Does a Yegg Zenzizenzizenzic His Money?

Our journey through the alphabet, looking at unusual and rarely used words, is nearly completed. It has been an interesting little project for me and I hope you have enjoyed some of the more obscure words, and will have fun using them in everyday conversations.  Today, we will look at words beginning with the letters “y” and “z” and believe me there are some really wacky words to entertain us!

Let’s start with a simple little word, yegg, which is a slang name for a thief or burglar, and in particular for a safe cracker. Usage of this word dates back to the early1900’s. Although the origin is unsure, one theory is that it was the surname of a rather daring criminal John Yegg. So the story goes John was once a successful electrician and merchant living in the United States of America. However a fondness for too many drinks and keeping bad company led him into a life of crime. It is suggested that he was the first person to use nitro-glycerine when blowing open safes. He shared his methods with others in the criminal world, and after his arrest and imprisonment, it is suggested that others copying this method became known as yeggmen or yeggs. I have no idea if this is the true story of the term yegg, but wanted to share it with you as it seems both possible and probable. Also, for any screen writers out there I think it would make an excellent plot for a film!

To yex is an old English word meaning to hiccup or to burp. To quote Chaucer “He yexeth and he speaketh through the nose” (1913 Webster). You may also speak of yexing and yexed. Now I quite like this word and have a feeling I may prefer to yex than to hiccup in the future.

If you were wondering if I would have a problem thinking of an unusual word beginning with the letter z, have I got a treat for you. I have a word, not with one z but with six – zenzizenzizenzic! This is an obsolete mathematical notion representing the eighth power of a number.  For example the zenzizenzizenzic of 2 is 256 (2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2). This term was first used by the Welsh mathematician Robert Recorde, in his book published in 1557 entitled “The Whetstone of Witte”.   

If you think that is a bit too much like showing off, we could look at some other words such as zelotypia, which suggests a morbid jealousy or an excessive zeal in carrying out a project; or what about zonary, meaning of, or relating to, or of the nature of a zone. I will leave you with zwischenzug, which all you chess players will know is a tactical move in chess where an unexpected move is made to turn a situation around to the player’s advantage.

I hope this little walk through the alphabet has introduced some new and interesting words to you. Don’t forget if you would like any help with your written English please check out our website at  www.writtenenglishcorrected.com