"I wouldn't say that I am opposed to these words being resurrected, but I don't know that they are terribly useful for conversational purposes. That being said, I don't think that a word has to be used out loud in order to be enjoyed. I find the greatest pleasure in words come from having them bounce about my head, as opposed to trying to shoehorn them into conversation. But I also feel that one of the purposes of words is that they be enjoyed and savored, and so I'm happy if someone wants to do that through using them in speech."
Ammon? I get the same kind of thrill you're talking about from learning Italian. But my method has more potential, seems to me. And it doesn't require quite so much homework.
In any case, John R. Cort, of Richland, Wash., writes:
"I'm looking for a word to describe the activity -- sometimes accidental, sometimes intentional -- of reading others' output from a shared office printer."
And Ammon replies:
"I think it depends on whether the reading you're doing is intentional or not. If it is an honest mistake, I would say that ignotism (a mistake made from ignorance) fits the bill. But if your perusals of the shared copier are done with intent then I would recommend a word more along the lines of vetanda (things that should not be done) to describe the activity.
"I don't know if it is still kept current, but several hundred years ago the Church of Rome had a thing called the Expurgatory Index, a list of writings that were forbidden to be read unless they had been expurgated. Perhaps you could institute a secular expurgatory index at your office."
I like "vetanda" -- particularly if the people doing them do them on the veranda.
This article available online at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2008/10/amf-part-iii/49627/
