I'm not quite certain as to whether anybody else on the forums would be interested in this topic, or if others feel it's not quite fitting for Omniglot, but I was wondering whether any posters might be drawn to extinct, forgotten, or obscure words, in any language. Their etymologies, usages, or just plain oddity...
I absolutely adore quirky, obsolete words, though my knowledge extends through English alone. I actually wrote a fiction book/fabulist dictionary of archaic English words, their meanings, etymologies, and little fantasy stories to match each one (it'll be published in 2011).
But I'm quite sure there are people here who have their own stashes of bizarre old English words, and moreover other drawn from languages around the world. Anybody?
I'm simply addicted to stumbling upon the strangest of old words - like suint, or "dried perspiration in the wool of sheep," or yrayne, "a spider". Anybody interested in sharing some more, any language?

Not me. I prefer to stick to modern, common vocabulary.

Yes. I don't like modern, well not just words but pretty much anything that is modern. Or better yet popular. But I hate slang and idioms from any period.

I have the same tendency to run away from very modern stuff, as well; with words, though, I'm simply drawn to the old ones that seem to me so peculiar and evocative that it's simply a shame they're slipping away from memory. A heron used to be called a "shiterow," which has the same etymological root as "shit"... instead of green you could say "porraceous," resembling the color of a leek... There's something about ancient things.

P.S. I've been through Vojvodina - very pretty!

Oh right, you're from up north. Hello there neighbour!



Anyway, I think the reason why I like older words, and maybe why I'm also so into ancient languages, because I myself speak a very archaic dialect of Slovak. Up in Slovakia only old people speak like everyone down here.

I'm also a fan Steampunk, Clockpunk, Sandalpunk and my favourite Teslapunk. This also has influence on my preference for old words, since I like old instruments and objects that today are no longer used.