There aren’t many words that start with X. Lots of words SOUND like they start with X, but really, they start with EX. Nevertheless, I’m determined to find an X word!
Unfortunately, a lot of them are things like this:
Xylan, noun.
1. the pentosan occurring in woody tissue that hydrolyzes to xylose: used as a source of furfural.
Got that? <eye roll>
So my first consideration is that the X word start with X, not EX, and the second consideration is that the word be understandable by the average person.
The third consideration was to avoid the most common X words, like xylophone.
Finally, I came across something that fit my “rules,” that made me pause and then do a Google search. The new X word had the biggest cuteness factor of any X word, and the only one I’d want to see in person!
Xerus:
An African ground squirrel of the genus Xerus, having spiny fur, very short ears, and a long tail, and including the species X. rutilus of northeastern Africa and X. erythropus of western and central Africa.
Sooooo cute! So that’s my new X word, Xerus.
You all can go with Xylan if you want; just don’t expect me to explain the definition to you.
2 comments:
A great big applause for your effort and for actually finding a topic - word that begins with the letter "X." I've always cheated on this letter and done an article on something like Crazy -ex spouses. The xerus is adorable . Love the photo. I hope to get my letter X posted before midnight .
Thanks, Melissa! It took a lot of searching through crossword puzzle lists of obscure "X" words. ;-)
Good luck with your X post!
Liz
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