English is full of forgotten old words that would be useful today

Dictionaries are now threatening to become as big as elephants and are often impossible to have around except in an electronic form. So, time is ripe to resurrect old, disused words that still have relevant modern applications rather than beg, borrow and steal from other languages to create neologisms for that same purpose.

Even a casual perusal of a normal — read, oversized — unabridged dictionary reveals a wealth of words that are exceptionally appropriate for our times, and all they need is a little bandying about to gain asecond lease of life. Snollygoster is one such astonishingly succinct American noun that should be instantly snapped up and declamated by Arvind Kejriwal as it means a corrupt politician “who wants office, regardless of party, platform or principles”. Of course, without similarly precise synonyms in Indian languages, it is unlikely that audiences here will understand his allusion.

The diversity, accuracy and timelessness of these arcane words point to much hard work by generations past. So, word revivalists should not be disheartened by initial rebuffs and must press on with rehabilitating etymons so brilliantly conceptualised, honed down the centuries. After all, at worst, they just will be called ultracrepidarian — prone to perorating on topics about which they know nothing.