Did you ever look at something super specific—a smell, a shape, a sound your body makes—and think, there’s no way that has an official name?
Surprise! It probably does. Welcome to this week’s installment of Word Nerd Wednesday, where we geek out over obscure, delightful, and oddly satisfying words you never knew you needed.
Let’s dive in:
👀 Glabella – That smooth stretch of skin between your eyebrows? That’s your glabella. Yes, it has a name. Yes, you’re now self-conscious about it.
☔️ Petrichor – That earthy smell after it rains? The one that makes you want to breathe in real deep and maybe write poetry? That’s petrichor. A word as lovely as the scent itself. Also, it is my hands-down favorite smell in the world.
👟 Aglet – The little plastic or metal cap at the end of your shoelaces. Not just a thing you fidget with—it's an aglet! (Also, low-key sounds like it should be a character in a children’s show.)
😩 Wamble – When your stomach growls in that embarrassing “I swear I ate breakfast” way? That’s a wamble. Technically, it refers to the rumbling and the general queasiness. Handy, right?
And because I couldn’t resist, here are a few writing-related words you didn’t know were words:
‽ Combine a question mark with an exclamation point—like this?!—and you’ve got yourself an interrobang. One of my personal favorite punctuation inventions.
📝 Griffonage – That indecipherable scribble you swear is your handwriting? Griffonage. (Doctors and lawyers, we’re looking at you.)
👁 Tittle – The dot over an “i” or a “j.” It’s not just a dot—it’s a tittle. Go ahead and impress someone with that one.
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I love this so much!!
Loved these neat words and I will now spend the rest of the week trying to figure when I can use them, in a sentence of course.