Reading "Reading the OED"

I have a feeling my spell checker is going to have a meltdown by the end of this entry.  I can't imagine obscure words from the Oxford English Dictionary are included in your generic, everyday spell-check.  

I've been reading a lot lately. It makes me feel like I've accomplished something after a day of sending out resumes that will never get a response and wasting an inordinate amount of time on Facebook and twitter. Between Stephen King short stories -'Trucks' being a new favorite- and a book on writing Haiku I sat down and read Reading the OED by Ammon Shea.  My mother had just finished it and had delighted in telling my father and I some of the more amusing words as she read along - 

Umbriphilious was for my father (meaning to be fond of the shade) and Keck, for the cat (to make a sound as if one were about to vomit).  

When I started reading, I found some of the earliest words reminded me of other people- Aerumnous (full of trouble) and Agathokakological (made up of good and evil) in particular, as well as the word Infelicitate (to cause to be unhappy).  

The rest, well, just made me happy to know.  

I'm a word person to begin with, but the book was written with a lot of wit.  I laughed more while reading this than I've laughed at just about anything in a while.  My repeated iterations of words I found amusing, or thought-provoking, or just plain weird, tended more to annoy than enlighten my mother, who more than once had to remind me that well, she's already read the book and didn't need me repeating the whole thing back to her.

So rather than annoy her any more, I figured I'd share with those who might not have read it yet (although I highly suggest you do) a short list of the words I learned and found a great appreciation for while reading Reading the OED.

Atechy- lack of skill/or knowledge of art.  This word describes pretty much the entirety of my Art 130 class.  

Constult- to act stupidly together.  What is the point of good friends if you can't constult?

Desiderium- a yearning, specifically for something once had, but has no more.  I love how poetic this word is... and that it exists at all.

Gymnologize- to dispute naked, like an Indian philosopher.  

The author's take on this one- "There are only several plausible reasons I can think of for having an argument while naked, and none of them happens to involve indian philosophers."  I think that about sums it up for me as well.  

Happify- to make happy.  Just saying this word makes me smile.

Heterophemize- to say something different from what you mean to say.  I do this every day of my life.  Now I just have a more technical word for it.

Misandry- the hatred of men.  The counterpart to misogyny.  I wonder why this never caught on during the Feminist movement. (I have to make a note here that 'misandry' is so far the only word in this list that has not shown up as horribly wrong according to my spell checker)

Parabore-  a defense against bores.  I think if I ever create some steampunk-y invention for a character and need something to call it, this would be the perfect word.

Tacturiency- the desire of touching.  This is something I am most certainly afflicted with.  Not in any sort of sexual sense (get your mind out of the gutter) but in that I want to touch things- the marble or chrome on the outside of a Diner, that piece of clothing in the store I know I'm not going to buy anyway, the Rosetta Stone. As much as I am a visual person, that doesn't mean I want to admire things from afar.  There are so many different textures out there that simply cannot be appreciated with sight alone.

Of all the words in the book there was one that I just fell in love with.  According to the OED, it's never really been in use, it's only citation being from another dictionary, but I think it's one of the most beautiful words and concepts I can imagine.

Apricity- the warmth of the sun in winter

It's silly and beautiful and poetic.  I have very much fallen in love with the word as a literal, and figurative- both standing out in the snow with the sun shining on your face, and the idea of the there still being warmth in the depths of the deepest 'winter'.   I think I have a special affinity for it now, as I feel lost in my own winter forest without bearings.