Yes, yes, I realise that you probably weren't considering using the word fecula anyway. Of course not. The Word Den's inhabitants are creatures of fine intelligence and taste.
And fecula is plainly a vicious word. It sounds like root beer*: something that's so disgusting you just can't help but spit it out at once.
Fecula does have a faint and bonkers charm, though, because it means two crazily different things: it can be the gluey starch you get from washing crushed vegetables such as potatoes.
Or it can be insect poo.
I suppose that's quite endearing, really.
Words Not to Use Today: fecula. This is the Late Latin word for burnt tartar, which is the crust you sometimes get on wine. It comes from the Latin faex, which means sediment.
*The only root beer I've ever drunk tasted somewhere between cheap disinfectant and old ladies' wee, but I'm prepared to accept there may be pleasanter kinds out there somewhere.
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments are very welcome, but please make them suitable for The Word Den's family audience.