Charles Harrington Elster

Jan 12, 2011 10:54 AM EST

“Supinate” is a word that started my love for words and language. It’s a simple word, but as a young preteen that word showed me how interesting words can be. Hence my love affair with words and the English language started.

I was playing with a computer dictionary when I discovered “supinate.” With a ton of scrolling through the program I found other ravishing words over the months. Soon I began buying new or used dictionaries to enhance my vocabulary (and to build a collection of those beautiful tomes).

Like you, I find reading to be a “word-hunting expedition, a lexical safari.” Don’t get my wrong, reading is great on its own. But finding new words while reading is akin to stumbling across hidden treasure. And it’s true that Nobokov teaches his readers lovely new words. I’m now itching to reread Lolita.

Right now I’m thumbing through Endangered Words: A Collection of Rare Gems for Book Lovers. I’ve only had a few days with the book, but let me share a few great words I’ve learned. (You probably already know them.)

Zemblanity: the inevitable discovery of what we would rather knot know.

Schlimmbesserung (fun to say): a so-called improvement that makes things worse

Curglaff: the shock felt in bathing, when one plunges into the cold water

While I’m commenting, let me thank you for three of your books I own: There’s a Word for It!, The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations and my favorite What in the Word? I hope for a sequel to the last one. Happy word hunting to you, sir!

- Patrick M.

Jan 12, 2011 1:21 PM EST

Thanks for sharing that, Patrick. And thanks for your kind words about my books. Zemblanity was a new one on me. Very cute. Any idea on the etymology?

- Charles Harrington Elster

Jan 12, 2011 3:52 PM EST

Let me quote from the book “Endangered Words”:
“Zemblanity was coined by the mischievous Scottish novelist William Boyd for his 1998 novel ‘Armadillo.’ And not only is the meaning of the word the opposite of serendipity (the accidental discovery of something fortunate), Boyd enriched the deal with an etymological opposite as well.
So what is the etymology of serendipity? I had always assumed it was related to serene, but no such link exists. (Serene is derived from Latin 'serenus,' which means 'clear or unclouded,' as in a clear sky or clear weather.) It was coined in 1754 by a talented British earl, Horace Walpole, who would have viewed Sri Lanka as a particularly attractive destination --a warm and exotic paradise. So, in searching for the root of his new word, Boyd sought out a wholly different kind of island and came up with the Russian archipelago of Nova Zembla, a barren former nuclear testing ground in the middle of the icy Artic Ocean.”

Sounds like a new word.

- Patrick M.