This week’s obscure English word is swash.
It’s really good multi-purpose word. As a noun, swash means the splashing sound of moving water such as an incoming wave; or to walk in a pretentious manner, usually carrying a sword – hence the phrase ‘swash-buckling’.
It is also an engineering term: a ‘swash plate’ is the thingy on the rotor head of a helicopter that connects the controls to the rotor (don’t you love my precision there – ‘thingy’). Swash plates are also used in engines to translate piston motion into rotary movement. And they have application in pumps.
As an adjective, swash is a printing term of 17th century origin referring to an ornamented character such as a capital at the start of a paragraph.
Your challenge? Write a sentence (or two) in the comments using this word.
Copyright © Matthew Wright 2018
Matthew Wright 
Reblogged this on quirkywritingcorner and commented:
This is one of those odd words that I find fascinating. It was fun to learn where swashbuckler came from.
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