Here are nine obscure slang words from American history.

Lally-cooler – Very Successful

Applesauce – Use in place of “nonsense”

Splifficated – Very drunk

Whoopensocker – Very, very good

Berries – Fun (my grandpa used this, as in “Well isn’t that the berries.”

Snirt – Windblown snow and dirt

Sneetered – Scammed

Larruping – Very delicious

Roscoe – Handgun

Joshua L. Cowen (1877-1965) began inventing things while still a child, and as an adult he patented the photography flash-lamp then secured a contract to produce mine fuses for the U.S. Navy. Another invention was a metal tube containing batteries with a light bulb on one end. His idea was to sell them to business owners to stick in their flowerpots to light up the plants in a store window or restaurant. He ended up selling his rights to a business associate who went on to mass produce the lights for people, not plants, as the American EverReady Company. Joshua then turned his attention to toy trains, which he had been interested in since boyhood. He began selling model trains as displays for shop windows, which proved wildly popular with customers who kept buying the displays. Joshua began manufacturing and selling the trains full time and built the company into the most successful model train company in the country. By 1953 it was the largest toy manufacturer in the world. And if you are wondering why you have never heard of the Cowen Train it’s because Joshua used his middle name for the company, Lionel.

Here are some obscure American animals. They might not be obscure where you live, but I don’t think I’ve seen any of these here in Iowa.

Amphiuma – aquatic American salamander with two pairs of small feet

Anhinga – long-necked fish eating tropical American bird

Anole – arboreal American lizard with ability to change color

Dowitcher – long-billed North American wading bird

Grison – weasel-like tropical American gray and black carnivore

Hellbender – large flat North American aquatic salamander

Iiwi – bright red Hawaiian bird

Vireo – olive-gray insectivorous American bird

Source: http://phrontistery.info/

Here are early names of 8 American bands:

Carl and the Passions turned into the Beach Boys.

Beefeaters became the Byrds.

The Golliwogs morphed into Creedence Clearwater Revival.

The Golden Gate Rhythm Section transformed into Journey.

My Backyard grew into Lynyrd Skynyrd.

The New Journeymen developed into the Mamas and the Papas.

Artistics converted to Talking Heads.

Falling Spikes matured into Velvet Underground.

Here are five obscure clubs.

Concrete Canoe Club – Civil engineering students build and race concrete canoes.

Giga Society – Membership of the Giga Society is ideally open to anyone outscoring .999999999 of the adult population on at least one of the accepted tests. This means that in theory one in a billion individuals can qualify.

Ejection Tie Club – Life membership of the Ejection Tie Club is confined solely to those who have emergency ejected from an aircraft using a Martin-Baker ejection seat. The club has over 6,000 members.

Obscure Song Club – Their goal is to increase members’ and non-members’ knowledge of, and performance of, songs, particularly obscure ones.

Vacuumland – For vacuum cleaner collectors and fans.

Five obscure words:

Boanthropy – A psychological disorder that causes a person to believe they are an ox, cow, or generally of the bovine species.

Euneirophrenia – The peaceful state of mind after a pleasant dream.

Gynotikolobomassophile – One who likes to nibble on a woman’s earlobes.

Neanimorphic – Appearing younger than one’s actual age.

Suppedaneum – A shelf affixed to a cross for supporting the feet of the crucified.

George E. Ohr (1857-1918) was a local potter born in Mississippi who was self described as the “Mad Potter of Biloxi.” He had a shop there and created abstract ceramics from 1880 until 1909. He considered his work ahead of its time, but predicted “When I am gone, my work will be praised, honored, and cherished. It will come.” After a 25 year spell of not selling a single piece he closed up his shop and never threw clay again. The shop sat for decades after his death, holding hundreds of his unusual pieces, and Ohr sank into obscurity. His son ran a gas station on the property and one day in the 1960’s he offered to show a customer some of his fathers pottery. The amazing colors and twisted and pinched shapes of the pottery led to the rediscovery and appreciation of Georges life work. There is now an art museum in Biloxi with a permanent collection of his ceramics, as well as exhibits of his work at art museums across the country. His prophesy of his work being valued after his death came true, leading to his being called “the Picasso of art pottery.”

What does an obscure comic character that was retired in 1972 have to do with the name of a famous rock band that has won 12 Grammy awards? Smokey Stover was a wacky cartoon character who inhabited a bizarre world invented in 1935 by cartoonist Bill Holman. Smokey was a fire fighter and the comic strip followed his screwball adventures while also featuring puns, sight gags and made up phrases. Smokey was a popular strip during World War Two and some American fliers took to painting his image on airplanes and using his catchphrases as slang. While Smokey was a fire fighter he called himself a “foo fighter.” The phrase became slang among the war crews for unidentified flying objects. Fast forward to 1994 when Dave Grohl was looking for a band name. Nirvana had disbanded after the death of Kurt Cobain and Dave had some songs he had written and recorded so he picked the obscure name “Foo Fighters” to release them under. Grohl has said he would have picked a better name if he’d had any idea how long the band would last. That may be true but to be fair maybe Smokey Stover should be listed under the original Foo Fighter lineup.