What is a cataplasm, and what do you do with one? Would you be insulted if someone called you argillaceous? Would you want someone to give you a clyster? Would you eat wappato? What does it mean when a canoe flacks? These are all words that were familiar to Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and their companions, and were penned in their journals, but are less commonly used and understood today. In addition, the lexicon explains words for which the definitions have now changed. For example, the word mere used to mean absolute, downright. Accordingly, in 1768, George Washington wrote in his...

What is a cataplasm, and what do you do with one? Would you be insulted if someone called you argillaceous? Would you want someone to give you a clyster? Would you eat wappato? What does it mean when a canoe flacks? These are all words that were familiar to Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and their companions, and were penned in their journals, but are less commonly used and understood today. In addition, the lexicon explains words for which the definitions have now changed. For example, the word mere used to mean absolute, downright. Accordingly, in 1768, George Washington wrote in his...