British researchers spent three months trolling through old dictionaries and books looking for words that have fallen out of favor. They created a list of defunct but relevant words.
Ear-rent is a word for the cost of wasted time from listening to something unimportant. I like that word and don’t know why it has disappeared from usage.
On the other hand, slug-a-bed, meaning someone who sleeps late, is still used among folks I know, so maybe the words aren’t all defunct.
While I was unable to find the research in a publication, I am very interested in virtually collecting some of these awesome words.