Category Archives: Curiosities

Just as the long Thanksgiving holiday comes to a close here in the U.S., I present this list 10 words to describe bodily functions.  As a writer, I’m always perusing the dictionary and thesaurus for new terms.  I used to go overboard, just for the sake of being unique and colorful.  But, any creative writing instructor will advise the opposite – choose the simplest, most easily recognizable words for your story.  Not everyone loves reaching for the dictionary like we do.  But, I challenge my fellow writers to interject these linguistic mouthfuls into a sentence somewhere.  Go ahead.  It’ll be deliciously fun!

1. Borborygmus – rumbling: “What I thought was the rumbling of a truck was only a bout of borborygmus in my stomach.”

2. Emesis – vomiting: “I turned away in disgust from the vile rhetorical emesis of the racist orator.”

3. Eructation – belching: “The smokestacks engaged in endless eructation.”

4. Ingurgitation – guzzling: “We gazed in disbelief at the rampant ingurgitation occurring among the frat boys arrayed around the keg.”

5. Mastication – chewing: “The students, engrossed in the mental mastication required of the assignment, failed to notice my entrance.”

6. Micturation – urinating: “They’re micturating over all that we honor and respect.”

7. Osculation – kissing: “The odious osculation that takes place between politics and big business will never cease.”

8. Peristalsis – swallowing: “They accepted the lies with peristaltic enthusiasm — hook, line, and sinker.”

9. Sternutation – sneezing: “His incessant explosions of sternutation were unsettling.”

10. Tussis – coughing: “John produced gratuitous tussis to signal his extreme skepticism.”

Courtesy of Daily Writing Tips.