Words, unusual and interesting? Favorites?

wasapi · 15th January 2021, 01:31 PM

I love learning new - to me - words and their meanings. It seems that I recall a few years back there was a thread about favorite words, but I couldn't locate them.

Here are two that have caught my eye:

Lalochezia. It is a feeling of emotional relief that comes after a person swears.

Limerence. Now this one I wrote down a few months back so I may be a little off. Limerence is a deep crush on someone, but not love. (OK, I have to look the definitions up again!)

What words are on your list?

TragicMonkey · 15th January 2021, 03:47 PM

triphangeal thumb: a malformation of the thumb where it has an extra bone and joint

bezant: a Byzantine coin, or a roundel in heraldry

vicereine: a female viceroy

champerty: illegal agreement in which a person with no previous interest in a lawsuit finances it with a view to sharing the disputed property if the suit succeeds

harpax legomenon: a word used one time only in a given work (this is a big deal in ancient texts)

incubation: sleeping in a sacred place in order to inspire a divine visitation in dreaming

ekpyrosis: the fiery destruction of the cosmos

monolatry: the worship of one god without denying the existence of other gods

cephalophore: depiction of a decapitated saint carrying their own head

Spektator · 15th January 2021, 04:17 PM

Inspissated: thickened and concentrated by dehydration. Milton describes the atmosphere of Hell as "inspissated gloom."

Trebuchet · 15th January 2021, 04:19 PM

That first one sounds awesome. Think of the stuff you could do with it! Ok, maybe don't.

ETA: Formication. The feeling that ants are crawling on your skin.

Gord_in_Toronto · 15th January 2021, 08:55 PM

Chthonic : of or relating to the underworld.

I had to wait for two years after first reading that word before I found a context where I could use it in a spoken conversation.

Bikewer · 16th January 2021, 07:14 AM

“Lubricious”.....Sexually arousing.

“Reberverative”.....Something that speaks to resonance.

Elaedith · 16th January 2021, 03:09 PM

Platykurtosis. It's a statistical term but it always makes me think of a weird disease.

Brainster · 16th January 2021, 10:45 PM

Jabbernowl. It's a synonym for numbskull or idiot. WC Fields uses the term in The Bank Dick and it also popped up in an episode of Bertie and Jeeves on Masterpiece Theatre back in the day.

Sherkeu · 17th January 2021, 04:53 AM

Nomophobia- Irrational fear of not having access to your phone
= No more phone phobia

(evidently 'word of the year' in 2018 though I must have missed the memo)

arthwollipot · 17th January 2021, 09:12 PM

Ochlocracy. The only word in English that is longer than its definition. It means "mob rule".

And I would be remiss if I didn't include floccinaucinihilipilification - the act of valuing something as worthless.

Wudang · 18th January 2021, 05:43 AM

Follow Susie Dent on twitter. @susie_dent

January 15 entry.

"Word of the day is 'quockerwodger' (19th century): a puppet-like individual whose strings of action are pulled by someone else."

Her Jan 6th word of the day
"Word of the day is 'sequaciousness' (17th century): the blinkered, unreasoning, and slavish following of another, no matter where it leads."
Often topical without explicitly saying the connection.

Wudang · 18th January 2021, 05:45 AM

I like the word "selcouth : Rarely or little known; unusual; uncommon". So saying "Selcouth is selcouth" is not necessarily an identity statement.

Ethan Thane Athen · 18th January 2021, 06:49 AM

I came across a word that was new to me the other day in relation to my cats when I read that cats are 'crepuscular' meaning they are particularly active at twilight (as opposed to diurnal, day or nocturnal, night).

So, quite like that one as it was new to me.

One of my all time favourites though is 'exacerbate'.

Sadly, I can no longer use it in my working life as we have to write everything in 'plain English' or 'can be understood by the average 12 year old' so we have to say 'makes it worse'. My argument that I knew what 'exacerbate' meant when I was 12 and that you find out what words mean and develop your vocabulary by seeing them used in context (or simply looking them up if you don't understand them) was, unfortunately, not convincing enough.

Spektator · 18th January 2021, 10:02 AM

Rumbustious: Loud and unruly.

Spektator · 18th January 2021, 10:03 AM

Rumbustious: loud and unruly.

