I love that short, obscure words tell us how the priorities of our civilization have changed. What once was so important that it merited a short word no longer matters enough to remember.
Some of my favorites:
kerf: a cut. Used to discuss how much material is lost as it is cut away with a saw or a welding torch.
I love this word because it points out how distanced we have become from making things ourselves, and how cheap raw materials have become that we don't need to discuss how much we're losing to sawdust or spatter.
besom: the bundle of twigs forming the end of a broom.
How difficult it must have been to keep things clean just a few centuries ago. I imagine a slummy house in today's world looks like a sparkling palace compared to the houses of the middle class of the 1800s or before. We barely spare a thought for brooms, much less bother to talk about their component parts these days. Thank you, vacuum cleaner and electrical grid.
Some of my favorites:
kerf: a cut. Used to discuss how much material is lost as it is cut away with a saw or a welding torch.
I love this word because it points out how distanced we have become from making things ourselves, and how cheap raw materials have become that we don't need to discuss how much we're losing to sawdust or spatter.
besom: the bundle of twigs forming the end of a broom.
How difficult it must have been to keep things clean just a few centuries ago. I imagine a slummy house in today's world looks like a sparkling palace compared to the houses of the middle class of the 1800s or before. We barely spare a thought for brooms, much less bother to talk about their component parts these days. Thank you, vacuum cleaner and electrical grid.
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