»anent

A preposition, meaning "with regard to"; according to the Dictionary of Difficult Words, it is "Archaic or Scot[tish]", and "archaic or jocular". (The combinations fascinate me: Jocular Scottish? Archaic Archaic?) The Columbia Guide to Standard American English notes that anent "has a stuffy, impersonal quality, [and is] inappropriate in many contexts". I first came across it in the crossword, filling space in a rather mundane puzzle. I dislike the New York Times more and more, but the crossword remains true to itself.