Rincewind · 18th January 2021, 03:51 PM

Originally Posted by Spektator

Rumbustious: loud and unruly.

and apparently - an echo!

arthwollipot · 18th January 2021, 04:46 PM

Echolalia - the inability to speak except by repeating something someone else has said. From, of course, the Greek myth about Echo and Narcissus.

Athyrio · 18th January 2021, 05:05 PM

Oh boy, more words for Hangman.

wasapi · 18th January 2021, 05:53 PM

Originally Posted by arthwollipot

Ochlocracy. The only word in English that is longer than its definition. It means "mob rule".

And I would be remiss if I didn't include floccinaucinihilipilification - the act of valuing something as worthless.

Oh, ochlocracy! I will add that to my favorite-word list! (Why does it make me think of trump?)

As far as floccinau . . . what ever - it does have an interesting definition.

arthwollipot · 18th January 2021, 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by wasapi

Oh, ochlocracy! I will add that to my favorite-word list! (Why does it make me think of trump?)

There was certainly ochlocracy on January 6th.

Originally Posted by wasapi

As far as floccinau . . . what ever - it does have an interesting definition.

Floccinaucinihilipilification. It's fun to say, too. Floxi-noxi-nee-hillee-pillee-fi-cation.

Spektator · 18th January 2021, 07:31 PM

Syzygy. Crapulous. Beazle. Cattywampus. Grawcoddled.

catsmate · 19th January 2021, 05:15 AM

Originally Posted by Ethan Thane Athen

I came across a word that was new to me the other day in relation to my cats when I read that cats are 'crepuscular' meaning they are particularly active at twilight (as opposed to diurnal, day or nocturnal, night).

I remember that from Doctor Who.
Echolalia also occurred in an episode, though it wasn't named.

Today I introduced my SO's to Dolchstoßlegende, a German compound work literally meaning "back stab legend", i.e. the infamous stab-in-the-back myth that helps Hitler's rise to power. It hasn't really made it into English, yet.
Unlike zeitgeist which has and is also useful around now.
Amphibology (a grammatically ambiguous phrase) is a favourite of mine.
Recently one of my SOs described the other as "callipygian", which I confess floored both of us. It means "possessing shapely buttocks"...

But then coprolalia is a bad habit of academics.

Wudang · 19th January 2021, 05:23 AM

Curiously I encountered dolchstoß for the first time today in this series of tweets

https://twitter.com/Pramas/status/1351292415475290114

catsmate · 19th January 2021, 06:42 AM

Originally Posted by Wudang

Curiously I encountered dolchstoß for the first time today in this series of tweets

https://twitter.com/Pramas/status/1351292415475290114

It has become very much the zeitgeist, among certain groups.

Monza · 19th January 2021, 07:45 AM

Cinemuck - The sticky substance of popcorn, soda, and chocolate on the floor of a movie theater.

Doork - A person who pushes on a door marked "pull."

Sniglet - Any word that should be in the dictionary, but isn't.

Gord_in_Toronto · 19th January 2021, 09:05 AM

Originally Posted by Monza

Cinemuck - The sticky substance of popcorn, soda, and chocolate on the floor of a movie theater.

Doork - A person who pushes on a door marked "pull."

Sniglet - Any word that should be in the dictionary, but isn't.

Krood - A person who pulls on a door marked "push."

bruto · 19th January 2021, 11:29 AM

Rebarbative, making you want to throw up.

Swarf, a versatile word that can mean either a swoon (or the act of swooning), or the residue from metal machining.

Courtesy of Wycliffe's Bible, we get arseropes, the intestines.

Gupsh, an Egyptian word meaning the stone equivalent of swarf #2.

Gulosity, gluttony.

Bathycolpous, having pendulous breasts.

Frumentation, government handouts, literally "public largesse of corn."

Sulciform, looking like the part of your brain that's like groovy, man.

I almost forgot one of my favorite pairs of words: Contumelious, severely reproachful, and Contumaceous, deserving the former.

arthwollipot · 19th January 2021, 02:18 PM

Litotes - a rhetorical construction where you make a point by denying its opposite. "You're not wrong".

HHellpop · 19th January 2021, 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by Monza

Cinemuck - The sticky substance of popcorn, soda, and chocolate on the floor of a movie theater.

Doork - A person who pushes on a door marked "pull."

Sniglet - Any word that should be in the dictionary, but isn't.

I remember when Rich Hall debuted sniglets on Not Necessarily The News. His first ones were kinda gibberish-ish. But then people started sending in their own, and they made a lot more sense.

