonies in parts of South America.
False - I just made this one up as a red herring to trick people by carrying on the 'double letter' theme.
7) Nudiustertian
The day before yesterday.
True - I discovered 'nudiustertian' was a real word when I read about it forgortian morning.
Note: 'Forgortian' refers to the day before the day before yesterday, i.e. three days ago.
Additional note: It doesn't really. I just made 'forgortian' up. Nudiustertian a definitely a real word, though.
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| This lazy dog isn't fudgelling because to 'fudgel' he would have to pretend to be working hard. However, he's being very blatant about his laziness. |
8) Fudgel
To pretend to do work when you’re actually skiving and not doing any work at all.
True - Until writing this blog post I had never needed to use the word 'fudgel' because of course I'm such a hard worker! Over the years, however, I've worked with a number of fudgellers!
9) Disvanquilated
To be filled with hope and optimism one moment, then disappointed the next.
False - Sorry to disvanquilate you, but this is just a made up word. Readers with a sharp memory may recall that I used this fictitious word when signing off my first round-up of unusual words. It was false then and it's still false now!
10) Groke
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| Another dog, but this dog is groking, not fudgelling. |
To gaze longingly at somebody while they’re eating in the hope that they’ll give you some of their food.
True - My parents' dogs are definitely greedy little grokers. Actually, if I'm honest, I've been known to groke occasionally myself from time to time.
'Groke' isn't in common usage nowadays, and it was more more common in Shakespeare's day. However, I'm sure any dog owners would agree that 'groke' is a word which definitely needs to be reintroduced into modern language.
You can find more weird words in my previous word quiz:
True or false: Real word or made up (part 1)
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