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This article describes the author's experience of randomly selecting and studying words from a dictionary each day as a way to find joy and tranquility amidst chaos. The piece highlights several unusual terms like "delope," "petalism," and "gytrash," illustrating how these words, though seldom used in everyday conversation, offer a sense of discovery and delight. The author suggests that engaging with such linguistic curiosities can serve as a form of escapism similar to activities like running or listening to music.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-03,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
David Astle writes about his daily habit of randomly selecting words from the Collins English Dictionary (2018) to expand his vocabulary. One such word is flong, defined as a mold made from wet pulp, used in printing by pressing it onto a page. Printers historically referred to non-topical articles that filled slow news days as "flong." Astle's column itself fits this description, discussing topics unrelated to current events like the fuel crisis or conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, instead focusing on linguistic curiosities such as delope (shooting a pistol above an opponent’s head to end a duel) and petalism (a form of exile used in ancient Syracuse). This practice allows Astle, and readers, to momentarily escape from the relentless stream of global news.
Written for “Daily Dictionary Usage” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Old-time printers will know flong as a mould made from wet pulp, shaped by a metal stereotype then pressed upon the page.
asserted
printers → know → page
The inky mess shares its roots with flan, an industrial dessert ideal for producing script.
asserted
mess → share → script
Upstairs, away from the printers’ chapel, journos knew flong as any non-topical article used to bolster a slow news day.
asserted
journos → know → day
Unless you count the hellstorm of global news, the fuel crisis, the AI squeeze, Gaza, Ukraine, Trump.
asserted
you → count → news
Because everyone needs to untether for a moment.
asserted
everyone → need → moment
Haphazardly, I should add.
asserted
I → add → ?
Rather I sift a random double-page of words each morning, jotting down the novelties (like flong) I find in the Collins English Dictionary (2018).
asserted
I → sift → Dictionary
Dear reader, the treasures I’ve found.
asserted
I → find → treasures
Or petalism, a botanical variant of ostracism used in ancient Syracuse where the issuing of an olive leaf spelt a five-year exile to any dissident citizen – perhaps a practice we could revive in Canberra.
uncertain
we → use → Canberra
Dropping such words into conversation isn’t easy, believe me.
asserted
Dropping → drop → me
Saying stuff like “I love your ristra” (that chilli string you hang in your kitchen), or “Spider-Man is a stegophile” – one who loves to climb buildings, only for the chat to sputter for want of footnote.
asserted
chat → say → footnote
Traditional Finnish zitherers will know their instrument as a kantele while the rest of the world probably won’t care.
asserted
rest → know → world
Bar words nerds who can’t wait to meet a gytrash – a ghostly dog on a lonesome road – if only to put their vocab into action.
asserted
who → wait → action
Okay, so a Japanese abacus (or soroban), let alone a semainier (tall chest with seven drawers) won’t crop up in your nearest op shop soon, yet modern life may offer scope to mention epanodos: to return to the main topic after a detour.
uncertain
life → let → detour
Or talion: the eye-for-eye legal principle that the punishment should fit the crime.
asserted
punishment → fit → crime
Two pages a day – that’s the plan.
asserted
that → ’ → ?
From screeve (to write a begging letter) to scrobble (to use a listener’s musical preferences as a means of recommending similar tunes) before I can start breakfast.
asserted
I → screeve → breakfast
God knows what the overall handsturn will be, but the matutinal gratulation (morning joy) of meeting umwelt (the environmental factor that influence an animal’s decision) or chorizont (person who challenges authority) hasn’t dimmed.
asserted
who → know → authority
Some people choose power walking or Gilmore Girls to find their bliss.
asserted
people → choose → bliss
Whatever life hack can offset the noise for a beat is vital.
asserted
offset → offset → beat
For me, it’s racahout (acorn flour) with a bowl of macallum (ice-cream with raspberry sauce) for dessert.
asserted
it → ’ → dessert
- Language in the age of AI: Whimsymaxxing the apocalypse
- How card games shuffled the everyday language of sports
- TV or Not TV: our favourite two-letter word’s identity crisis
- Fifty shades of … what?
asserted
games → shuffle → what
The absurd quest to name colours
- How a regional Instagram account is recording the latest entrants in the Aussie lexicon
- Out of the box: The grammatical nightmare keeping me awake
- Are you using the latest slang or are you just reheating nachos?
asserted
you → name → nachos
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