Bovilexia - the urge to lean out the window and yell "Moo!" as you pass a cow.

Ignisecond - the time between realizing you left the key in the ignition and the locked door closing (probably happens less often these days)

Gimmeimium - the length of time you wait to be the nth caller for a radio giveaway.

Arachnidiot - flailing about after walking through a spider web. (a common affliction of mine...)

I know - these don't even come close to the cool ones y'all have been posting!

Myriad · 19th January 2021, 04:45 PM

When I moved next to an estuary I learned some new relevant ichthyological terms:

euryhaline -- able to tolerate a wide range of salinity
anadromous -- ocean dwelling but entering fresh water sources to spawn (e.g. salmon)
catadromous -- fresh water dwelling but entering the ocean to spawn (e.g. many eel species)
diadromous -- cycling between fresh and salt water habitats (e.g. alewife)

Norman Alexander · 19th January 2021, 05:07 PM

Qausiantichurchdisestablishmentarianismistically.

No idea what it means, but I trot it out in "longest word" contests.

Also, chemical formulae tend to be longish too.

2-4-toluene di-iso-cyanate. Used in paint, do NOT drink it!

Gord_in_Toronto · 19th January 2021, 05:56 PM

Juicing - what you do to pigs.

bruto · 19th January 2021, 06:57 PM

The salinity words above remind me of one that's rather limited, but those who have ever owned a Ducati motorcycle will be fond of it: desmodromic. Describing a valve train both opened and closed by cams.

I've always had a fondness for the word hebetude, too. Boring dullness.

And in the category of a good word and an even better definition, I bring you (probably not for the first time) pleonasm, defined by Ambrose Bierce as "an army of words escorting a corporal of thought."

arthwollipot · 19th January 2021, 07:11 PM

Originally Posted by Norman Alexander

Qausiantichurchdisestablishmentarianismistically.

No idea what it means, but I trot it out in "longest word" contests.

Someone's mangled the word to make it meaninglessly longer.

The word is Antidisestablishmentarianism. And it means being against the people who are against the establishment (ie, the Church of England) without necessarily being for the establishment yourself.

Construction of stacked prefixes and suffixes:
Establishment - Church of England
Disestablishment - Against the Church of England
Antidisestablishment - Against those who are against the Church of Engliad
Antiodisestablishmentarian - Descriptive of a person who is against those who are against the Church of England
Antidisestablishmentarianism - The philosoophy of being against those who are against the Church of England.

Your word is a bit like hippomonstrosesquipedaliophobia. The word sesquipedaliphobia is the recognised word for an irrational fear of long words. Someone just tacked on "hippo" and "monstro" to make the word bigger because they are big-sounding components. Also, Wiktionary notes that "fear of long words" is perfectly valid.

TragicMonkey · 19th January 2021, 07:23 PM

I've always been fond of the word "gelid" because for some reason to me it really, really looks like it ought to mean the exact opposite of what it does. I don't know why it strikes me that way, but it does.

HHellpop · 20th January 2021, 03:51 AM

Originally Posted by TragicMonkey

I've always been fond of the word "gelid" because for some reason to me it really, really looks like it ought to mean the exact opposite of what it does. I don't know why it strikes me that way, but it does.

Hmm... "ekpyrotic sex toilet" vs "gelidic sex toilet". I'm fine not personally finding out which one is worse.

Vixen · 20th January 2021, 04:04 AM

A recent word that fascinated me was 'torpor' . We all know the meaning of this everyday word, as in, 'that speech sent me into a torpor'. However, there was a recent article in a newspaper explaining that bears do not hibernate, they go into what biologists call a 'torpor'.

Yes! I thought as winter drew near and the morning didn't lighten until 10:00am. That's what I should do. Not hibernate but just lie in bed until 9:30 instead of getting up promptly at 7:00am, without feeling guilty. I am just having a winter torpor. That's it!

Thank you, Bear.

What a great example you are to us all.

bluesjnr · 20th January 2021, 04:18 AM

Originally Posted by Ethan Thane Athen

I came across a word that was new to me the other day in relation to my cats when I read that cats are 'crepuscular' meaning they are particularly active at twilight (as opposed to diurnal, day or nocturnal, night).

So, quite like that one as it was new to me.

One of my all time favourites though is 'exacerbate'.

