There’s a lot for us to like about our new(ish) London office, which we moved into last November. Not only are we minutes away from iconic sights like the Shard, Tower Bridge and the Thames River, but being situated literally on top of a Pret A Manger makes the daily coffee and sandwich run a whole lot easier!
As much as we enjoy captioning from our new location, though, we’re also getting a kick out of the building itself – and in particular the wipe-clean paint on its walls, which have become the ideal place for captioners to scribble their ‘words of the week’. Here are five of the best fancy words we’ve come across recently, either while captioning or elsewhere. Use them in conversation and watch your friends’ jaws drop in awe and admiration. (Possibly.)
- Casuistry
As the picture shows, this is used to describe the use of clever but unsound reasoning. Example use: “Sir, your justification for eating my sandwich is mere casuistry. Go down to Pret and buy me a new one forthwith.”
- Obstreperousness
Resisting control in a noisy manner, or generally being unruly. The sandwich thief in the example above might get a bit obstreperous as a result of being caught in the act.
- Necrology
An obituary notice or a list of people who have died within a certain time. Admittedly this one is a bit ghoulish, but it was our captioning word of the week during Halloween, so at least it was seasonal!
- Arboretum
Unsurprisingly, this word crops up most often for us when captioning gardening shows for broadcast, and refers to an area where trees or shrubs are grown for popular interest. Example: “An arboretum is a lovely place to enjoy a sandwich stolen from an unsuspecting colleague.”
- Oneiric
My personal favourite, this adjective describes anything of or relating to dreams. Just don’t ask how you’re supposed to pronounce it…
Written by Martin Cornwell, Captioner
