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Crepuscular
I learned a new word this weekend: crepuscular. Like diurnal or nocturnal, it indicates the times that an animal is active. But instead of day or night, it means "active during the twilight hours (dusk and dawn)". Apparently a lot of animals that are commonly regarded as nocturnal are actually crepuscular.
Which is an interesting tidbit, but not what I was thinking when I learned the word. What I was thinking is: "what a horrible word." It looks like a combination of "creep" and "pus". It sounds like an insult, or maybe a disfiguring disease. "His skin was crepuscular, boils looking ready to burst". "Unhand me, you crepuscular lech!" Yes, I know it's from Latin just like nocturnal and diurnal, but ewww. It sounds nasty. What were they thinking?
Which is an interesting tidbit, but not what I was thinking when I learned the word. What I was thinking is: "what a horrible word." It looks like a combination of "creep" and "pus". It sounds like an insult, or maybe a disfiguring disease. "His skin was crepuscular, boils looking ready to burst". "Unhand me, you crepuscular lech!" Yes, I know it's from Latin just like nocturnal and diurnal, but ewww. It sounds nasty. What were they thinking?
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When he taught our vocabulary units, he used to elongate every possible nuance of polysyllabic words while going over them in class. "Crepuscular" was one of his favorites, LOL.
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