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Haggard Hawks
@haggardhawks.bsky.social
The bird with the words. // Obscure words, etymology & language facts // New book A WINTER DICTIONARY, a collection of obscure words for the festive season, is OUT NOW! // New look website haggardhawks.com launching soon...
“I didn’t go, not after what he said” is an example of RESUMPTIVE NEGATION—the use of one negative statement immediately after another to emphasise the negation of the whole. The second clause here could just be “after what he said”, but the extra ‘not’ works to reinforce the first.
January 12, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Word of the Day: FATILOQUY (n.) speaking of the future
January 10, 2025 at 7:11 PM
A COCK-OF-THE-COMPANY is a man who associates with unpleasant people just so he can act as their leader.

(A Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1811)
January 8, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Etymologically, the word FANCY is just a contraction of the older word FANTASY. The two had developed their separate meanings by the late 1500s, and have remained distinct words ever since.
January 6, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Coined in the late 1990s, CYBERPESSIMISM is the belief that the internet has, or will eventually have, a more negative influence on human society than a positive one.
January 4, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Word of the Day: FAUXSTALGIA (n.) nostalgia for something that never existed, or an experience one never actually had [21stC]
January 4, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Reposted by Haggard Hawks
❄️ So... Let’s kick things off here with an advent calendar of entries from the latest Haggard Hawks book, A WINTER DICTIONARY—a collection of obscure words for the festive season

👉 amazon.co.uk/Winter-Dicti...

🧵 We’ll be sharing a new word every day throughout December!
December 4, 2024 at 2:46 PM
❄️ So... Let’s kick things off here with an advent calendar of entries from the latest Haggard Hawks book, A WINTER DICTIONARY—a collection of obscure words for the festive season

👉 amazon.co.uk/Winter-Dicti...

🧵 We’ll be sharing a new word every day throughout December!
December 4, 2024 at 2:46 PM
A HOUSE-HANDSEL is a gift given to someone when they move into a new home.
July 3, 2023 at 11:42 AM