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10 Words for Useless Things

All the vocab you never knew you needed.

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10 Words for Useless Things
Google.com

Do you ever struggle to find the right word to describe something so minuscule yet essential to whatever you're talking about? It's amazing to think that out of our one million word vocabulary, there are still words out there that we have yet to discover.

Here are a couple of random objects that surprisingly do have names.

Chad

"a piece of waste material removed from card or tape by punching."

Surprisingly enough, there is a word for the extra holes of paper that come out after you hole punch something! Now after you finish hole punching that 20-pages paper, you can confidently look to your friend and say, "Excuse me while I recycle these chads."

Popliteal

"refers to anatomical structures located in the back of the knee"


You have your thigh, your knee, your ankle and your foot, but what the heck are you supposed to call the back of your knee? No worries! Now you can refer to it as the Popliteal and impress your friends! This area also includes the Popliteal artery, vein and fossa. How neat!

Zarf

"A holder that goes around a coffee cup; also referred to as a coffee sleeve"

Coffee sleeve sounds boring anyway. Next time you're out, ask that barista for a zarf and watch as their eyes light up in admiration for your classy vocabulary!

Anosmia

"the inability to perceive odor or smell"

Those who can't see are called blind, and people who can't hear are referred to as deaf, so what do we call people who can't smell? Anosmic!

Nurdle

"The small amount of toothpaste you put on your toothbrush in the morning and at night."

Not sure how you could slide this one into everyday conversation, but it's a nice fact to put in your back pocket.

Philtrum

"also known as medical cleft, it refers to the vertical groove in the middle area of the upper lip."

Fun fact about this one: the philtrum is considered a vestigial structure, meaning it's initial intended function no longer is important for survival. Scientists believe that the philtrum was once used to hold moisture in order to better smell in a given environment. However, as humans evolved, we relied more on our eyesight as opposed to our sense of smell.

Try whipping out that trivia at dinner parties, you'll be the talk of the town.

Feat

"Refers to a dangling piece of curly hair."

Why say, "Hey, I like that piece of hair in your face," when you could instead say, "That feat you have really extenuates your cheekbones."

Pizza Saver

"is a device used to prevent the top of a food container, such as a pizza box or cake box, from collapsing in at the center and touching the food inside."


So you mean those weren't free tables I could use for my Polly Pockets? Awkward...

Collywobbles

"The word for feeling butterflies in your stomach."


Another fun fact, Collywobbles originated from the term cholera morbus, which literally refers to the disease cholera. Ah, how romantic.

Obelus

"The term for the division symbol."


I guess division symbol is just too lengthy of a term to use. All the cool kids are saying obelus anyway.


No go ahead and impress the world with your new and improved useless vocabulary!

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