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.