A Visual Alphabet-Dictionary of Unusual Words
By Maria Popova
As a lover of language and words, especially obscure and endangered words, I was instantly besotted with Project Twins’ visual interpretations of unusual words, originally exhibited at the MadArt Gallery Dublin during DesignWeek 2011.

A person whose hair has never been cut.

The practice of destroying, often ceremoniously, books or other written material and media.

The pathological belief that one is inhabited by an evil spirit.

An anatomical landmark located at the tip of the middle finger.

The changing of something into its opposite.

Swaggering; empty boasting; blustering manner or behavior; ostentatious display.
To have a paralyzing or mesmerizing effect on: Stupefy or petrify

The character flaw or error of a tragic hero that leads to his downfall.

Unspeakable or too odious to be expressed or mentioned.

The casting of an evil eye.

The science of putting people to death.

A person with a slender, thin, or frail body.

Wandering over hills and mountains.

Production of knowledge.

Bringing omens or unnatural or supernatural manifestations.

The act of cultivating, or growing and grooming, a mustache, beard, sideburns or other facial hair.

A rare nineteenth-century word for a wooden toy which briefly became a political insult.

A knockout punch, either verbal or physical.

Possessing a violent desire to write.

A disorder characterized by an uncontrollable urge to dance.

A person who gives opinions and advice on matters outside of one’s knowledge.

A romantic mood brought on by Spring.

A confused mass; a jumble; turmoil or confusion.

The act of traveling as a stranger.

Mentally or emotionally distant; absent-minded.

A position in which any decision or move will result in problems.
Some of the designs are available as prints in the Project Twins shop.
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Published July 2, 2012
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https://www.themarginalian.org/2012/07/02/project-twins-unusual-words/
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