A Quomodocunquizing Borborygmus

The Word Collector — Part 34

This is the latest in a series about new words and phrases, specimens collected during expeditions into the deepest, darkest literary and media wilderness, and displayed for your entertainment, elucidation, and enlightenment. These are new to me, but of course, you may know some or all of them already, in which case you are welcome to marvel at my ignorance.

hench —an informal adjective, meaning strong, fit, and having well-developed muscles. The word turned up in a “BBC Sounds” podcast about Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of Amazon. Well it was going to be describing me, was it?!

quomodocunquizing — a way to describe something (or someone) who makes money in any way possible. Example:

“Jeff Bezos is a quomodocunquizing entrepreneur.”

From this list of funniest words:

borborygmus — the noisy rumbling and gurgling that comes from fluids or gas moving in your intestines. From the same list.

disasterclass — a neologism in this great article on the Conservative Party conference — a variation on masterclass, and something Lamentable Loopy Liz (Truss) and Fishy Rishi (Sunak) delivered in spades, unlike the HS2 project — the lack of political nous was astonishing. To announce the cancellation of the line to Manchester in the middle of holding the party conference there was a stroke of PR genius (not). Almost as bonkers as Liz.

colloquium -an academic conference or seminar. The word turned up in this article:

phantasmagoria –alternatively fantasmagorie and/or fantasmagoria was a form of horror theatre that used one or more magic lanterns to project frightening images, such as skeletons, demons, and ghosts, onto walls, smoke, or semi-transparent screens, typically using rear projection to keep the lantern out of sight. This word appeared in “Technofeudalism” by Yanis Varoufakis.

“orchestrated obfuscation” — a lovely turn of phrase about the financial world, from “Technofeudalism” by Yanis Varoufakis.

archaeometry — a formal field of study whose practitioners apply techniques and approaches from the physical, chemical, biological, and earth sciences and engineering to address archaeological questions and problems. From “Technofeudalism” by Yanis Varoufakis.

gonnection — this appeared in “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, when the character Meyer Wolfsheim mistakenly takes mistakenly takes Nick for a criminal and asks if he is looking for a gonnegtion. The word is a misspelling of the word “connection” in order to emphasize Mr. Wolfsheim’s pronunciation. I thought I had discovered a new word, so was sadly disappointed with this one!

katana — A katana is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the tachi, it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge facing upward. I saw the word in a review of the sci-fi film “Infinite” on Netflix. Yes, I spend far too long watching films!

horcrux — this neologism by J.K Rowling is an object formed by dark magic that is used by a wizard or witch in the Harry Potter series. Horcruxes are created to achieve immortality by splitting a dark wizard’s soul into separate pieces. The word appeared in “Going Infinite” by Michael Lewis about Sam Bankman-Fried which I am currently reading to find out how anyone can be worth £25 billion in their twenties, though it seems it may have all been a bit dodgy (allegedly, as the case us currently sub judice). Apparently Lewis was paid $10 a word for the book and just happened to be working on it when the whole FTX empire imploded — a case of being in the right place at the right time. The earnings put our scribbling in context!

I hope you enjoyed this collection, and do share any favourites of your own in the comments.

As always, thank you for reading.

Previous articles from The Word Collector:

Part 33 — Going Monk Mode In Taumata­whakatangihanga­koauau­o­tamatea­turi­pukaka­piki­maunga­horo­nuku­pokai­whenua­ki­tana­tahu

Part 32 — Turpitudinous Tourons

Part 31 — Hurkle durkle, medicanes and misophonia

Part 30 — Immortal earworms

Part 29 — Government on the RAAC

Part 28 –Saved by a deus ex machina

Part 27 — Pre-Lapsarian Yakers

Part 26 — Fegans, Jorts, Rababs And Scotch Bonnets

Part 25 — Fissiparous Hegemony

Part 24 — Lollygag And Booktok

Part 23 — Patronymics And Samovars

Part 22 — Medium Is No Chronofage If YRMIRY

Part 21 — Everything Is Eellogofusciouhipoppokunurious

Part 20 — Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia And The Matthew Effect

Part 19 — A Nappuccino And Some Typo-Squatting

Part 18 — Yeeting Detritovres

Part 17 — An Inverted Pyramid Of Piffle On The Bed Of Procrustes

Part 16 — Having The Jones And Partisan Acrimony

Part 15 — Spycops In The Boondocks

Part 14 — Harlots, Stochastic Parrots, And The Devil’s Cufflinks

Part 13 — The Things We Make Exceptional

Part 12 — “Semper Fidelis” And Semantic Symbiosis

Part 11 — Heliophobic Hikikomori

Part 10 — Lenticular Clouds And Peque Peques

Part 9 — Big Red Boots And Nepo Babies

Part 8 — A Patina Of Smilies

Part 7 — Atavistic frou frou

Part 6-Mouth Breathers And Pearl Clutchers

Part 5 — The Lexophile’s Latest List

Part 4 — Revenge of the word collector

Part 3- An Etymological Extravaganza

Part 2- Return Of The Word Collector

Part 1 — A Moment In The Sun

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