12/7/2007
Words for Nerds – Aril
Aril is a bouncy little word, kind of friendly and inviting.
Would you name your son or daughter Aril? What do you think the word means?
A. The fleshy covering of a seed.
B. Up in the air, in doubt.
C. A tool used by a blacksmith to grip a horseshoe.
D. Strong or virile.
E. Adamant, unwilling to change.
Believe it or not, the correct definition of aril is … the fleshy covering of a seed.
You might be thinking, “Gee, that’s a ridiculously obscure word. How am I going to work aril into my next conversation or sales proposal?”
However, any crossword puzzle aficionado knows aril is anything but obscure. It is one of the most common crossword puzzle words in all of crossword puzzledom. In fact, you’re far more likely to see the word aril in a crossword puzzle than not.
So, next time you’re scratching your head trying to come up with a four letter word for “seed covering”, remember this post. It will save you many a sleepless night!
4 Responses to Words for Nerds – Aril
Oddly enough, I’d never encountered the word before until two weeks ago. Found it in the instructions on “how to eat a pomegranate”!
Robert, your comment begs the question, why were you reading instructions on how to eat a pomegranate? There’s got to be a blog post in there somewhere.
Have I entered the middle zone by mistake?
You took the words right out of my mouth Brad. We demand to know more about how Robert discovered arils when reading how to eat a pomegranate…
Brad,
Here I was all ready to say, “Yes, indeed, Brad, ‘aril’ certainly IS one of those very obscure crossword puzzle words, because I’ve run across it more than once while doing crosswords,” and Robert comes along and tells us he’s read the word elsewhere. What are the odds? (I really don’t think there are very many places you’ll find this word, though, other than crosswords, pomegranate-eating directions (?), gardening books, and dictionaries or encyclopedias. Oh, and–almost forgot–the Word Sell, Inc. blog.)
Cheers!
Jeanne