Five Obsolete Words To Describe A Person

While looking for something quite unrelated on the internet, I came across words we never hear now. Just as the English language has acquired numerous new words in the past century it has also 'lost' many over time. Sometimes a word stops being used when it becomes irrelevant due to new machines or technology or social changes. Other times a word is still relevant so I wonder why it stops being used?

TIL (Today I Learned) the following words -


Gobermouch is an old Irish term for someone who is always meddling in other people's business or affairs. We have those people today and might call such a person a busybody or a stickybeak. I knew people who referred to someone like that as 'Esme Watson'. (For those who don't know, Esme was the nosy town gossip in the Australian television series 'A Country Practice'.)


I found the word scaramouch on a different site so don't know if it is also an old Irish term. I am guessing it is because gobermouch and scaramouch both end with the same letters. This may not be the case as I have read Scaramouche was a clown character in Italian literature.

So what sort of person is a scaramouch? He/she is a boastful but cowardly person or a cowardly buffoon. A buffoon is a person who behaves in a stupid or annoying way. That's another word I don't hear often.


Gnashnab is a word commonly used in northern England in the 18th century to describe a person who complains constantly. That sounds like a whinger to me.


A snoutband is that know- it- all who interrupts every conversation to correct or contradict the speaker.


Scobblelotcher describes a person who avoids hard work. It is believed to have come from an old English dialect word, 'scopperloit' which meant a holiday or break from work. Perhaps today we would refer to the person as a bludger.

I find words fascinating and it is interesting to learn about words we no longer use as well as the new ones.

Related Articles -
Is That Internet/Text Acronym Obsolete


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