Some concepts just can't be captured by a single word. They're too specific, too intangible, or just too weird to possibly be summed by a single string of letters with a meaning we all universally agree on. Or, at least, that's what I thought.
I recently learned this about something I had believed to be almost indescribable. The pleasant smell after a summer rain — you know, that pleasing, warm, earthy smell of wet soil and steamy pavement — actually has a name. It's called "petrichor". Turns out, scientists have studied the aroma and why humans are seemingly so sensitive and drawn to it.
It got me thinking about if there were other unspoken phenomena, or strangely-specific objects or concepts that actually have names. It turns out, there are a ton! Some of them are a little antiquated, others won't be found in most traditional dictionaries, but the names exist nonetheless.
Here are 19 of the most interesting things you didn't know had names. Learn these and you'll never be at a loss for words ever again:
Petrichor is the smell of wet soil and pavement after a rain. Photo by frame harirak on Unsplash
1. The space between your eyebrows is the "glabella"
A common theme in my research is that your body has tons of parts you never realized have scientific names. Who would have ever thought the small patch of skin between your eyebrows would need its own medical term?
2. The day after tomorrow is called "overmorrow"
Why haven't we been using this one the whole time? This is an older, outdated word, but it makes complete sense. Many languages other than English have a word for the day after tomorrow, and it turns out, we have one, too.
3. A question mark and exclamation mark used together is called an "interrobang"
This specific punctuation combo is used heavily in text messages and emails, or in written dialogue to denote an excitedly or angrily-asked question.
4. Handwriting that's sloppy and hard to read is "griffonage"
Griffonage doesn't necessarily refer to someone who has bad handwriting, but moreso to scribbles and scrawls that were done hastily. Have you ever quickly made yourself a note with very little care for neat writing, then had trouble reading it later? That's griffonage.
5. The stringy things that come off when you peel a banana are "Phloem bundles"
The stringy bits of banana peel are called Phloem bundles. Photo by Louis Hansel on Unsplash
No one tell my kids about Phloem bundles. They already throw bananas away at the sight of the tiniest brown spot; they'll never recover if they learn about this pretty gross-sounding term.
6. When you've misheard the lyrics of a song, you've created a "mondegreen"
Usually a mondegreen creates a new meaning; it's when you misheard or couldn't quite make out the words to a song or poem and do your best to fill in the gaps with something that kind of makes sense. A famous one is how many people thought the famous Jimi Hendrix song went "Excuse me while I kiss this guy."
7. A worn-down area in the grass where walkers have diverted from the sidewalk is called a "desire path"
Human-made paths in the grass or dirt are desire paths. Gordon Joly & wetwebwork/Flickr
These are everywhere! Turns out people don't like following the sidewalk around 90 degree corners and will often cut across the grass, instead, wearing a path into the dirt. Desire paths are well-studied by city planners.
8. The cardboard sleeve that goes around a hot coffee cup is called a "zarf"
The cardboard sleeve around hot coffee is called a zarf. Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
A zarf is any cylindrical sleeve that goes around a hot cup to protect your hands, but these days it's most commonly used (if it's used at all) to describe those little paper things they give out at Starbucks.
9. The little dot over a lowercase i or j is called a "tittle"
I always just assumed that the dot was part of the letter, which it is, but apparently it's important enough to get its very own name!
10. Those heavenly rays of sunshine slicing through the clouds are called "crepuscular rays"
Sun beams through clouds are called crepuscular rays. Photo by Joshua Kettle on Unsplash
Truly one of the most beautiful sights to behold on the planet, I never knew there was such an official name for these beams of sunlight. The word "crepuscular" refers to something that resembles or relates to twilight.
11. The puffy edge of a pizza crust is technically called the "cornicione"
The edge of the pizza crust is the cornicione. Photo by Getúlio Moraes on Unsplash
This is a fun one, because if we're being technical, the entire doughy bread layer of a pizza is the crust. The little puffy, crescent-shaped bit at the end that we feed our dogs is its own unique entity — formally known as the cornicione. It's an Italian word meaning "edge or rim."
12. The little metal thing that attaches an eraser to a wooden pencil is called a "ferrule"
If you're like me, so much as glancing at a ferrule transports you straight back to elementary school. I can practically smell the rubber of the eraser and feel the ridges of the little metal ring — and now I know what it's called.
13. That feeling of really really really not wanting to get out of bed is called "dysania"
There can be a lot of causes of not wanting to get out of bed, but dysania usually refers to mornings when you should have gotten plenty of sleep. Whether it's feeling overwhelmed by the day ahead, still sleepy from sleep inertia, or dealing with fatigue from an underlying medical condition — I think we've all been there before for one reason or another.
14. Squeezing your eyes shut and seeing weird lights and shapes? Those are called "phosphenes"
I used to love doing this as a kid. I'd see stars, geometric shapes and patterns, and blasts of laser-like light all dancing in front of my eyes - and I never knew other people had the same experience until I was much older. Phosphenes refers to the visual perception of light without any actual light being present or entering the eyes. When you shut your eyes tight or rub them, the visual pressure on the eye stimulates it and creates these almost-hallucinations.
15. The metal cage that holds the cork on a bottle of champagne is called an "agraffe"
The metal cork cage is called an agraffe. Photo by DaYsO on Unsplash
It's funny, opening a bottle of champagne or sparkling wine is usually a sign of celebration. The bottle and liquid inside help mark the occasion, and the cork might be saved as a keepsake. But the poor little metal cage? That always gets forgotten and thrown away. The least we could do is refer to it by its given name: the agraffe.
16. The hole you put your arm through in a shirt is called an "armscye"
You've heard of shirts, you've heard of sleeves, but most people don't know that the hole where they meet actually has its own term in the tailoring world.
17. That unreachable spot between your shoulder blades is called the "acnestis"
Throughout human history, so many people have experienced an itch in this impossible-to-scratch area that we finally had to break down and give it a name sometime in the 1700s.
18. Words that mean one thing forward and another backward are called "semordnilaps"
A palindrome is a word that reads the same in both directions, like racecar, or noon. A semordnilaps is a word that means two different things backwards and forwards, which is a highly unique but very cool scenario. Some examples of semordnilaps are stressed/dessert, mood/doom, devil/lived, or straw/warts.
19. A bunch of symbols stuffed together in place of profanity is called "grawlix"
About &@*($&$# time we got to this one! Commonly seen in comic books alongside another one of my favorite words, onomatopoeia (sound words like
bam, pow, hiss, boo), we're all so naturally attuned to
grawlix that we can almost read it like regular English.
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Petrichor is the smell of wet soil and pavement after a rain. Photo by 
The stringy bits of banana peel are called Phloem bundles. Photo by 
Human-made paths in the grass or dirt are desire paths. Gordon Joly & wetwebwork/Flickr 
The cardboard sleeve around hot coffee is called a zarf. Photo by 
Sun beams through clouds are called crepuscular rays. Photo by 
The edge of the pizza crust is the cornicione. Photo by 
The metal cork cage is called an agraffe. Photo by