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Do you know what one of the key factors allowing languages to stay alive for centuries is? It’s because they are evolving together with the people they are used by, the culture, and the historical happenings. And we, being not so green on the topic of evolution, know that once something has evolved, the primary version of it becomes obsolete (usually). The same goes for words! Take, for instance, some of the old English words, like bumfuzzle and cattywampus - nobody knows anymore what they mean or that they ever existed! Sorry, now you are aware of their existence, so scratch the latter. Still, they definitely fall under the category of obsolete words and find their place neatly in our list of outdated words!
Before you scroll down below to see the funny words, be advised to do so in your leisure time as you might find yourself spending way more time than you should reading these weird words and laughing at them heartily. Or trying to make your own dictionary entirely out of these outdated words. Now that sounds like a dandy idea, doesn’t it? What’s even more fun is that some of these also fall under the category of outdated slang words, so, yeah - a wave of nostalgia is incoming!
Right-o, grab a pen and a piece of paper - you will definitely want to write some of these bad boys down! Be sure to give your vote for the obsolete word that has amused you the most, and share this article with your friends!
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#1
Growlery
Meaning: A place where you can retreat from the world when you’re in bad mood
RELATED:
#2
Cool beans
Meaning: Used to express approval or delight
#3
Hornswoggle
Meaning: To scam or con
#4
Whippersnapper
Meaning: A young and unimportant person who behaves in a way that others think is too confident and rude
#5
Poltroon
Meaning: A spiritless coward; craven
Magnifico Giganticus 2 years ago
Sean Connery used this word for Alex Trebek on Celebrity Jeopardy!
#6
Fuzzle
Meaning: To have a good time – drunk or intoxicated
Shannon Mallory 2 years ago
Our family has always used "fuzzled" to describe the look of someone who has just awakened.
#8
Twelvemonth
Meaning: A year
#9
Paramour
Meaning: A person that somebody is having a romantic or sexual relationship with
#10
Peeler
Meaning: A police officer
Shannon Mallory 2 years ago
A very Irishism. Mr Peel is the same source for the (still in use) English term Bobbies for police officers. The Irish chose to use the slightly more denigrating-sounding Peelers.
#11
Baloney
Meaning: Ideas, statements or beliefs that you think are silly or not true; lies
#12
Lumming
Meaning: The overwhelming urge to do nothing
#14
Hootenanny
Meaning: An informal social event at which people play folk music, sing and sometimes dance
#16
Twattle
Meaning: To gossip
#18
Resistentialism
Meaning: Seemingly spiteful behavior manifested by inanimate objects
#19
Sluberdegullion
Meaning: A filthy, slobbering person
#20
Zenzizenzizenzic
Meaning: An obsolete form of mathematical notation representing the eighth power of a number
#22
Pistoleer
Meaning: One who is armed with a pistol
#24
Sanguinary
Meaning: Involving or causing much bloodshed
sofacushionfort 2 years ago
Or an imbalance of the blood humor. Compare to phlegmatic, bilious and choleric
#25
Fiddlesticks
Meaning: Used to say that you disagree with somebody
#26
Elflock
Meaning: A lock of hair, fancifully regarded as having been tangled by the elves
#27
Beef-witted
Meaning: Stupid; dull
Squirrelly Panda 2 years ago
Never heard of beef-witted. I assume it is the masculine version of hen-witted. There is also more hair than wit, nitwit, numbskull, featherbrain.
#30
Fandangle
Meaning: An ornate or fantastic ornament
#31
Fizgig
Meaning: A silly or flirtatious young woman
#35
Tickled
Meaning: Pleased; when you think something is funny.
#36
With squirrel
Meaning: Pregnant; expecting a baby
Squirrelly Panda 2 years ago
Expecting, in an interesting way/condition, about to be confined (very pregnant), bun in the oven, and so many more euphemisms
#43
Hooch
Meaning: Strong alcoholic drink, especially something that has been made illegally
#45
Yuppie
Meaning: A young college-educated adult who is employed in a well-paying profession and who lives and works in or near a large city
#47
California widow
Meaning: A married woman whose husband has been absent for an extended period
Devin Singh 2 years ago
Fun tangentially related fact. A California tuxedo or a California suit is when you pair a navy blazer with light/tan/khaki pants.
