Awkward words ahead

Did you fartlek today? 12 words that sound funny but are serious

We all know it: some words just sound ridiculous, but they mean business. If you have ever come across a term like "gobbledygook" or "kerfuffle" and wondered if someone made it up, you're not alone. Let us take a look at 12 of these magnificent words that seem unreal, but are not.

It does remind us of a dirty word, but it’s not. A firkin is, in fact, an ancient English word that refers to a small tub or a vessel of sorts.

Traditionally, it held ale or butter, sized at about a quarter of a barrel, making it handy for transport. Breweries still sometimes use firkins today for cask-conditioned beers, keeping the word alive in pub culture.

Many terms that today sound funny or even rude are, in fact, outdated words and idioms that fell out of use. Godwottery is one of these, and it can be used to describe overly decorated or elaborate speeches.

The word comes from the name of English poet George Gascoigne’s fictional gardener, "Godwot," linked to the overly ornate style of gardening. By extension, it entered English in the 19th century to label pretentious language.

What sounds like a teenager's expression of approval is, in fact, an 18th-century word for cash. It often appeared in casual speech and newspapers to mean ready funds.

Though it has fallen out of everyday use, it still pops up in literature or nostalgic writing to add a colorful touch to talk about money.

Fartlek may sound like a joke, but it’s a serious workout technique. It comes from Swedish and means "speed play."

This type of endurance training involves alternating between jogging and sprinting. Despite the silly name, it’s used by athletes to improve speed and stamina.

Popple means choppy or rough seas, and, in an onomatopoeic sense, it sounds just like what it describes.

Its origin lies in Middle English, linked to the verb popelen, meaning to bubble or boil. And, though it is less common in modern English, it does survive in regional usage and poetry, evoking the lively surface of wind-stirred water.

Impignorate is a fancy old word that means to pawn or mortgage an item. It’s rarely used today, but it once described the act of offering something valuable as a loan guarantee.

The term comes from the Latin impignorare, formed from in- plus pignus, meaning pledge. First recorded in the 16th century, it was used in legal and financial contexts.

Any word that starts with "butt" is prone to appear on this list. In this case, a buttress is a support structure that helps keep walls or buildings stable.

You’ll often spot them on Gothic-style churches, castles, and cathedrals, adding both strength and style.

While it sounds like a tricky tongue twister, and it definitely could be one, "biblioklept" is in fact the word for someone who steals books.

The word comes from the Greek roots biblio- meaning "book" and kleptes meaning "thief." It appeared in English in the 19th century, reflecting a period when Greek and Latin roots were often combined to coin precise or scholarly terms.

If the term spleenwort sounds more like a medical problem than a plant to you, you are not alone. Does it refer to something or someone worthy of spleen?

In fact, the word spleenwort is the name of a small evergreen fern found in rocky areas and forests.

Never heard of penuche? If you’re not a baker, that’s pretty normal. A penuche is a type of fudge made with brown sugar, buttercream, and usually some nuts.

It’s a traditional sweet found in New England and parts of the American South, where it remains a nostalgic treat. It sounds more sophisticated than it is!

Again, it’s not an old-fashioned insult. Slumgullion is a strange-sounding word for a simple, cheap meat stew. It’s one of those food terms that doesn’t exactly make your mouth water, despite its hearty roots.

It was common among miners, loggers, and working folks who needed filling meals with whatever was on hand. It might not look or sound great, but it definitely gets the job done!

A shalloon might sound like the word saloon, pronounced by someone with a speech impediment. But it’s not. Shalloon is a lightweight, twilled wool fabric once used in clothing and linings. Unless you're into textiles or fashion history, you’ve probably never needed the word.

The word comes from Châlons-sur-Marne in France, where the fabric was originally produced. The English form "shalloon" emerged in the 1600s, reflecting the common practice of naming textiles after their place of origin.

A group of what?

Shrewdness, siege, business, and other words for animal groups

A shrewdness? A murder? An unkindness? None of these words even suggests that we are talking about apes, crows, or ravens, but we are. Why are animal collective nouns so strange? During the Middle Ages, English nobles developed a hunting language. These ‘terms of venery’ were not intended to be practical, but to show erudition and mastery of an elite code. Some of these names were adopted into everyday language and continue to be used nowadays.

Boars are wild pigs, so why isn’t a group of boars just a herd? While ‘herd’ can be used, linguists believe that the collective noun ‘sounder’ —from the Old English sundor, meaning ‘to separate’— was used as a reference to the fact that boar herds were led by sows (the female adult), separate from the males that were solitary or formed male-only groups.

All across Europe, ravens bore a reputation for being tricksters and bad omens. In several folk traditions, they were seen as messengers for the Gods and bearers of prophecies, an ominous task reinforced by their black plumage. The term ‘unkindness’ to refer to a group of ravens reflected the perceived malice or cruelty of these animals.

Since classical times, owls have been a symbol of wisdom and knowledge, and in the Greek tradition, these birds were the companions of Athena, goddess of wisdom. This led to the idea of a group of owls meeting for serious gatherings, such as a parliament.

This is indeed an odd term to use as a collective noun, but it stems from a copying mistake. The 1486 Book of St. Albans, which describes several of these animal collective nouns, states that a group of ferrets is called a besynes —meaning ‘activity’— due to the scurrying habits of these animals. Over time, the word was miscopied as ‘business’, and the term stuck.

There are several theories about the reason for this particular term as a collective noun for herons. Some say that it is a reference to their patient hunting stance (siege comes from the Latin sedere, ‘to sit’). Other opinions refer to the use of ‘siege’ as a synonym for ‘plague’ or ‘vexation’, as these animals are noisy and generally unpleasant to have around.

This one is quite straightforward. Male peacocks are known to parade their colorful feathers in front of the females, and have always been used as a symbol of vanity and flamboyance. Therefore, calling a group of peacocks an ‘ostentation’ seems quite fitting.

Several collective nouns can be used to describe a group of pheasants, but the term ‘bouquet’ stands out because it doesn’t just refer to the group of animals, but to flying pheasants. When hunters startled these birds, they took flight all at once in different directions, their colorful feathers looking like a ‘bouquet’ against the sky.

Like ravens, apes were perceived to be wicked, and this term reflected that idea. Originally, ‘shrewd’ was used to mean ‘evil, ‘mischievous, or ‘malicious’, so a group of apes was named a ‘shrewdness’. Later on, ‘shrewd’ came to mean ‘clever’ or ‘astute’, both qualities that apes do possess.

Were mice thought to be mischievous? Not really. The word ‘mischief’ was originally used to mean ‘harm, trouble, or annoyance’, and mice were troublesome pests that ate stored food and caused property damage.

We are so used to the use of ‘pride’ as a collective noun that it might not sound as strange as other words in this list, but this term originated in the same way. Lions were a symbol of royalty, courage, and authority, so the word used to describe them had to reflect these qualities. While ‘pride’ can be used negatively, it also carries the positive connotation of ‘dignity’ and ‘high standing’.