Sadly, I can no longer use it in my working life as we have to write everything in 'plain English' or 'can be understood by the average 12 year old' so we have to say 'makes it worse'. My argument that I knew what 'exacerbate' meant when I was 12 and that you find out what words mean and develop your vocabulary by seeing them used in context (or simply looking them up if you don't understand them) was, unfortunately, not convincing enough.

Reminds of the time when, at a meeting, my, then, boss (yes, you Duncan McGuire!) poked fun at me because of my repeated misspelling of "exaggerate". I don't think he had ever experienced the work "exacerbate" until he read it in my report and yet, instead of educating himself, decided that it couldn't be right!

My other half often tells me to "dumb down" emails to certain organisations. Just the other day she advised that using a simple phrase like "bait and switch" would be enough to blow a circuit in the brain of the Paypal operative I was emailing. Sadly, she turned out to be correct...

Spektator · 20th January 2021, 05:13 AM

Tussock.
Jigger - according to QI has 28 primary meanings, including both "vagina" and "penis."

Wudang · 20th January 2021, 05:23 AM

One I got people using a couple of times “iatrogenic “ - caused by a doctor. It has surprisingly many applications in IT.

15th January 2021, 01:31 PM	#1
wasapi Penultimate Amazing Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 13,385	Words, unusual and interesting? Favorites? I love learning new - to me - words and their meanings. It seems that I recall a few years back there was a thread about favorite words, but I couldn't locate them. Here are two that have caught my eye: Lalochezia. It is a feeling of emotional relief that comes after a person swears. Limerence. Now this one I wrote down a few months back so I may be a little off. Limerence is a deep crush on someone, but not love. (OK, I have to look the definitions up again!) What words are on your list?
	__________________ Julia

15th January 2021, 04:19 PM	#4
Trebuchet Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Port Townsend, Washington Posts: 31,261	That first one sounds awesome. Think of the stuff you could do with it! Ok, maybe don't. ETA: Formication. The feeling that ants are crawling on your skin.
	__________________ Cum catapultae proscribeantur tum soli proscripti catapultas habeant.

15th January 2021, 08:55 PM	#5
Gord_in_Toronto Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 20,573	Chthonic : of or relating to the underworld. I had to wait for two years after first reading that word before I found a context where I could use it in a spoken conversation.
	__________________ "Reality is what's left when you cease to believe." Philip K. Dick

16th January 2021, 10:45 PM	#8
Brainster Penultimate Amazing Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 18,358	Jabbernowl. It's a synonym for numbskull or idiot. WC Fields uses the term in The Bank Dick and it also popped up in an episode of Bertie and Jeeves on Masterpiece Theatre back in the day.
	__________________ My new blog: Recent Reads. 1960s Comic Book Nostalgia Visit the Screw Loose Change blog.

17th January 2021, 04:53 AM	#9
Sherkeu Master Poster Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Disneyland Posts: 2,478	Nomophobia- Irrational fear of not having access to your phone = No more phone phobia (evidently 'word of the year' in 2018 though I must have missed the memo)
	Last edited by Sherkeu; 17th January 2021 at 04:54 AM.

15th January 2021, 03:47 PM	#2
TragicMonkey Poisoned Waffles Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Monkey Posts: 59,717	triphangeal thumb: a malformation of the thumb where it has an extra bone and joint bezant: a Byzantine coin, or a roundel in heraldry vicereine: a female viceroy champerty: illegal agreement in which a person with no previous interest in a lawsuit finances it with a view to sharing the disputed property if the suit succeeds harpax legomenon: a word used one time only in a given work (this is a big deal in ancient texts) incubation: sleeping in a sacred place in order to inspire a divine visitation in dreaming ekpyrosis: the fiery destruction of the cosmos monolatry: the worship of one god without denying the existence of other gods cephalophore: depiction of a decapitated saint carrying their own head
	__________________ You added nothing to that conversation, Barbara.

15th January 2021, 04:17 PM	#3
Spektator Watching . . . always watching. Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Southeastern USA Posts: 1,950	Inspissated: thickened and concentrated by dehydration. Milton describes the atmosphere of Hell as "inspissated gloom."

16th January 2021, 07:14 AM	#6
Bikewer Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: St. Louis, Mo. Posts: 12,916	“Lubricious”.....Sexually arousing. “Reberverative”.....Something that speaks to resonance.

16th January 2021, 03:09 PM	#7
Elaedith Graduate Poster Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 1,531	Platykurtosis. It's a statistical term but it always makes me think of a weird disease.

