Names of things you never knew had names

· AGLET - The plain or ornamental covering on the end of a shoelace.

· ARMSAYE - The armhole in clothing.

· CHANKING - Spat-out food, such as rinds or pits.

· COLUMELLA NASI - The bottom part of the nose between the nostrils.

· DRAGÉES - Small beadlike pieces of candy, usually silver-coloured, used for decorating cookies, cakes and sundaes.

· FEAT - A dangling curl of hair.

· FERRULE - The metal band on a pencil that holds the eraser in place.

· HARP - The small metal hoop that supports a lampshade.

· HEMIDEMISEMIQUAVER - A 64th note. (A 32nd is a demisemiquaver, and a 16th note is a semiquaver.)

· JARNS, NITTLES, GRAWLIX and QUIMP - Various squiggles used to denote cussing in comic books.

· KEEPER - The loop on a belt that keeps the end in place after it has passed through the buckle.

· KICK or PUNT - The indentation at the bottom of some wine bottles. It gives added strength to the bottle but lessens its holding capacity.

· LIRIPIPE - The long tail on a graduate's academic hood.

· MINIMUS - The little finger or toe.

· NEF - An ornamental stand in the shape of a ship.

· OBDORMITION - The numbness caused by pressure on a nerve; when a limb is 'asleep'.

· OCTOTHORPE - The symbol '#' on a telephone handset. Bell Labs' engineer Don Macpherson created the word in the 1960s by combining octo-, as in eight, with the name of one of his favourite athletes, 1912 Olympic decathlon champion Jim Thorpe.

· OPHRYON - The space between the eyebrows on a line with the top of the eye sockets.

· PEEN - The end of a hammer head opposite the striking face.

· PHOSPHENES - The lights you see when you close your eyes hard. Technically the luminous impressions are due to the excitation of the retina caused by pressure on the eyeball.

· PURLICUE - The space between the thumb and extended forefinger.

· RASCETA - Creases on the inside of the wrist.

· ROWEL - The revolving star on the back of a cowboy's spurs.

· SADDLE - The rounded part on the top of a matchbook.

· SCROOP - The rustle of silk.

· SNORKEL BOX - A mailbox with a protruding receiver to allow people to deposit mail without leaving their cars.

· SPRAINTS - Otter dung.

· TANG - The projecting prong on a tool or instrument.

· WAMBLE - Stomach rumbling.

· ZARF - A holder for a handleless coffee cup.