As I wrote yesterday’s blog post about proofreading computer transcriptions of two Merriam-Webster dictionaries, I remembered that one way I entertained myself in the process was collecting weird words. Three from the 7th Collegiate Dictionary were:

• rotl. A unit of weight in the Middle East ranging from one to six pounds.
• crwth. A Welsh stringed instrument.
• cwm. Another Welsh vowelless wonder, meaning a steep-sided hollow at the head of a valley or on a mountain side.

Soon I started going farther afield:

• medioxumous. Of or relating to an intermediate group of deities.
• septemfluous. Flowing in seven streams. (Gosh, that’s a useful word.)
• zax. A small axe used in roofing (or playing Scrabble).
• triskaidekaphobia. Fear of the number thirteen.
• gardyloo. In Scots, what people shouted outside their windows before emptying their bedpans in the street.
• petrichor. The smell of rain.

That’s all I remember for now, but no doubt other examples will come to mind at a later point.