The OED, as you know, is short for the Oxford English Dictionary. If you didn't know that, then you are not cool. Since I had to research the OED for a presentation, I spent a lot of time at the OED online, clicking the "Lost for Words" button, which gives you a random word that you can entertain yourself with. I spent about an hour doing this, and these are the five most interesting words I found.
1. Bagsy
Means: to assert a claim or right to (something) by using the expression ‘bagsy’; to demand as one's due for being first to claim.
Example:
"What about you doing the gassing instead of me?"
"But I bagsed-I I didn't," Abinger protested.
I have absolutely no idea what the rest of the sentence means, but apparently Abinger "bagsed" something and the other person speaking, whoever that may be, has no right to it (whatever "it" is). I suppose our American equivalent would be calling fives on a seat. And if you've never heard that expression before, it means you have five minutes to get back to your seat, otherwise you will have to engage in a death match to get it back.
Kind of like this.2. Snicker
You may be thinking that "snicker" means a mocking sort of laugh. Well, you'd be wrong if the year was 1848. Apparently, snicker can also mean a knife.
Example: "If they screak, out with your snickers and slick!"
A screak is a loud screech, and slick means to "dispatch rapidly." I assume that's the use this sentence was going for. I suppose it could also mean "If they scream, take out your knives and smarten them up!" but that doesn't seem as threatening.
"I'm going to snicker you." "You're going to what?"3. Nebelwerfer
Means: a six-barrelled rocket mortar used by the German forces in the Second World War (1939-45).
Put that way, it sounds quite serious, but use it in a sentence, and all I can think of is Pokemon.
Example: "These German gunners have certainly chosen a well-concealed position in which to hide their nebelwerfer."
Giant freakin gun.... or a gay Pokemon with a butt saw. You choose.
4.Bumbershoot
Slang for an umbrella.
This was used mainly in the US, and according to the OED, used as early as 1896 and as late as 2001. I don't recall ever hearing this word and I regret this fact immensely.
Example: "This oversized bumbershoot lets you dodge raindrops with ease and flair."
Especially if your bumbershoot is designed for flight.5.Gribble
Means: a small marine boring crustacean, Limnoria terebrans, resembling a wood-louse.
Example: "Many plans have been proposed for preventing the ravages of the gribble."
To me, this word should be used as a light insult, as in "You dirty gribble!" or "Your mom's a gribble!"
The example given in the OED makes the gribble sound a lot more threatening then it is. It isn't really even that ugly.
See? A little creepy, sure, but it kind of looks like a shrimp, and shrimp aren't scary. I'm sure if you came face to face with one -
OH DEAR GOD.
