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.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_a.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
A person whose hair has never been cut.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_b.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
The practice of destroying, often ceremoniously, books or other written material and media.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_c.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
The pathological belief that one is inhabited by an evil spirit.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_d.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
An anatomical landmark located at the tip of the middle finger.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_e.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
The changing of something into its opposite.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_f.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
Swaggering; empty boasting; blustering manner or behavior; ostentatious display.
To have a paralyzing or mesmerizing effect on: Stupefy or petrify
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_h.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
The character flaw or error of a tragic hero that leads to his downfall.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_i.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
Unspeakable or too odious to be expressed or mentioned.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_j.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
The casting of an evil eye.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_k.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
The science of putting people to death.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_l.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
A person with a slender, thin, or frail body.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_m.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
Wandering over hills and mountains.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_n.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
Production of knowledge.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_o.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
Bringing omens or unnatural or supernatural manifestations.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_p.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
The act of cultivating, or growing and grooming, a mustache, beard, sideburns or other facial hair.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_q.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
A rare nineteenth-century word for a wooden toy which briefly became a political insult.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_r.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
A knockout punch, either verbal or physical.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_s.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
Possessing a violent desire to write.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_t.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
A disorder characterized by an uncontrollable urge to dance.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_u.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
A person who gives opinions and advice on matters outside of one’s knowledge.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_v.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
A romantic mood brought on by Spring.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_w.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
A confused mass; a jumble; turmoil or confusion.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_x.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
The act of traveling as a stranger.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_y.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
Mentally or emotionally distant; absent-minded.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/projecttwins_z.jpg?w=480&ssl=1)
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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![BP](https://www.themarginalian.org/wp-content/themes/themarginalian/images/tm_monogram_print.png?20230803)
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