Surfing for Weird and Wonderful Words

Finding a weird and wonderful word is just as pleasant as finding a beautiful shell along the beach (and words never stretch your pockets out of shape.) Collecting them can be quite rewarding and is easy, too.

First of all –what makes a word weird? It would be convenient to say that it's as ineffable as whatever it is that makes art 'Art', but that's not quite true. Words are weird because they have odd sounds, or an abundance of syllables, or a completely gratuitous k, j, q, z, or x. Words are often weird because they mean something weird. They let you see, for as long as you care to dwell on them, some of the truly bizarre things that people have had, done, used, invented, feared, or thought.

What makes a word wonderful is ineffable. It has to hit you like a good joke, or a satisfying dénouement, or the scent of something tantalizing in the air. It makes you want to go off on tangents, or rants, or wild goose chases. It adds something, not just to your vocabulary (since you may never even speak or write any of these wonderful words), but to your being. Like anything wonderful (to abuse etymology), it fills you with wonder.

There are plenty of words that are weird without being the least bit wonderful –nectocalyx is orthographically weird, but meaning as it does "The swimming-bell which forms the natatory organ in many hydrozoans" it is sadly lacking on the wonder scale. There are wonderful words, such as brio and luminescent, which long familiarity has deprived of any weirdness. Finding a truly weird and wonderful word is like meeting a gorgeous person who is also a good cook and will help you move.

Where can you find your own weird and wonderful words? Well, you should look in the dictionary, because (as Willie Sutton said, when asked why he robbed banks) "That's where the money is." But not just any dictionary –you should look in the Oxford English Dictionary. Opening up nearly any page (or browsing through the online version) will bring you at least one weird or wonderful candidate for your collection. Leafing through old, odd, or unusual magazines is another good bet, as is dawdling about the internet. And often, just being receptive to the possibility of finding a word brings one right to you.

What to do with them when you find them? You can't polish them up and set them in rows in a glass case, but you can write them on sticky notes and put them up where they can remind and amuse you. Share them with others (it won't diminish your collection one bit). And keep looking for more!

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