Thursday, March 28, 2013

Sesquipedalian


Sesquipedalian (adjective): Characterized by long words; long winded.

How ironic that a word that describes long-winded wordiness is in itself long-winded.

"Many authors resort to sesquipedalian language to mask the fact that they don't know what they're talking about."

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Abibliophobia

Abibliophobia (noun): The fear of running out of having reading material.

You may laugh at this, but many people experience milder forms of this condition every day. For example, if you are a voracious reader and you commence a long plane journey only to realize you accidentally left behind all your books, you will experience a mild form of abibliophobia.

You will always recognize the abibliophobic personality at a breakfast table. He or she is the one who momentarily panics when there is no newspaper or magazine in sight and then proceeds to read the contents of the cereal box.