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



Sunday 14 October 2018

Sunday Rest: vitellogenic. Word Not To Use Today.

File:New Forest calf.jpg
photo from the New Forest, England, by Jim Champion

Vitellogenic is a perfectly good word, really. I just can't imagine any occasion upon which anyone might want to use it.

Word Not To Use Today: vitellogenic. This word means producing or stimulating the production of egg yolk. It comes from the Latin vitellus, which originally meant little calf but later, somehow, came to mean egg yolk. Vitulus means calf.

I suppose if you were a member of a family of biologists who had been trying out some new sort of chicken feed you might just use the word vitellogenic. The Universe is vast and multifarious, so such a family might even exist. 

Though the chances of them speaking English can't be great.

Still, if you hear anyone say it, do let us know.


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