Are You a Word Nerd?

This British word looks like "whine," but the words have different etymologies. "Whinge" came from the Old English word "hwinsian," which means to moan unhappily. Yeah, sounds unpleasant.

"Biblioklept" refers to a person who pilfers books. It comes from the root "biblio-," meaning book, and "kleptes," Greek for thief. Unhand that work of literature, cultured ruffian!

This word is like a cousin to "wishy-washy." It originated in the 1700s with indecisive people saying "Shall I? Shall I?" repeatedly. It can also mean to dawdle, like "dilly-dally."

This is one of those fancy literary words. In Jonathan Swift's novel, "Gulliver's Travels," Brobdingnag is an imaginary land of giants. Bonus points if you recognize Lilliputian, too.

"Hoosgow" is a slang term that originated in the American West in the early 1900s. It's likely an incorrect pronunciation of "juzgado," the Spanish word for a court of law.

We all know at least one blatherskite, a silly person who doesn't stop jabbering. The word appeared in a Scottish song and was well known among soldiers during the American Revolution.

If you've seen religious paintings, then you've probably seen the "aureole," or radiance around holy people's heads. Beyonce could have another hit singing, "I can see your aureole ..."

The "sock" in this American slang term refers to hitting someone. It's unclear what "-dolager" means. President Lincoln heard a form of this word in the play at which he was killed.

Put the German words for cat ("katze") and distress ("jammer") together, and you get this useful word to describe an uneasy feeling, a hangover or a din that aggravates the first two.

Word experts aren't even sure where this one comes from, only that it's American slang from the 1840s. You can use this as a fun alternative to the more serious word, "Machiavellian."

"Wroth" is an Old English word that means angry, but also turbulent or stormy. It's a good way to describe either the weather or your boss when they catch you napping under your desk.

Meaning the nape or back of the neck, "nuque" dates back to the late 1500s and comes from the French. Going further back, it evolved from the Latin and Arabic words for "spinal cord."

In Greek myth, Rhadamanthus was one of three judges who determined dead people's fate in the underworld. He was known as the inflexible, strict one. Hopefully, the other two were nicer.

Puck in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a merry imp, but the word originally had the more sinister meaning of "devil" in Old Norse. Good thing the Bard came along.

"Cunctator," or "delayer," was a name given to Roman General Fabius Maximus, who used strategic tactics to defeat Hannibal's army. We wish procrastination was still a positive trait.

Isn't English cool? There's even a word for a bad poet! This word has the Latin suffix "-aster," which indicates that something is not as good as the real thing. Everyone's a critic.

An American word with an unknown origin, "swivet" describes the state of anxious excitement you're in when you rush out the door still wearing your slippers and forget your keys inside.

"Whangdoodle" is another Americanism of uncertain origin. Children's authors Roald Dahl and Julie Andrews (yes, that Julie Andrews) featured various whangdoodles in their books.

Yes, "frangible" is another way of saying "fragile." It derives from the Latin word "frangere," which means "to break." The average postal carrier might not know this though, so ...

"Algid" may not be in popular use, but it's still an appropriate way to describe your bed mate's frigid feet under the covers. It also describes a type of malaria that involves clammy skin.

"Mulligrubs" dates back to the 1590s, but no one knows exactly how it formed. It means a case of the blues or, alternately, a colicky stomach. Use this word when your friend is cranky.

The giveaway in the word is "lumen," which is Latin for "light." And "phil" refers to loving something. Someone who's not a phillumenist is the Scarecrow from "The Wizard of Oz."

"Mordacious" comes from the Latin word meaning "to bite," but it's used in a figurative sense to describe caustic, acerbic language. So no, your 2-year-old is probably not mordacious.

"Pukka" comes from the Hindu word "pakka," which means "solid." It evolved to mean genuine, reliable or first-class. In modern British slang, something pukka is cool, awesome or hip.

Combining the Latin words for "cross" and "word," a cruciverbalist can refer to someone who either makes or solves crosswords. You can bet most avid cruciverbalists use a pen, too.

A cicerone is someone who guides sightseers. The word gets its name from Cicero, the famous Roman orator, because tour guides are supposed to be eloquent with their flowery descriptions.

The next time you hear a public speaker speaking extemporaneously or off-hand, you can call them an autoschediast. But maybe save the comment for your friends, not the Q&A session.

This Yiddish word describes someone's relatives, both by blood and marriage, and close family friends. You can think of it as a tight-knit clan or a network of family and friends.

"Gorgonize" comes from the Gorgons of Greek myth. Anyone who gazed at these snake-haired monsters would be turned to stone. The word means to hypnotize, mesmerize or petrify someone.

"Amygdaliform" means having the curved shape of an almond. Blame your amygdala, the almond-shaped part of the brain responsible for strong emotions, for blurting out that mouthful!

"Melliferous" comes from the Latin for "bearing honey," and that's exactly what it means. You might use the related word, "mellifluous," to describe someone with a voice sweet as honey.

"Lickerish" originally referred to a person who enjoys good food, or even the food itself. It evolved to mean "greedy" or "lustful," coming from the French word to describe debauchery.

"To fard" isn't commonly used in everyday speech, probably because it sounds like ... you know, that other thing. But it means to put on cosmetics. Whew, that isn't so bad!

Coming from the Latin words for "hand" (manus) and "to accustom" (suescere), "mansuetude" means tameness or mildness. Remember to use this obscure word the next time you see a docile horse.

"Lugubrious" comes from the Latin for "relating to mourning," and indeed, we've never heard a gloomier word. It works perfectly to describe an excessively doleful or melancholic person.