I’m what you might call a logophile – a lover of words. I’m
especially obsessed with the weird ones no one ever uses, like that lovely aroma
that comes when it rains for the first time in a long while. Petrichor comes
from two Greek words: petra, meaning “rock,” and ichor “blood of the gods.” Blood
from a stone! When your stomach makes noise, it’s called a “wamble.” If you’re
feeling queasy or hungover, you’re a bit “hagrid.” You should only put a
pea-sized dollop of toothpaste on your toothbrush, not the big slurpy
caterpillar across all the bristles like in toothpaste commercials. That little
dollop is called a “nurdle.” If you’re tying your shoes and the little plastic
end comes off the lace, you could say, “Oh, no! I’ve lost my aglet!” Even the
little spot above and between your eyebrows has a name. It’s called a “glabella.”
It comes from the Latin word “glabellus,” meaning “smooth.”
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