Every now and then I come across old words in my reading which I think are so expressive it is a shame they are no longer in use. Words like bedfast, you can just picture a frail elderly Victorian lady unable to leave her bed. Or handfast, it sounds so much more romantic than engaged...after all toilets and telephones can be engaged! A flibbertigibbet would be a tiring companion and having the vapours covers a multitude of sins. I could go on but I don´t want anyone to suffer from a sense of ennui.
Photograph by Emmanuel Ikwuegbu
I noticed Weaver of Grass used the word bedfast recently in a post when she mentioned an elderly neighbour being such. I thought at the time I had not heard that word in use for many many years. On Pointless last night a word round came up and dost, second person singular of do, was allowed and had I been on the show it would have been my answer. I shortly after that read your post about old words which I thought was a coincidence.
ReplyDeleteIt was probably on Weaver´s post that I read the word bedfast, another coincidence!
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