Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, this was a proud, card-carrying member of Paul Phillips' original WWW Useless Pages. But it was retired long, long ago, and the Useless Pages don't even exist anymore.

OK. I've said it once, and I'll never say it again. I could go on and on about how happy I am that people from all over the world have contributed to making this a great page. I could rant about how a little girl from Kenya submitted serendipity as her favorite word. I could rave about how an elderly Siberian man submitted bouffant as the word that was closest to his heart. Of course, I'd be lying in both instances. Ha! Even after all this time, that joke's never gotten old!

Ask "What's the deal with this?" and I shall reply that there are a lot of people who, like me, are very fond of their own little subset of the English language. People from all over the world have submitted more words to the E.S.o.F. archive than I've been able to keep up with. But many of the "classic" words have been resurrected as though from the dead, so if you wanna get retro have at it.

The rules of the game have never ever changed. Words are described as either Endangered (at risk of falling eternally out of use), Special (unique, either in meaning or in composition), or Fun (a delight to the senses), or some combination thereof. If in fact a word is worthy of being described as Endangered, Special and Fun, then it has achieved the ever elusive and highly coveted E.S.o.F. Hat Trick. It's nice to have goals.

To submit your own word to the E.S.o.F. Archive, hie thee to the E.S.o.F. Submission Form. After your word is submitted, it is judged by a diverse panel of woodland creatures to make sure that your entry is web-worthy. I've noticed that the woodchucks are particular hard to please, so mind what you say to them. There's only so much a good-natured moose can do on your behalf to get it approved.

Enjoy!