This blog is for everyone who uses words.

The ordinary-sized words are for everyone, but the big ones are especially for children.



Sunday 11 December 2011

Sunday Rest. Word Not To Use Today: beneurous.

Of course I'm shooting myself in the foot with this post, because I should imagine few of you would have considered using the word beneurous today if I hadn't brought it to your attention.

Beneurous means..well, what do you think it means?

Having a low and throbbing belly ache?

Or perhaps having a distinct smell of week-old musk-ox curry?

Or carved with mysterious patterns, possibly representing the passage of a dead soul through the after-world?

Or a dim and bilious green?

But no. As it happens, beneurous means happy or blessed: and this must be one of the very worst matches of sound and meaning in any word I've ever come across.

You know that saying, do what I say, not what I do? Well, I'd suggest reversing it for this word.

Be beneurous, do - but please don't actually say it.

Word Not To Use Today: beneurous. This word was used by William Caxton, who printed the first books in England. It comes from the Old French beneurous

And they can jolly well have it back as far as I'm concerned, too.


2 comments:

  1. Shan't be using this word!! No wonder it's so little known...I like it with the meaning of week-old musk curry.

    ReplyDelete
  2. A thousand blessings on all Word Den readers and, especially, commenters.
    May your days be filled with joy, and absolutely no week-old curry of any denomination.

    ReplyDelete

All comments are very welcome, but please make them suitable for The Word Den's family audience.