suppurate
If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that “suppurate” described the after-effect of a satisfying dinner. A term for how you satisfied, sated, and sedated you feel when you sit on the couch after,...
View Articlesqualid
“Squalid” refers to something filthy and repulsively foul — like the living conditions of a cat collector with an affinity for gourmet cheese — but to me it sounds even worse. When I hear the word...
View Articlefunicular
“Funicular.” It starts with fun, so it can’t be bad, right? Wrong. That would be like sticking your head in a raging furnace, hoping to see a fern. Chances are 80-20 that if something is “-icular” it...
View Articleoffal
It’s funny: when I turn to my dollar-store dictionary for advice on the correct way to pronounce “offal” it says “awful”! I thought so. There’s nothing wonderful about offal: it’s all awful, even in...
View Articlegavage
Tap-tap-tap. Class, pay attention. I’m going to teach you a new word today. It’s called “gavage.” Say it out loud. No, not like “savage,” Little Jimmy. It’s pronounced like “garage.” That’s right,...
View Articleichor
Ichor. You want it to taste like liquor, but it doesn’t. It’s just icky. Pronouncing the term aloud is enough to make most people reach for some hand sanitizer and drink a glop of that instead. It’s a...
View Articlephlegm
Phlegm rhymes with gem, stem, and them…words that sound normal enough. In fact, it wouldn’t be such a disgusting word if it weren’t for that perfectly placed letter “g” — that most mucousy of...
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Asphixiation
Try saying “asphyxiation” five times fast. You will know what it means from experience. But if you survive, read on… You probably know the term refers to “choking to death” and that it is the fancy...
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