20 Obscure Words to Help You Survive Thanksgiving

Ah, Thanksgiving. A time for laughter. A time for tradition. A time for family dysfunction and long-simmering tension waiting to surface.

Chances are your holiday gathering might be smaller, or even virtual, this year. But just because your drunken Uncle Nucky isn’t there IRL doesn’t guarantee he won’t find a way to flaunt his Turkey-bloated belly on your family Zoom gathering.

Whatever twice-baked shenanigans your family finds itself cooking up, we’re here to set you up for success with the best communication tools possible. Looking at you, Rev Live Captions for Zoom.

But sometimes, closed captions alone aren’t enough. So to help you navigate any deep-fried dysfunction you encounter, we’re doing exactly what Momma always told us to do: we’re usin’ our words.

In fact, we’ve rounded up a whole arsenal of obscure words from around the world to help you verbalize the spectrum of experiences and emotions Turkey Day inevitably brings. Sure, Thanksgiving is an American tradition, but this year, take comfort in the universality of your feelings before drowning them in gravy.

UMCHINA (Korean): A fictional person that your parents compare you to who is brilliant at everything.

ULTRACREPIDARIAN: A person who criticizes, judges, or gives advice outside the area of his or her expertise.

TIDSOPTIMIST (Swedish): A person who’s habitually late because they think they have more time than they actually do. Literally “time optimist.”

SHEMOMEDJAMO (Georgian): To keep eating even though you’re full because the food tastes so good.

SCURRYFUNGE: To hastily tidy before you have houseguests.

QUAFFTIDE: The hour or season when it’s finally time for a drink.

OPSOMANIA: A longing for one particular food and no other will do.

NUDICROUS: The level of inebriation when someone feels the need to remove clothing.

NIBLINGS: Nieces and nephews.

LOGY: Feeling heavy and disinclined to move.

LETHONOMIA: The inability to remember someone’s name.

LATIBULATE: To hide in a corner (as at a party where you only know one person).

KKONDAE (Korean) – an older person who believes they are always right (and you are always wrong)

KUMMERSPECK (German): Literally “grief bacon.” Refers to the excess weight gained from emotional over-eating.

DEIPNOSOPHIST: A person skilled in the art of dinner-table conversation.

KITTLE-PITCHERING (18th century slang): A method of interrupting a boring person who tries to tell a long story by constantly throwing in questions about minor details of the story.

FREMDSCHÄMEN (German):  Feeling embarrassed on someone else’s behalf. Second-hand shame.

GROAK: To stare longingly at someone who is eating in the hope that they will offer to share their food.

BETSUBARA (Japanese): Literally “extra stomach.” The feeling when you suddenly discover you’re still hungry when dessert comes out.

ACCISMUS (1500s): The refusal of something you actually really want, hoping that the other person will insist you take it.