Funny you should mention Fiona Apple, Azeem. She is one of those artists that i adore (ohhh, there are so many of them), and over the years i've read quite a few interviews in magazines with her. In the past week i've been sorting through my bedroom in an effort to find a misplaced cd (live through this by Hole.....just when im need of some angry music, lol) and reread some of these. In the media frenzy leading up to "When the Pawn....." she was quoted often saying things like " i look words up in teh dictionary/thesauras/phrase books etc". She said she often uses those books that explain word origins. The example given is the same one you gave Azeem!!! "my derring-do allows me to dance the rigadoon around you, but by the time i'm close to you i lose my desideratum....."
I think Alanis Morissette also deserves kudos for getting the phrase "supposed former infatutoin junkie" into the song So Pure GARRET
