What would you call someone who gives you their opinion on something about which they know… nothing? While a few expletives may come to mind, you can say this about them: They are being ultracrepidarian. That adjective — it’s also a noun — is one of ten words compiled by Wayne State University’s Word Warriors, whose mission is to revive English words that have fallen out of usage over time. Chris Williams is the assistant director for editorial services for WSU’s Office of Marketing and Communications. He’s also the chief Word Warrior. He says his team regularly sifts through words submitted by people around the world. “People who follow us on Facebook or just know of the website can submit a word,” Williams says. “We look at that word and see if it meets our criteria.” And what are the criteria? “They need to be words that have fallen out of use,” he says. “If we see that trend has gone down in the last 50 to 100 years, that’s a nice note that this a word worth recognizing.” Williams says they prefer not to highlight slang words, and they must be English. When they find one that meets the criteria, he says it’s a good feeling. “There’s almost like a little tingle,” he says. “Like, that’s a good word, I haven’t heard it before or heard it in a long time.”

Bored of the same old words? A team at Wayne State University released its annual list Wednesday of long-forgotten words to add to your vocabulary in 2021. The 12th annual WSU Word Warriors list includes 10 words that show no signs of anagapesis (loss of feelings for someone who was formerly loved) toward the English language – and may rejuvenate a love for words in others. From residents of Detroit to coast-dwelling paralians (someone who lives by the sea), participants from around the globe submitted words throughout the year. Far from a group of ultracrepidarians (expressing opinions on matters outside the scope of one’s knowledge or expertise), the Word Warriors once again proved themselves knowledgeable about the language. “Each year, I’m surprised by the variety of the submissions we receive from around the world,” Chris Williams, head of the Word Warriors program, said in a statement. “Our Word Warriors once again provided a batch of words that make our language richer. The English language is so versatile and unique, and we’ve ended up with another list of 10 great words.”

Wayne State University is out with its annual list of long forgotten words worthy of a second chance. So if you find yourself struggling to get out of bed in the morning, you can simply say you have Dysania [di-SANE-nee-ah]. Engaging in a lot of fruitless activity during the pandemic, that’s footling [FOO-tuh-ling]. And there's snollygoster [SNOL-lee-gos-tur] , a shrewd, unprincipled person, especially politician. There are seven other words on the list that quite frankly are as hard to pronounce as their meanings are obscure. But they are worth checking out. Wayne State researchers hope their list will encourage more people to search the linguistic cellar for more expressive language. “Each year, I’m surprised by the variety of the submissions we receive from around the world,” says Chris Williams, assistant director of editorial services for Wayne State Marketing and Communications, and head of WSU’s Word Warriors program. “Our Word Warriors once again provided a batch of words that make our language richer.” Wayne State University has been compiling an annual list of eminently useful words for the past 12 years.

The Wayne State University's Word Warriors are parsing through the mullock to help you become more luculent this new year. The university's Word Warriors series aims to bring back words that have fallen out of style to help us commoners embellish our everyday vocabulary. “Too often we limit ourselves to words that are momentarily popular or broadly applicable, and so rob ourselves of English’s inherent beauty and agility,” the group’s website states. “Alarmed by this tendency, the Word Warriors of Wayne State University propose to help rejuvenate the language we love by advocating for words of substance that see far too little use.” “Each year, I’m curious to see how many old words — which are often new to me — will be recommended to us by our Word Warriors around the globe,” said Chris Williams, head of the Word Warriors program. “Once again, they did not disappoint. The English language is so versatile and unique, and we’ve ended up with a list of 10 great words.” The program, now in its 11th year, relies on submissions from the public and group administrators. Weekly entries can be found at wordwarriors.wayne.edu and on Facebook. 

For Michiganders hoping to expand their vocabularies in 2020, Wayne State University has some suggestions. The Oxford English Dictionary estimates there are about 170 thousand words in current use in the English language. But there are more than a million words in the language overall. Wayne State’s Word Warriors have come up with a list of 10 words to reclaim from the linguistic cellar. The list is composed of submissions from both WSU administrators and from people around the world. Though you may wish they left the cellar door closed. For example, you may struggle to add cachinnate to a casual conversation. Cachinnate means to ‘to laugh loudly.’ Somnambulant describes a person who resembles a sleepwalker, which is a common sight on a Monday morning in any office. You might consider this list to be rubbish (or mullock) but understand, the reason behind the list is simply to show the versatility of the English language. To see all the words WSU administrators hope to bring back from the brink of obsolescence in years past, go to wordwarriors.wayne.edu.

In the wake of words deemed annoying or worthy of banishment, A Detroit university has offered up a batch it wants back in the linguistic limelight. Wayne State University on Tuesday released its annual Word Warriors list. It includes "insuperable," meaning impossible to overcome, and "nugatory," of no value or importance. Among other "neglected" words it wants to revive are "couth," which means cultured, refined and well-mannered, and "frangible," referring to something that's fragile.