Words words words...

I like words. I like words with v's in them. Words like savvy, vanquished, and avast. I like words with q's in them. Words like equivoque, quandary, and querulous. I like words in general.

I also like lists. I have lots of lists. Lists of favorite authors, favorite books, favorite movies, least favorite foods, items for my hope chest, what I would need to pack if I were to need to flee into Canada...you know, boring everyday stuff like that.

My favorite lists are my word lists. I have collected some really interesting words over the years. Some are fun to say, some have oddly specific meanings, and some sound just like what they are describing.

So here's a list of five unusual words that I like very much. (I take the definitions from the Webster's New Standard Dictionary and Atlas: Self Pronouncing, by Joseph Devlin. This is a wonderful dictionary, and best of all it is mine. I got it from a used book sale hosted by a local church and it was free. Its cover is falling off, but that matters not a whit. Dictionaries ought to be so well used that their covers are all ragged and falling to pieces.)

1. Triblet - Noun. A hollow spindle for making rings, nuts, and the like.

2. Defenestration - Noun. A throwing out of a window.

3. Escalade - Noun. The act of scaling the walls of a fortified place by means of ladders.

4. Scilicet - Adverb. That is to say; namely.

5. Xylophagous - Adjective. Feeding on wood; denoting the boring, destroying, or eating of wood; applied to certain crustaceans, mollusks and larvae.

That last word carried me to victory in the word game Probe. None of my cousins could guess it. Even my Excellent Mother was stumped. So keep it in mind folks, you never knew when a weird word will come to your aid.

Now, if you are the writing type, I will challenge you to write a short story (or article, or essay, or even a novel, if you are so inclined) using all five of these words. I don't imagine it will be easy, they don't connect very well, but I'm sure it can be done. If you do take this challenge, let me know about it or link it in the comments.

~Lissy