17th January 2021, 09:12 PM	#10
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ngunnawal Country Posts: 70,919	Ochlocracy. The only word in English that is longer than its definition. It means "mob rule". And I would be remiss if I didn't include floccinaucinihilipilification - the act of valuing something as worthless.
	__________________ Semantic ambiguity is how vampires get you.

18th January 2021, 05:43 AM	#11
Wudang BOFH Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: People's Republic of South Yorkshire Posts: 13,572	Follow Susie Dent on twitter. @susie_dent January 15 entry. "Word of the day is 'quockerwodger' (19th century): a puppet-like individual whose strings of action are pulled by someone else." Her Jan 6th word of the day "Word of the day is 'sequaciousness' (17th century): the blinkered, unreasoning, and slavish following of another, no matter where it leads." Often topical without explicitly saying the connection.
	__________________ "Your deepest pools, like your deepest politicians and philosophers, often turn out more shallow than expected." Walter Scott. Last edited by Wudang; 18th January 2021 at 05:49 AM.

18th January 2021, 05:45 AM	#12
Wudang BOFH Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: People's Republic of South Yorkshire Posts: 13,572	I like the word "selcouth : Rarely or little known; unusual; uncommon". So saying "Selcouth is selcouth" is not necessarily an identity statement.
	__________________ "Your deepest pools, like your deepest politicians and philosophers, often turn out more shallow than expected." Walter Scott.

18th January 2021, 06:49 AM	#13
Ethan Thane Athen Master Poster Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 2,219	I came across a word that was new to me the other day in relation to my cats when I read that cats are 'crepuscular' meaning they are particularly active at twilight (as opposed to diurnal, day or nocturnal, night). So, quite like that one as it was new to me. One of my all time favourites though is 'exacerbate'. Sadly, I can no longer use it in my working life as we have to write everything in 'plain English' or 'can be understood by the average 12 year old' so we have to say 'makes it worse'. My argument that I knew what 'exacerbate' meant when I was 12 and that you find out what words mean and develop your vocabulary by seeing them used in context (or simply looking them up if you don't understand them) was, unfortunately, not convincing enough.

18th January 2021, 10:02 AM	#14
Spektator Watching . . . always watching. Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Southeastern USA Posts: 1,950	Rumbustious: Loud and unruly.

18th January 2021, 10:03 AM	#15
Spektator Watching . . . always watching. Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Southeastern USA Posts: 1,950	Rumbustious: loud and unruly.

18th January 2021, 03:51 PM	#16
Rincewind Philosopher Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Adirondacks, NY - with Magrat! Posts: 8,583	Originally Posted by Spektator Rumbustious: loud and unruly. and apparently - an echo!
	__________________ I used to think I was happy. then I met Magrat...

18th January 2021, 04:46 PM	#17
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ngunnawal Country Posts: 70,919	Echolalia - the inability to speak except by repeating something someone else has said. From, of course, the Greek myth about Echo and Narcissus.
	__________________ Semantic ambiguity is how vampires get you.

18th January 2021, 05:05 PM	#18
Athyrio Hipster Doofus Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Nutsack, FL Posts: 2,188	Oh boy, more words for Hangman.
	__________________ Knowledge is good.... Emil Faber

18th January 2021, 05:53 PM	#19
wasapi Penultimate Amazing Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 13,385	Originally Posted by arthwollipot Ochlocracy. The only word in English that is longer than its definition. It means "mob rule". And I would be remiss if I didn't include floccinaucinihilipilification - the act of valuing something as worthless. Oh, ochlocracy! I will add that to my favorite-word list! (Why does it make me think of trump?) As far as floccinau . . . what ever - it does have an interesting definition.
	__________________ Julia

18th January 2021, 06:26 PM	#20
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ngunnawal Country Posts: 70,919	Originally Posted by wasapi Oh, ochlocracy! I will add that to my favorite-word list! (Why does it make me think of trump?) There was certainly ochlocracy on January 6th. Originally Posted by wasapi As far as floccinau . . . what ever - it does have an interesting definition. Floccinaucinihilipilification. It's fun to say, too. Floxi-noxi-nee-hillee-pillee-fi-cation.
	__________________ Semantic ambiguity is how vampires get you.

18th January 2021, 07:31 PM	#21
Spektator Watching . . . always watching. Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Southeastern USA Posts: 1,950	Syzygy. Crapulous. Beazle. Cattywampus. Grawcoddled.

