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Dr J Files

28 July, 2015

Doctor Samuel Johnson was a word hoarder of the first order. His landmark dictionary of 1755, adding up to 2300 pages, has left a lasting impact on English. Though not every word has lasted as long.

For this week's Brainstorm, let's revive some lost Johnson gems, providing both definition and wordplay to any or all of this esoteric set.

ABACIST - one involved in numerical calculations

ARGOL - dried cow dung

CARRIWITCHET - a pun

DEIPNOSOPHIST - expert in the art of dining

FAITOUR - fortune-telling charlatan

GLIFF - passing glance

INSULSE - tasteless

LEPADOID - barnacle-like

MINAUDERIE - flirting

PAPER-STAINER - inferior author

SAGINATE - to fatten an animal

ULTRONEOUS - voluntary

VENTIFACT - object shaped by the wind

ZELOTYPIA - jealousy 

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Riddledom Rave

If you missed my riddle chat with Richard Fidler, then feel free to slurp the podcast at http://ab.co/1I9t1x5

Text-speak is creeping into Scrabble. Where do you sit?
OBVS I'm fine with it
Entrenched stuff - like LOL and OMG - but no more.
Words With Friends, maybe. Scrabble, no
Let the 'real' dictionaries decide first
Just the handy stuff, like FAQ and EUW
I mean, WTF?! No way
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