As a lot of this blog is about writing, I wanted to write a regular article on my favourite forgotten words. You know the type of thing, those poor lost words that sit at the back of our minds, gathering dust, having been discovered years ago in literary classics like Dickens, or Austen. They are the spices of the literary world, but I refuse to let them sit in a cupboard and be ignored until they go out of date! Let’s bring them back!
This month’s word is: OSCULATE
Osculate
Mathematical term for a common tangent at the point of contact (I think!)
Kiss.
So I was thinking of the use of this word in the second instance rather than the first (maths isn’t my strong point). The Oxford Online Dictionary has the meaning as a kiss. I have to admit I don’t osculate many people, only my husband and kids really. I can’t imagine anyone cosying up on the sofa on a Friday night and asking their other half for a little bit of osculation. You might not get a snog, but hey, your other half might just learn something!
I’m not going to ask when the last time was you osculated, to be honest that would be too much information! But do you think you’d ever use it? I’m now determined to write a character who would! Let me know in the comments if you have any lost words to share.