As a person who writes, I sometimes have words pointed out to me as too obscure for light reading.

As a person who listens, I sometimes hear words that challenge my understanding.

See if you can tell which are real words but less familiar and which are unreal words that we use more often.

Abscond: To depart in a sneaky way, as in “The payroll clerk absconded with the cash.”

Dudden: Word often at the beginning of a question, as in “Dudden he know Obama won the election?”

Minuscule: Small, but more precisely so small as to be insignificant, as in “For a minuscule part of the budget, legislators could provide teachers with pencils.”

Lesgweet: Gordon Cotton taught me this word, saying he learned it from someone else. Often spoken in a workplace or among a gaggle of students as meal time approaches. “Wannagweet” carries the same meaning.

Disingenuous: To be dishonest, but more specifically to be knowingly misleading, as in “Clearly, she was disingenuous by trying to sell me her old iPod for $500.”

Tudabowt: A destination, apparently one of intrigue, but commonly frequented by locals experiencing idle time, as in “You want to go tudabowt?”

Insidious: Sneaky, but with an evil component, as in “Reappraisal provides elected officials an insidious method of raising revenue without a vote to raise taxes.”

Tump: To turn over, as in “The overloaded 18-wheeler tumped over and potatoes went everywhere.” People not from the South don’t know this word.

Nexus: A connection or commonality, as in “The nexus of their relationship is that they both drive Fords.”

Uwatta: A phrase denoting an alternative, usually something better, is available, as in “If she thinks you sleep too much, uwatta tell her the real problem is she dudden (there it is, again) sleep enough.”

Rapacious: To treat everything as prey, as in “Wall Street traders are notoriously rapacious.”

Jinamin: The No. 1 word heard during debates and discussions in the Legislature. A term of address denoting respect, sometimes with a smidgen or more of contempt, as in “I told the jinamin from Gulfport I’d vote for his bill and I will do what I told the jinamin I will do.”

Disparately: To treat or approach differently for no apparent reason, as in “The schools had the same number of students, but were funded disparately.”

Collynuf/Hottynuf: A one-word, seasonal inquiry extended as a greeting to pedestrians passing one another, as in “collynuf?” heard in winter and “hottynuf” heard in summer.

Peripatetic: As a noun or adjective, describes one who moves around, as in, “Being peripatetic, I have lived in six cities in six years.”

Ahtoler/Ahtolim: Not an honorific for a Muslim holy person, but a gender-specific form of relating advice previously given, as in “Ahtoler to apply for that job,” or “Ahtolim she was too smart to fall for that.”

Obfuscate: To mislead or confuse, often by introducing irrelevant information, as in “Describing the war in Iraq as a mistake while the subject is future funding of the military is an attempt to obfuscate.”

Juicydat: An interrogatory phrase, usually following an unusual event, such as a deer sprinting across a city street. One person will turn to a companion and say, “juicydat?”

Disconnect: As a verb, it means to detach. As a noun, it means unrelated, as in “Clearly, there is a disconnect between the governor’s definition of taxes and his definition of fees.”

So, howdjudu?

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Charlie Mitchell is executive editor of The Vicksburg Post. Write to him at Box 821668, Vicksburg, MS 39182, or e-mail cmitchell@vicksburgpost.com.