In our discussions around the theme of solid fluids, we often had resort to everyday words, many of them of ancient derivation and rich in association. We decided to make a list of some of the words that came up most often – barring those that already figured as the principal characters of individual contributions – and to distribute among ourselves the task of writing a sort of mini-biography for each. The resulting lexicon with nineteen entries, ranging from ‘cloud’ and ‘concrete’ to ‘wave’ and ‘wood’, serves as a conclusion to the collection as a whole.