33 Names of Things You Never Knew had Names
1. AGLET The plain or ornamental covering on the end of a shoelace.
2. ARMSAYE The armhole in clothing.
3. CHANKING Spat-out food, such as rinds or pits.
4. COLUMELLA NASI The bottom part of the nose between the nostrils.
5. DRAGÉES Small beadlike pieces of candy, usually silver-coloured, used for decorating cookies, cakes and sundaes.
6. FEAT A dangling curl of hair.
7. FERRULE The metal band on a pencil that holds the eraser in place.
8. HARP The small metal hoop that supports a lampshade.
9. HEMIDEMISEMIQUAVER A 64th note. (A 32nd is a demisemiquaver, and a 16th note is a semiquaver.)
10-13. JARNS, NITTLES, GRAWLIX and QUIMP Various squiggles used to denote cussing in comic books.
14. KEEPER The loop on a belt that keeps the end in place after it has passed through the buckle.
15. KICK or PUNT The indentation at the bottom of some wine bottles. It gives added strength to the bottle but lessens its holding capacity.
16. LIRIPIPE The long tail on a graduate's academic hood.
17. MINIMUS The little finger or toe.
18. NEF An ornamental stand in the shape of a ship.
19. OBDORMITION The numbness caused by pressure on a nerve; when a limb is `asleep'.
20. OCTOTHORPE The symbol `#' on a telephone handset. Bell Labs' engineer Don Macpherson created the word in the 1960s by combining octo-, as in eight, with the name of one of his favourite athletes, 1912 Olympic decathlon champion Jim Thorpe.
21. OPHRYON The space between the eyebrows on a line with the top of the eye sockets.
22. PEEN The end of a hammer head opposite the striking face.
23. PHOSPHENES The lights you see when you close your eyes hard. Technically the luminous impressions are due to the excitation of the retina caused by pressure on the eyeball.
24. PURLICUE The space between the thumb and extended forefinger.
25. RASCETA Creases on the inside of the wrist.
26. ROWEL The revolving star on the back of a cowboy's spurs.
27. SADDLE The rounded part on the top of a matchbook.
28. SCROOP The rustle of silk.
29. SNORKEL BOX A mailbox with a protruding receiver to allow people to deposit mail without leaving their cars.
30. SPRAINTS Otter dung.
31. TANG The projecting prong on a tool or instrument.
32. WAMBLE Stomach rumbling.
33. ZARF A holder for a handleless coffee cup.
- S.B., D.W. & N.R.