I have a little list:

carnassial adjective: Zoology denoting the large upper premolar and lower molar teeth of a carnivore, adapted for shearing carnassial tooth. ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: from French carnassier ‘carnivorous’, based on Latin caro, carn- ‘flesh’. [Now ow am I going to use that?]

tenaculum noun (pl.tenacula: a sharp hook used by a surgeon for picking up small pieces of tissue such as the ends of arteries. ORIGIN late 17th cent.: from Latin, literally ‘holder, holding instrument’, from ten ere ‘to hold’. [Not sure I want this.]

auscultation noun [ mass noun ]: the action of listening to sounds from the heart, lungs, or other organs, typically with a stethoscope, as a part of medical diagnosis. DERIVATIVES auscultate verb: auscultatory adjective ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from Latin auscultatio(n-), from auscultate ‘listen to’. ['ve needed is for a long time.}

carminative adjective (chiefly of a drug): relieving flatulence .noun: a drug that relieves flatulence. ORIGIN late Middle English: from Old French carminatif, -ive, or medieval Latin carminat- ‘healed (by incantation)’, from the verb carmine, from Latin carmen (see charm) . [Does anyone know a brand-name?]

pyroclastic Geology, adjective: relating to, consisting of, or denoting fragments of rock erupted by a volcano. pyroclastic material. plural noun (pyroclastics); pyroclastic fragments. the eruption of lavas and pyroclastics. DERIVATIVES pyroclast noun [I must have picked this up reading about Hawaii.]

conurbation noun: an extended urban area, typically consisting of several towns merging with the suburbs of a central city. the major conurbations of London and Birmingham. ORIGIN early 20th cent.: from con-‘together’ + Latin urbs, urb- ‘city’ + -ation. [What have I been reading?]

cavolo nero [I picked this up thinking it was one word - not. Learned a lot...} Lacinato kale (called cavolo nero, literally "black cabbage", in Italian and often in English) is a variety of kale with a long tradition in Italian cuisine, especially that of Tuscany. It is also known as Tuscan kale, Tuscan cabbage, Italian kale, dinosaur kale, black kale, flat back cabbage, palm tree kale, or black Tuscan palm. Lacinato kale has been grown in Tuscany for centuries, and is one of the traditional ingredients of minestrone and ribollita. It is commonly used in pastas and soups, but can also be eaten raw, in a salad. In Tuscan cuisine, laminate kale is often used in ribollita ("twice cooked"), a thick, hearty soup made up of ingredients cooked for a meal the day before. [I'll try this but I'll wait till winter.)

Here's a good one you can use, if you haven't already:

wonk noun: 1 N. Amer. informal, derogatory a studious or hard-working person: any kid with an interest in science was a wonk.• a person who takes an excessive interest in minor details of political policy: he is a policy wonk in tune with a younger generation of voters. 2 Nautical slang: an incompetent or inexperienced sailor, especially a naval cadet. DERIVATIVES wonkiest adjective ORIGIN 1920s: of unknown origin.

veridical adjective: formal, truthful. [ as noun ] : Pilate's attitude to the veridical.• coinciding with reality: such memories are not necessarily veridical. DERIVATIVES veridicality |-ˈkalɪti| noun,veridically adverb. ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from Latin veridic us (from verus ‘true’ + dicere ‘say’) + -al. ["What is truth?]" he said.]

I hate to bring this up, but I have a very painful finger, at the end of my torn-up right arm. I tried to open a jar and twisted it. Very hard to type. Hurts, in fact. Quitting now.

As Edith Sitwell said, "Life isn't one damn thing after another; it's the same damn thing over and over again." You can look it up. I'm through.

Here's a fun book brought to my attention on the back page of the current TLS:

Every Day a Word Surprises Me (Phaidon). It offers, among other things, a list of advice from various writers.

1. Never use an adverb. (Elmore Leonard)

2. Avoid the use of adjectives. (Hemingway)

3. Incompetence will show in the use of too many words. (Ezra Pound)

4. Interesting verbs are not very interesting. (Jonathan Franzen)

5.Eliminate every superfluous word. (Hemingway again)

6. Avoid detailed description of characters. (Elmore Leonard again)

One more:

7. Don't go into great detail describing places. (Elmore Leonard. I think I have his book on writing, or an essay?)

So: no adverbs, adjectives or interesting verbs, not too many words, especially superfluous ones., and not too much description of places. As a playwright, I heartily concur with all of the above, especially easy on the description. When I was at Radcliffe on a fellowship (that was 1989/90, at the Bunting Institute) I was privileged to go free to every reading or lecture and/or to participate in any seminars or workshops that appealed to me. (I took one on diaries with the late Hope Davis, mother of Lydia Davis, that resulted a year or so later in my book, Reading between the Lines:The Diaries of Women. (Key Porter Books). I was thrilled then to attend a talk by Wendy Wasserstein (1950-2006), the multi-prize-winning playwright of The Heidi Chronicles (1989; It won the Pulitzer and the New York Drama Critics and the Tony prizes for best play.) She said she loved to write plays because she didn't have to write description of rooms or decor, or costumes or stuff like that. Me neither. In fact, right now I have awaiting for me to polish a complete manuscript of a cosy mystery that requires fuller description of the house where fatalities (murders?) occur. It's on my list to do this summer, after a long delay. No one is waiting for it. When I finish it, I'll have to try to sell it. Ay, there's the rub.

Anyway, I intend to find the book of word surprises. I'll try the Book Depository.