Spooge's Spit Up - Everyday Items with Forgotten Names

What's that word? This handy guide can help you when you're tongue-tied

Our lives are full of 'thingummys', 'thingamajigs' and 'whatjermecallits' - those everyday items we should know the word for, or were once told but have since forgotten. Now, a collection of them has been compiled for a fascinating new book...

Aglet

Is the little plastic or metal tube at the end of your shoelace. Its purpose is to stop the thread of the lace from unravelling, as well as making it easier to feed through the shoe's eyelets. (The word comes from the Old French aguillette, meaning needle.)

Before the invention of plastic, aglets were made of metals such as copper, brass and silver, glass and even stone. They were often ornamental and some were fashioned into small figures.

Should your aglet break, you may, of course, just buy another shoelace. But if you're more frugal - especially in these credit crunch times - shoemakers recommend that you repair them by dripping melted candle wax onto the broken end.

Borborygmus

(Pronounced bor-buh-rig-mus) is the name for the rumbling sounds made by the stomach. These are caused by the movement of fluids and gases, as food, acids and digestive juices migrate from the stomach into the upper part of the small intestine. The average body makes two gallons of digestive juices a day. The hydrochloric acid in your stomach is so strong it could eat into metal, but a special form of mucus protects your inner linings from this acid along the length of its journey.

Burgee

Is the little triangular flag that flutters on a sailing dinghy, traditionally at the top of the main mast. As well as giving a useful indication of the direction of the wind, the burgee often proclaims membership of a particular yacht club.

The Gluteal crease

Is the place where the lower buttocks meet the upper leg. If those buttocks are particularly comely, they might be described by the adjective callipygian, a word which derives from the Greek for beautiful (kallos) and buttocks (pyge).

Zarf

Is the cardboard holder for a coffee cup that has no handle. The word comes from the Arabic for container or envelope, because the device (originally a metal holder for a handle-less glass) originated in the Middle East.

To view the rest of these forgotten word, click here

Extracted from THE THINGUMMY by Danny Danziger and Mark McCrum, published by Doubleday at £10. © Danny Danziger and Mark McCrum 2008.