Being bad with names refers to more than referring to every girl in your sorority as “babe.” Turns out there are tons of fashion and beauty “thingamajigs” you use everyday that have actual names. Instead of wasting 2 and half minutes describing something to your friend, be the smartest one in the room and school your friends in fashion vocabulary. (“So I was getting my glabella waxed…”)
Read on to advance your fashion vocabulary and learn a thing or two in the process!
That lovely ruffling, swishing noise your dress makes when you sashé across the floor is called scroop.
Gen Zers and other Phineas and Ferb fans— I’m sure you know this one already, but let’s recite it together for old times’ sake shall we? What’s the little plastic or metal piece at the end of your shoelace called? An aglet of course.
In the inner corner of your eye, you may notice a triangular bump (aka the home of your inner corner highlight when you do your makeup). That, makeup lovers, is called your caruncular. To continue on with makeup lover’s most familiar yet unnamed face locations: your glabella is that smooth space between your eyebrows (unless you’re going for the Frida Kahlo look). That little groove between your lips and nose—where you probably place your upper lip highlight and use as a guide for lip liner—is called your philtrum. In other mammals, its job is to carry moisture from the mouth to the nose, but in humans, science shows that it has no true purpose.
Photo via FridaKahlo.org
Have you ever accidentally changed to an invalid channel on your TV and gotten that black and white swarm-of-ants looking visual? There’s no way you can tell us that’s not the perfect way to describe how your hand or foot feels when they fall asleep! That feeling is referred to as paresthesia.
Hilariously accurate photo courtesy of Twitter
That beautiful “greenish” smell of rain that usually means your allergies won’t bother you as much that day is called petrichor. If you’re into Greek mythology you’ll recognize that this is a combination of 2 words petri (“stone”) and ichor (“blood of the gods and goddesses”).
A compulsive book thief or hoarder is a biblioklept. Uh, does this apply to my collection of magazines dating back to 2011 or…?
When you have to indicate a question but also need it to be excessively loud so that the reader understands its urgency, what is that combination of a question mark and exclamation point called?! An interrobang.
Nothing’s finished until you dot your i’s and cross your t’s, but did you know that the dots (or if you’re anything like 5th grade me, stars) that you crown your lowercase letters with are called tittles?
When you’re playing a game of chess, also called life, and all possible moves are against your favor, that is called zudzwang.
Your newfound knowledge may not help you get through your biology or macroeconomics exam, but perhaps it helped you exhale or laugh a bit during this stressful week. Are there any other words you’re totally proud to actually know the definition of?