#48
Asunder
Meaning: Apart from each other
Kookamunga 2 years ago
Still at use in weddings, right? "What God has joined together let no man put asunder"
#49
Bedlam
Meaning: An asylum for the mentally ill
Shannon Mallory 2 years ago
Shortened from "Bethlehem" from the name of an English sanitarium (St Mary's of Bethlehem), hence the connection to chaos and insanity
#50
Gammer
Meaning: An old woman
#54
Jakes
Meaning: An outdoor toilet
#56
Small beer
Meaning: Weak or inferior beer
#57
Sweetmeat
Meaning: An item of confectionery or sweet food
Squirrelly Panda 2 years ago
As opposed to sweetbreads, which are some internal organs of animals, like the pancreas and thalmus glands so sweetmeat is not meat and sweetbread is not bread.
#58
Unhand
Meaning: To remove the hand from; let go
#60
Zounds
Meaning: An expression of surprise or indignation
Squirrelly Panda 2 years ago (edited)
Zoiks! Gadzooks! Ye gads! I could be wrong, but I think zounds comes from God's hounds. (Edit because autocorrect turned gads into gadsden for some reason)
#62
Grog-Blossom
Meaning: The rosy red hue of an alcoholic’s nose
#63
Kerfuffle
Meaning: A disturbance or commotion typically caused by a dispute or conflict
#65
Clicker
Meaning: A device that allows you to operate a television, etc. from a distance
#66
Stoked
Meaning: Excited and pleased about something
#67
Broad
Meaning: A woman
#69
Boob tube
Meaning: The television
#70
Britches
Meaning: Short trousers fastened just below the knee
#73
Lunting
Meaning: Walking around while smoking a pipe
#74
Callipygian
Meaning: Having well-shaped buttocks.
#75
Houppelande
Meaning: A loose belted overgown usually with long wide sleeves, dagged edges, a fur lining, and full-length skirt often with slits in it
#77
Brimstone
Meaning: Sulfur
#79
Cordwainer
Meaning: A shoemaker
#80
Espousal
Meaning: A marriage; engagement
Huddo's sister 2 years ago
Also 'an act of adopting or supporting a cause, belief, or way of life'
#81
Gadzooks
Meaning: An expression of surprise or annoyance
#83
Leech
Meaning: A physician; healer
#84
Love apple
Meaning: A tomato
sofacushionfort 2 years ago
The New World tomato was suspected of inflaming sexual desire. Italian cuisine: we’ll have that.
#85
Parlor
Meaning: A room used primarily for conversation or the reception of guests
#88
Slugabed
Meaning: A person who stays in bed after the usual or proper time to get up
#90
Water closet
Meaning: A compartment or room with a toilet
#91
Tittynope
Meaning: A small quantity of something left over
Heather Barnett 2 years ago
I think this is the first one that made me go 'no, that can't be a real word' XD
#92
Tight
Meaning: Drunk; tipsy
#93
Stepping out
Meaning: Being unfaithful; cheating
Squirrelly Panda 2 years ago
Could also mean going on a date, even if single. Bachelor stepping out, not a big deal. Married person stepping out was fodder for gossip (as well as straight up wrong)
#94
Pismire
Meaning: An archaic word for an ant
Huddo's sister 2 years ago
Similar to my favourite 'mouldwarp, archaic word for mole (animal)'.
#95
Excogigate
Meaning: Think out, plan, or devise
#99
Apothecary
Meaning: One who prepares and sells drugs or compounds for medicinal purposes
#103
Damsel
Meaning: A young unmarried woman
#106
Man-at-arms
Meaning: A heavily armed and usually mounted soldier
#109
Schoolmarm
Meaning: A woman who is a schoolteacher especially in a rural or small-town school
#113
Pocketbook
Meaning: A small bag for money, keys, etc., carried especially by women
#114
Bosom
Meaning: A woman’s chest or breasts
Katie Lutesinger 2 years ago
🎶 Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow, everybody needs a bosom! 🎶
#115
Percolator
Meaning: A pot for making coffee, in which boiling water is forced up a central tube and then comes down again through the coffee
Jaguarundi 2 years ago
Camping gear, I have used this frequently. I have one in blue and white enamelware.
