Make Your Point > Archived Issues > INKHORN

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connect today's word to others: Back in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, during the inkhorn period (or the inkhorn controversy), people recklessly, copiously, and often wildly unnecessarily created long, fancy, ornamental English words from Latin and Greek roots. That's why, if you dust off an unabridged English dictionary, you'll meet monstrous mouthfuls like illecebrous ("pretty") and adnichilate ("kill")--but it's also why tons of useful terms have stuck around, like expensive, impersonal, and assassinate. So, if you embrace inkhorn terms, you might be accused of being erudite, pedantic, bombastic, grandiloquent, or sesquipedalian. In your opinion, which label is the worst? And which is the most inkhorn label for inkhornism? :) make your point with... "INKHORN" An inkhorn, or inkwell, is a small container that holds ink. You dip your quill into it, then write. (Yes, inkhorns were first made from actual horns.) Because using an inkhorn today would be stuffy, old-fashioned, and totally unnecessary, we use the word "inkhorn" to describe words, language, speech, and writing that's stuffy, showy, scholarly, and overly fancy. Pronunciation: EENK horn Part of speech: Although it's a noun, we use it like an adjective: "an inkhorn term," "their inkhorn affectations." Other forms: Inkhornism, inkhornist. We've also got "inkhornize," "inkhornizer," and "inkhornizing," but these have fallen out of use. And if you prefer, you can use a hyphen: "ink-horn." How to use it: "Inkhorn" is a rare, somewhat insulting word. Let's say you're annoyed by a writer or speaker's choice of some overly fancy word. It had way too many syllables. It came from Latin or Greek. It was hard to spell and ugly, with a beastly tail of a suffix. It should have remained on some yellowing sheet of parchment in a museum. Call it an inkhorn word, or an inkhorn term. You can also talk about inkhorn phrases, language, speech, writing, tones, and styles. examples: In ninth grade I hauled around my copy of 2,000 Most Challenging and Obscure Words, flinging into conversation its inkhorn terms: cryptesthetic, alieniloquy, obmutescence. Luckily, my friends tolerated this as a quirk. "Most Americans... perceive brethren as an inkhorn term for monks and parishioners."    — Steven Pinker, Words and Rules: The Ingredients Of Language, 2015 study it: Explain the meaning of "inkhorn" without saying "fussy" or "pretentious." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "In an inkhorn attempt at eloquence, (someone) _____." Example: "In an inkhorn attempt at eloquence, our classmate had swamped his paper in the longest words the thesaurus could provide him." before you review, play: Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first. Our game this month is "Inspired by, but in no way associated with, Jeopardy!" In each issue, I'll create three "answers" for you, and you supply the "questions." (That is, you'll respond in the form of a question, like "What is...?" or "Who is...?") From the previous issue: 1. Category: Rhyme Three Times. Answer: It’s a lengthy tune, and not the one you wanted to hear. Question: What is the wrong long song? 2. Category: Homophone Pairs. Answer: Gobbled up more than seven, but fewer than nine. Question: What is ate eight? 3. Category: The B is Silent. Answer: One who's meek and gentle—or a young sheep. Question: What is a lamb? Try these today: 1. Category: Homophone Pairs. Answer: It's the superior officer of unpopped seeds in the tub of popcorn. 2. Category: The B is Silent. Answer: It's what skeptics always do. 3. Category: "N"ine-Letter Words Answer: Supposedly, theoretically, not in fact: in name only.   review today's word: 1. A near opposite of INKHORN is A. TENDER. B. MIDDLING. C. COLLOQUIAL. 2. The test for fluency in English was _____ for its _____ focus on inkhorn vocabulary. A. ridiculed .. failure to  B. appreciated .. precise C. criticized .. inappropriate Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. C