Words for Walks | Coddiwomple

CODDIWOMPLE ‘To travel purposefully towards a vague destination’ (verb, English)

While striding out to reach a charming village, castle or pub certainly has its pleasures, setting off with nothing particular in mind invites spontaneity; it frees us up to follow an intriguing path or climb a hill simply to see a new view.

A ‘coddiwomple’ might be a wholly unstructured walk or perhaps a moment of drifting away from the path to explore on a whim. If aimlessly wandering feels like a recipe for getting lost (and not in a good way), then why not apply the same principle to exploring a rambling country estate where you can’t go too far astray?

Seek out places that invite wonder such as Hawkstone Park Follies, Shropshire, where you can meander through 100 acres of labyrinthine tunnels, sandstone caves and rhododendron jungles. Or Puzzlewood, Gloucestershire, a maze of enticing pathways between mossy rock formations – with no set trails, when you reach a fork in the path, simply choose your route and walk purposefully ahead.

The extract above is just one of the words for walks in our feature ‘Talk the Walk’ from our May issue. Enjoy a Solivagant, a Dauwtrappen or a Passeggiatta from page 52.

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Etymology | juglandaceous

Here are The Simple Things, we always enjoy sharing excellent words. Here’s one for autumn

JUGLANDACEOUS

An adjective meaning of, like, or pertaining to walnuts. It comes from the Latin juglans, (walnut), which is derived from ‘ju’ a shortened form of Jupiter (as in the God) and ‘glans’ meaning ‘acorn’, so: Jupiter’s acorn. 

We are unsure what Jupiter had to do with it all. 

You can use it in a literal way, meaning ‘to do with walnuts’, but we prefer the less common metaphorical use, for example: ‘Great Uncle Arthur’s nose was large, misshapen and tanned. A juglandaceous feature that entered the room before he did.’

We have a very juglandaceous Finders Keepers feature in our October ‘Create’ issue, by Lia Leendertz, in which she gives advice on foraging walnuts and sweet chestnuts and recipes for using your haul.

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Think: Unusual words used to describe emotions

Happy, sad, angry, glad – it’s all in The Book of Human Emotions by Tiffany Watt Smith

This intriguing book gets to grips with our sometimes bewildering onslaught of feelings – from anger to apathy, wanderlust to worry – and explains how emotions and our perceptions of them have changed throughout history. Watt Smith also explores how different cultures have specific vocabulary for some unexpected, but resonant moods. 

There’s the Dutch gezelligheid – the cosy feeling that comes from being inside with friends on a cold night, the Finnish kaukokaipuu – the craving for a different land – and awumbuk, a word used by the Baining people who live in the mountains of Papua New Guinea to describe the heaviness and sorrow left behind after visitors depart. 

As well as these, we've found seven more unusual words and some curious images to match. Do you have an intriguing word you'd like to share with us? Head to Facebook or Twitter and let us know. And we share a Lost Word each month in the Miscellany pages of The Simple Things.

Words: Lottie Storey

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