Browsing through the Huffington Post, I happened upon a blog about strange and wonderful words.

When I reached the end of the text, I realised with horror that I have been known to groke on several occasions.

Having not packed myself sufficient lunch for a day on site, away from my home office, I’ve been known to stare at colleagues, smacking their lips as the next delicious-looking bite travels down their throat.

I’m not looking without purpose. I’m hoping that the woeful gaze coupled with the audible rumblings of my stomach will convey the message that I want some of their food.

So back to your appetite for words? Small. I’m guessing really small. Most of us who use the English language are not professional or expert at it. We probably fall into the common zone of rank and file. Probably using the same 2000 words day in and day out.

What then is the purpose of the dictionary if we’re getting by so well on our limits. The dictionary is crammed with words between covers that hold the key to your vocabulary building mastery.  I’ll bet your typical usage behaviour is to turn to the dictionary when you come a cropper in a book or article you read and stumble on a word.

I’ll bet your use is never proactive. It won’t likely be that you’re looking for an interesting word to say ‘inclement weather’ in an article you’re writing on climate change. No, chances are you’ll go with ‘inclement weather’ paragraph after paragraph, just because you’ve forgotten the power of the world’s most respected word source.

For example, did you know that zwodder is ‘a feeling of restlessness’, smicker is ‘to look amorously after someone’ and fudgel means ‘pretending to work when you’re not doing anything at all’.

And groke, if you have not already realised, ‘is to look at someone who’s eating in the hope that they will give you some food.

Please share the strange and wonderful words that you’ve discovered and let’s start a conversation.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/weird-phrases_b_4018105