Do you know, what is the name of the soothing scent one senses after the first rain? It is called Petrichor. How many times have you passionately tried to describe something to someone, but could not get the exact felling across because you did not know there was ONE word for it?
We use fillers to describe them, but it only confuses the listener. The English language, which is known for having terms for everything, has names for all those things we didn’t know have a name. Let us find out five such things, we didn’t know have a name.
#1. Zarf
While taking a sip of coffee or tea from a cup it is quite common to burn fingers. For preventing the fingers to get burnt, the beverage shops now-a-days use a piece of cardboard placed around the mug or glass. That cup holder wrapped around the morning or evening cup of delight and freshness is called ‘Zarf’. The name of the holder has history behind its origin.
When coffee was discovered in Ethiopia, it was served in small cups without handles, which were placed on zarfs. That time it was made of metal, evolving to wood now we use cardboard or paper.
#2. Niblings
To address a brother or sister we say ‘sibling’, and we call a nephew or niece to describe the children of our brothers and sisters. But what if he or she has two nephews and one niece? Did you know, there is a collective term to describe them? It is called niblings.
It is a term which is gender neutral and can be used to refer to children of one’s siblings.
#3. Overmorrow
What do we call the day after today? It is called tomorrow. But what do we call the day after tomorrow?
The term used to describe the day after tomorrow is overmorrow. It has been used in some of the literary works like that of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s work named ‘The first part of the tragedy of Faust’ in 1898.
#4. Grawlix
Grawlix is a group or series of typographical symbols like #$%*! used in between sentences. These symbols are mainly used in comics in place of obscenity and actual profanity.
The term was coined in the 1960s by Mort Walker, the creator of the Beetle Bailey and ‘Hi and Lois’ cartoons. While writing The Lexicon of Comicana, he introduced these symbols which is now used in comics worldwide.
#5. Tartle
Imagine that you met a person named Gavin last night at a gathering. Next week around the same time, you come across Gavin in another party, but you are hesitant to meet him because you forgot his name. This has happened and still happens with most of us. It’s a common phenomenon which many people go through. That moment when you are trying to remember the name by stressing your memory, humans tend to repeatedly say “A..aaa...aa…a”. This hesitation is termed as ‘Tartle’, which is a Scottish word.
