Words For Things You Didn't Know Have Names, Vol. 2
When 'thingamajig' and 'thingamabob' just won't do
Definition:
the part of the bowling alley from which the bowler delivers the ball
Example Sentence:
He headed for the ball return, picked up his ball, rolled it between his hands, and after five paces in the approach, bowled a strike.
— Terence Watson, The Journal News (White Plains, NY), 16 Feb. 2011
About the Word:
Approach names both the section of the bowling alley (by regulation, at least 15 feet long) and the steps the bowler takes there ("that bowler has an awkward approach").
Definition:
a movable pin in a buckle that passes through a hole in the strap to be secured
Example Sentence:
Cut a strip of fine leather for a tie belt or add a buckle cover with leather and punch holes for a buckle's tongue. Such a belt is inexpensive with leather strips for $1 a square foot at August, Inc. 354 Congress Park Drive, Centerville, on Sept. 12, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
— Mille Bingham, Dayton Daily News (Dayton, OH), 2 Sept. 1996
About the Word:
The object got its name from its resemblance to an animal tongue - elongated and fastened at one end only.
Definition:
reflection of light from the inner surface of an eye through the pupil so that the eye has a luminous appearance (as in a cat)
Example Sentence:
Even though a lot of animals have eyeshine, some small domesticated dogs lack this trait. Most animals with blue eyes and white or light-colored coats have also lost this trait.
— Braidee Foote, The Conversation (Boston, MA), 11 Apr. 2022
About the Word:
It's easy to see how eyeshine got that name, but how does it work? Eyeshine is an effect of the tapetum lucidum ("bright tapestry," in Latin), a layer of tissue found immediately behind or sometimes within the retina. It's this tissue that reflects visible light back through the retina. Despite what horror movies may suggest, humans do not have eyeshine.
Definition:
a protective or ornamental plate around a keyhole
Example Sentence:
To some antiquarians of rare and ornate doorknobs, escutcheons and locks, their collections are "functional sculptures.”
— Brendan Denison, TCA Regional News (Chicago, IL), 23 Jul. 2022
About the Word:
This word comes from the Latin scutum, meaning "shield." The original escutcheon was a shield (or something that resembled a shield) that bore a coat of arms; escutcheon also refers to the part of a ship's stern where the name is displayed.
Definition:
a low wheeled platform that people lie on when working under cars
Example Sentence:
A silent auction featuring an antique peddle car, a voucher for $200 of meat a $150 mountain of beer and a mechanic's creeper/seat will be held, as well as a raffle for a Sarka Stainless Steel grill. The Abrams mini-tank will be cruising the park shooting t-shirts into the crowd.
— Lima News (Lima, OH), 11 Jun. 2021
About the Word:
One of the earliest patents for the "automobile repair-creeper" was issued in 1916 to a fellow with the apt name Axel Peterson.
Definition:
the curve of a road's surface that allows water to drain off to the sides
Example Sentence:
Cllr Kevin Richards, leader of the council said: "The island is a great thing for stopping accidents. It was an accident blackspot and you had cars ending up in people's gardens due to the camber in the road.”
— Derby Evening Telegraph (Derby, Eng.), 3 Jun. 2022
About the Word:
Camber comes from the Middle French word cambre, meaning "curved." The highest point of the road is the crown.
Definition:
a crowning ornament or detail (such as a decorative knob)
Example Sentence:
Ten plant-filled garden terraces rise like decks, topped by an amphitheatre loaded with marble balustrades, statues and finials, all reflected in the shimmering lake.
— The Weekend Australian Magazine (Surrey Hills, Aus.), 16 Jul. 2022
About the Word:
Finial developed from final. That makes sense, since the finial is usually the final, crowning piece added to an object.
Definition:
a vestigial digit not reaching to the ground on the foot of a mammal, or a claw or hoof terminating such a digit
Example Sentence:
My girl has a nose for sniffing out the good places, where one can run hard through the tall grass, dip a dewclaw in Walnut Creek or Raccoon River, or roll around unencumbered in things truly foul.
— Lee Rood, Des Moines Register (Des Moines, IA), 19 Jun. 2022
About the Word:
This word's origin is unknown, but one theory has it that a dewclaw touches only the dew, and not the grassy ground it rests on.
Definition:
a paragraph mark
Example Sentence:
This convention reached its zenith in the early sixteenth century, but fell away for reasons both cultural (readers' growing competence with play reading made these dialogic markers less necessary) and pragmatic (type shortages led stationers to replace the pilcrow with the empty space of the indent).
— Heidi Craig, Philological Quarterly, Spring 2021
About the Word:
Its root is far more obvious than what the word became. Pilcrow apparently traces back to the Latin paragraphus, meaning "sign used to make a new section of writing." That Latin word was modified in Middle English to pylcrafte, which developed into pilcrow in the 16th century.
Definition:
the part of a shoe or boot that covers the front of the foot
Example Sentence:
Simply put, an oxford refers to a dress shoe that has a closed lacing system, meaning the parts of the shoe that holds the shoelace eyelets are sewn underneath the vamp and can’t be seen on the top, making the Oxford clean with a slim silhouette and therefore the classic choice when wearing a suit.
— The Guardian (Lagos, Nigeria), 2 Jul. 2022
About the Word:
It comes from the Old French avanpié (from avant-, meaning "fore," + pié, meaning "foot").
An old sense of vamp meant "to piece a new vamp onto a shoe"; that "patch together" sense led to the more recent (but uncommon) verb vamp: "to invent or fabricate something," or "to improvise or extemporize."
10 More Words For Things You Didn't Know Have Names
SEE THE LIST >