#116
TiVo
Meaning: A brand of digital video recorder and subscription-based service used chiefly for recording television programs
#117
Videotape
Meaning: A type of magnetic tape used in the past for recording moving pictures and sound; a box containing this tape, also called a video cassette
#118
Whoopee
Meaning: A sexual play
Kookamunga 2 years ago
TV game show Newlywed Game, Bob Eubanks used "making whoopee" as a euphemism for sex.....anyone remember? whoopee-63...8c587a.jpg 
#121
Quockerwodger
Meaning: A type of wooden puppet controlled by strings
#122
Ague
Meaning: A fever (such as malaria) marked by paroxysms of chills, fever, and sweating that recur at regular intervals
#123
Behoof
Meaning: Advantage; profit; benefit
Shannon Mallory 2 years ago
Yes, following the same rule as Hoof/Hooves, Staff/Staves, Dwarf/Dwarves, Leaf/Leaves. Behoof/Behooves.
#124
Buck
Meaning: A fashionable and daring young man
Mr Jumbarrawa 2 years ago
I have a buck in my wallet ( one dollar ) how much that cost 40 bucks ( 40 dollars )
#125
Bumper
Meaning: A generous glass of an alcoholic drink
#129
Fourscore
Meaning: Being four times twenty; eighty
Squirrelly Panda 2 years ago
Score means twenty. So three score is sixty. Four score is well known because it was a poetic way to say eighty in the Gettysburg Address.
#133
Rover
Meaning: A pirate
Huddo's sister 2 years ago
Also 'a person who spends their time wandering' which is why the Scouts Australia uses it for their 18-25 year old group.
#135
Yonder
Meaning: At or in that indicated more or less distant place usually within sight
Shannon Mallory 2 years ago
"Hither, thither and yon" is an old phrase meaning Everywhere. My boss wrote (in our daily notes) that he had appointments "hither, dither and yon." Since he's largely ineffectual, the "dither" misprint was quite funny.
#140
Icebox
Meaning: A separate section in a fridge for making and storing ice
Mr Jumbarrawa 2 years ago
actually, it was the name of fridges that used big blocks of ice and not electricity
#141
Floppy Disk
Meaning: A thin plastic disk coated with magnetic material on which data for a computer can be stored
#142
Crapulous
Meaning: Marked by intemperance especially in eating or drinking
#143
Groak
Meaning: To stare at people who are eating in the hope that they will offer to share their food
#150
Galoshes
Meaning: waterproof shoes; shoes with a heavy sole
#153
Scruple
Meaning: A unit of capacity equal to ¹/₂₄ Apothecaries' ounce
Katie Lutesinger 2 years ago
Another meaning is of course a principle someone holds. Hence "unscrupulous" for a scumbag who has no principles.
#154
Scurvy
Meaning: Worthless; contemptible
#155
Steed
Meaning: A horse used or trained for riding; a spirited horse
#157
Turnkey
Meaning: A jailer
#159
Wherefore
Meaning: For what reason or purpose; why
#163
Courting
Meaning: To try to please somebody in order to get something you want, especially the support of a person, an organization
#172
Whither
Meaning: To what place or state
sofacushionfort 2 years ago
Whither? Thither and hither. Praythee mayest I have the car fobbery?
#174
Pictures
Meaning: A painting or drawing, etc. that shows a scene, a person or thing
#177
World Wide Web (WWW)
Meaning: A system for finding information on the internet, in which documents are connected to other documents using hypertext links
#178
Heavens
Meaning: Used to show that you are surprised or annoyed
#180
Fair
Meaning: Beautiful
#181
Go-cart
Meaning: A baby walker
Mr Jumbarrawa 2 years ago
please don't put babies in Go-karts.. their poor little legs won't reach the peddles
#182
Desuetude
Meaning: A state of inactivity or disuse
#183
Ostentatious
Meaning: Attracting or seeking to attract attention, admiration
#184
Mobile phone
Meaning: A phone that does not have wires and works by radio, that you can carry with you and use anywhere
#185
Coz
Meaning: Cousin
What do you think ?
Shannon Mallory 2 years ago
I particularly missed Fortnight and Curmudgeon, both of which belong here, but lovely job, thank you 😊
Shannon Mallory 2 years ago
I particularly missed Fortnight and Curmudgeon, both of which belong here, but lovely job, thank you 😊
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