WORDS that have fallen out of the English language could make a comeback to modern day use, researchers say.

Language experts at the University of York have come up with 30 words they believe are relevant to life today.

Words range from “slug-a-bed” – a person who lies in late, “merry-go-sorry” – meaning a mixture of joy and sorrow and “betrump” – meaning to deceive or cheat.

Dr Dominic Watt, who led the research team, said: “As professional linguists and historians of English we were intrigued by the challenge of developing a list of lost words that are still relevant to modern life, and that we could potentially campaign to bring back into modern day language.

“To allow people to really imagine introducing these words back into their everyday lives, we’ve chosen words that fit within themes still relevant to the average person.

“Within these themes, we’ve identified lost words that are both interesting and thought-provoking, in the hope of helping people re-engage with language of old.”

The list was created by grouping the words within themes: post-truth, appearance, personality, behaviour and emotions.

Insurance company Privilege commissioned researchers at York’s Department of Language and Linguistic Science to spend three years curating the lists.

A public vote is being run to see which words should come back into everyday use.

Other words include “fumish” – hot-tempered, “hugge” – to shiver with cold, and “ruff” – to brag or boast.