Wayne State Tries to Bring Back Great Words

The Word Warriors of Wayne State University invite you to help them rejuvenate our language by highlighting some under-used words that deserve more airtime. Calling them “eminently useful” and encouraging their use as a way to enrich the language, they’ve collected a long list of user-submitted words that are worthy of a usage boost.

I’m not sure the site will have the effect the Word Warriors are looking for, but the complete list of Words that Deserve Wider Use does make for interesting reading. I was reminded of several favorites that will be fun and valuable to reclaim as everyday vocabulary. I’ll admit to being a little disappointed, however, by their choices for Word Warriors’ 2013 Top 10. Out of only ten words, I’m wondering why three of them involve empty, frivolous talk: buncombe, natter, and persiflage. Then again, in a world of email forwards, Facebook posts, and online news article comments, perhaps the Word Warriors were simply choosing the words they felt had the best chance of being applied.

If you would like to try to “enliven the state of contemporary English” by adding a word to the list, you can read submission guidelines and nominate a word using the submission form on the Word Warrior site.