Atrabilious, immiscible, susurrus, tergiversate, trompe l’oeil — I have a spiral notebook that probably dates back a decade or more of words I hadn’t known so looked up meanings and added them to the list. Terricolous, educe, missish, tergiversate, the list goes on and on. And I’ve forgotten almost all (including all those listed here). They are real words — most not acknowledged by my spellcheck (if that helps).

There are others though that I do use and appreciate.

I do have a word and then an expression I’d like to see used more commonly. First is “petrichor” which is “a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather.” “Other than the petrichor emanating from the rapidly drying grass, there was not a trace of evidence that it had rained at all.”

I recall once writing about this sensation, not dreaming back then there could be a real word associated with it. My remark was to the point that I welcomed this here in the east but never could smell it in California. I don’t believe anyone out there ever did.

My favorite would be far more popular with me if I could pronounce decent French. “L’esprit de l’escalier” or “staircase wit.” First identified by the French philosopher Denis Diderot who was so overwhelmed by an argument at a party that he could think clearly again only once, on departing, he’d gotten to the bottom of the stairs.

We’ve all been there. Probably too many times to count and, trust me, no staircase is required. No stairs at all.

It’s simply (to me) making an asinine comment or none at all when you know there’s one better just off the tip of your tongue, forgetting the right word until just too late. The notes I keep by my bed often have one word I’ve scribbled in the middle of the night. But it does come. I also recall one time I needed the right words for the beginning of a chapter and, no matter how hard I dug, nothing felt right. That did appear — in the middle of my shower!

So many examples — so much fun to be had. Where to start?

Best to exhibit my gratitude first to good friend Liz Hayward (who lived here in Fredonia for a couple of years). Liz sent a map of the area in the British Isles where the Border Reiver Families lived from 1300 to 1700. These bands raided along the border with Scotland. Including both English and Scottish families, they plundered without care for the nationality of their victims. “Their heyday was perhaps in the last hundred years of their existence,” the card assures me, “during the time of the Stuart Kings in Scotland and the Tudor Dynasty in England.”

Liz adds, “This is where the word BEREAVED originates. To be raided/reived and therefore bereft.” Thanks, friend.

Ready for some fun? Have a friend with a callipygous (accent on the pi) figure? That means she has shapely buttocks. Could be a handy word to remember.

Or try this: a scaramouch (or scarmouche), accent on the first syllable, your choice for the last. A character seen in the Italian commedia dell’arte, it can also mean a cowardly buffoon or any scamp or rascal. (I love the suggestions my spellcheck comes up with!)

A snollygoster originally referred to a mythical creature who preyed on children and chickens. Now it’s used to describe a shrewd unprincipled person.

“Collywobbles” was on my list, confusing me because I always thought the word began with a G. I adopted it from my Dad’s frequent usage when he had an upset stomach or intestinal queasiness. I needed the internet to correct my error and then discovered “flimmadiddle.” There are many of these words in British usage. Check ’em out. This means something worthless or foolish.

I would have bet I knew “niche.” Wrong again, particularly when it’s used as an adjective. From Bloomberg referring to the annual production of rhenium: it’s too niche for bigger trading companies.

We can guess what is meant by a shambly theater but it is certainly not in my dictionaries.

Time now to be recombobulating again, hoping I really can think clearly. Just don’t mistake it for discombobulate which mean to confuse or upset. While bumfuzzled means to be confused, perplexed or flustered. Are we all getting there by now?

Just for your edification: the definitions of those words at the top are gloomy, incapable of homogeneity, a whisper, to repeatedly change one’s mind, visual deception. And then living on or in the ground, to draw out something latent or potential; prudish, and to repeatedly change one’s mind or opinions.

Susan Crossett has lived in Arkwright for more than 20 years. Information on all the Musings, her books and the author may be found at Susancrossett.com.