Heliophobic Hikikomori

The Word Collector — part 11

This is an entry for the most obscure headline on Medium. Unlikely to win, but one for the mavens!

I am just back from another expedition into the literary jungle with some new specimens to share before they are mounted in my display cabinet. I am now recording where they were collected when I remember, to add the pretense of a modicum of scientific rigor to this hobby.

The following rare species are for your enlightenment, elucidation, entertainment, and enjoyment:

The first specimens are all from the excellent book “All the light we cannot see”, by Anthony Doerr which I am currently reading, a touching, sad, and evocative book about the wartime occupation of France told from the perspective of a German conscript and a blind French girl.

sawhorse — In woodworking, (saw-buck, trestle, buck) is a trestle structure used to support a board or plank for sawing.

vitrine — A display window, also a shop window or store window, is a window in a shop displaying items for sale or otherwise designed to attract customers to the store. Usually, the term refers to larger windows in the front façade of the shop.

Fougère — a French word meaning a fragrance that consists of a blend of several oils or scents (such as lavender, citrus, or moss).

capon — a castrated domestic cockrel fattened for eating.

morphology- the study of the forms of things; the branch of biology that deals with the form of living organisms, and with relationships between their structures; the study of the forms of words, in particular, inflected forms; a particular form, shape, or structure.

un homme à poigne — French — a person of importance.

laconic — adjective (of a person, speech, or style of writing) using very few words.

oenophile — a lover of wine- many of us have been there!

loupe- a small magnifying glass used by jewelers and watchmakers.

tephra — rock fragments and particles ejected by a volcanic eruption.

corsair — a pirate; a privateer, especially one operating along the southern shore of the Mediterranean in the 16th–18th centuries.

bisque — a rich shellfish soup, typically made from lobster.

swale — a low or hollow place, especially a marshy depression between ridges.

heliotropic — a turning or curving (as of a sunflower head) toward the sunlight; the opposite as used in the headline is heliophobic, as in disliking sunlight.

Now onto some words collected from other sources:

aphasia — this was discovered in a “Guardian” newspaper article about a medical condition, meaning when a person has difficulty with their language or speech. It is usually caused by damage to the left side of the brain (for example, after a stroke).

The next three words were unearthed while listening to a Youtube video by my brother, the philosopher David Pearce. When brains were being handed out David must have been at the front of the queue and I overslept. When he is on his subject, he is one of those people who can put half a dozen words in the same sentence that you need a dictionary for. In case you happen to want to know more about his thoughts on the subject of consciousness, a link to the video is below, but as mentioned, you will probably need that dictionary handy -

enteric — relating to or occurring in the intestines.

emergence- the process of becoming visible after being concealed; the escape of an insect or other invertebrate from an egg, cocoon, or pupal case; the process of coming into existence or prominence.

epiphenomenalism — a position on the mind–body problem which holds that physical and biochemical events within the human body (sense organs, neural impulses, and muscle contractions, for example) are the sole cause of mental events (thought, consciousness, and cognition).

Finally a word from our very own Medium platform!

hikikomori — every expedition has a highlight and this one was no exception. This wonderful specimen was discovered in a fascinating but sad article by Ryan Fan, about the strange phenomenon of some Japanese people, mainly but not exclusively young men, who spend months, years, or tragically even decades in their bedrooms, hardly emerging, cutting themselves off from society. Hikikomori is a Japanese word meaning “being confined”. Ryan does an excellent job of explaining the phenomenon, and possible reasons it is particularly prevalent in Japan. A link to the excellent article is below:

A link to my previous expedition is below in case of interest and you missed it -

Hope you enjoyed this collection of specimens.

As always, thank you for reading.

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