Carbuncle

is a word that always strikes me as funny. One definition is medical : a painful local purulent inflammation of the skin and deeper tissues with multiple openings for the discharge of pus and usually necrosis and sloughing of dead tissue...and sounds disgusting and incredibly painful. Obviously this word came into that medical usuage before the advent of the automobile. I can't recall a doctor every describing a series of pus-oozing sores as carbuncles, but then I've - thankfully - never experienced them. I do think, however, that a carbuncle would be a much better description of a minor car accident. It would, if used in non-life threatening situations, almost make a person feel okay.

"Hey, John, I see you have a scratch on your fender."

"Yeah, I was involved in a carbuncle. Thankfully, a minor one. You should have seen the other guy's bumper! He just slid into me when I was stopped at a red light."

"Was it Wednesday? During the snow flurries? There were at least a hundred carbuncles around the city!"

"Yup. Everyone should know better and slow down. It's amazing the amount of carbuncles there are when the snow starts flying."

I have no idea why carbuncle came into my head today, but it did while I was out doing errands. And I am now trying to think of other seldom used words that could be repurposed and reused. Words that, as soon as you say them, a new meaning is instantly clear.