Rich in Jackson, Wyoming, is searching for a word for using natural objects such as a rocks, driftwood, or antlers, as decoration. He considered the German Natur, “nature,” and Kunst, “art,” but it didn’t quite fit. Found object art has been used to denote these examples of outdoor beauty in indoor places. Such an item might also be described with the French term objet trouvé, literally “found object,” and, if the items are from living things, they can be described as biophilic, reflecting a love of nature, although that’s more often used in the context of architecture. In Japanese, shizen (自然) means “nature” or “naturalness,” and more broadly its borrowing in English connotes “the unforced quality of something,” such as found objects arranged intuitively. These ideas also call to mind the German Wunderkammer or “cabinet of curiosities.” And speaking of gathering up random rocks to bring home, there’s always leaverite. This is part of a complete episode.
When a British tabloid reporter writing about a crocodile attack needed a synonym for crocodile, he went with knobbly monster, now a joking term for similarly creative ways of avoiding repetition. Juliet and Matthew Maguire, described by The...
Sara in Camden, New Jersey, wants a word for those people who are more than acquaintances, but not quite friends. She calls them friendlies, but wonders if there’s a better term. Fracquaintance, maybe? The Danish band Mew has an album called...
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