Crepuscular

[rowyn]

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?

Comments

[dajagr.livejournal.com]

I think they were just being niggardly with their Latin roots. :)