David writes: My friend Tim and I watch a lot of action films. We agree on the definition of defenestrationunobet, but can’t agree on what constitutes a refenestration. Throwing someone into a window? Or specifically through a window they’ve already been thrown out of?

It’s true that defenestration is a staple move in action movies, but its origin is pure period drama, going back to 1618, when a group of Protestant aristocrats in Prague tossed two Catholic imperial regents out a window, helping to spark the Thirty Years’ War. As for your dispute: Defenestration is a hilariously formal word for such a blunt act, and it deserves an equally weird and specific opposite. Refenestration must mean throwing someone back in through the same window. Which is something I would like to see. In fact, why not some movies featuring defenestellations (thrown through a very small window)? Or decompluviumations (through a sky light)? Get on it, screenwriters.

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