19th January 2021, 05:15 AM	#22
catsmate No longer the 1 Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 24,253	Originally Posted by Ethan Thane Athen I came across a word that was new to me the other day in relation to my cats when I read that cats are 'crepuscular' meaning they are particularly active at twilight (as opposed to diurnal, day or nocturnal, night). I remember that from Doctor Who. Echolalia also occurred in an episode, though it wasn't named. Today I introduced my SO's to Dolchstoßlegende, a German compound work literally meaning "back stab legend", i.e. the infamous stab-in-the-back myth that helps Hitler's rise to power. It hasn't really made it into English, yet. Unlike zeitgeist which has and is also useful around now. Amphibology (a grammatically ambiguous phrase) is a favourite of mine. Recently one of my SOs described the other as "callipygian", which I confess floored both of us. It means "possessing shapely buttocks"... But then coprolalia is a bad habit of academics.
	__________________ As human right is always something given, it always in reality reduces to the right which men give, "concede," to each other. If the right to existence is conceded to new-born children, then they have the right; if it is not conceded to them, as was the case among the Spartans and ancient Romans, then they do not have it. For only society can give or concede it to them; they themselves cannot take it, or give it to themselves.

19th January 2021, 05:23 AM	#23
Wudang BOFH Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: People's Republic of South Yorkshire Posts: 13,572	Curiously I encountered dolchstoß for the first time today in this series of tweets https://twitter.com/Pramas/status/1351292415475290114
	__________________ "Your deepest pools, like your deepest politicians and philosophers, often turn out more shallow than expected." Walter Scott.

19th January 2021, 06:42 AM	#24
catsmate No longer the 1 Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 24,253	Originally Posted by Wudang Curiously I encountered dolchstoß for the first time today in this series of tweets https://twitter.com/Pramas/status/1351292415475290114 It has become very much the zeitgeist, among certain groups.
	__________________ As human right is always something given, it always in reality reduces to the right which men give, "concede," to each other. If the right to existence is conceded to new-born children, then they have the right; if it is not conceded to them, as was the case among the Spartans and ancient Romans, then they do not have it. For only society can give or concede it to them; they themselves cannot take it, or give it to themselves.

19th January 2021, 07:45 AM	#25
Monza Alta Viro Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 2,219	Cinemuck - The sticky substance of popcorn, soda, and chocolate on the floor of a movie theater. Doork - A person who pushes on a door marked "pull." Sniglet - Any word that should be in the dictionary, but isn't.
Monza Alta Viro Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 2,219

19th January 2021, 09:05 AM	#26
Gord_in_Toronto Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 20,573	Originally Posted by Monza Cinemuck - The sticky substance of popcorn, soda, and chocolate on the floor of a movie theater. Doork - A person who pushes on a door marked "pull." Sniglet - Any word that should be in the dictionary, but isn't. Krood - A person who pulls on a door marked "push."
	__________________ "Reality is what's left when you cease to believe." Philip K. Dick

19th January 2021, 11:29 AM	#27
bruto Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Way way north of Diddy Wah Diddy Posts: 28,194	Rebarbative, making you want to throw up. Swarf, a versatile word that can mean either a swoon (or the act of swooning), or the residue from metal machining. Courtesy of Wycliffe's Bible, we get arseropes, the intestines. Gupsh, an Egyptian word meaning the stone equivalent of swarf #2. Gulosity, gluttony. Bathycolpous, having pendulous breasts. Frumentation, government handouts, literally "public largesse of corn." Sulciform, looking like the part of your brain that's like groovy, man. I almost forgot one of my favorite pairs of words: Contumelious, severely reproachful, and Contumaceous, deserving the former.
	__________________ I love this world, but not for its answers. (Mary Oliver) Quand il dit "cuic" le moineau croit tout dire. (When he's tweeted the sparrow thinks he's said it all. (Jules Renard) Last edited by bruto; 19th January 2021 at 11:34 AM.

19th January 2021, 02:18 PM	#28
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ngunnawal Country Posts: 70,919	Litotes - a rhetorical construction where you make a point by denying its opposite. "You're not wrong".
	__________________ Semantic ambiguity is how vampires get you.

19th January 2021, 04:02 PM	#29
HHellpop Reluctant Galactic Assassin Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Ylum Posts: 361	Originally Posted by Monza Cinemuck - The sticky substance of popcorn, soda, and chocolate on the floor of a movie theater. Doork - A person who pushes on a door marked "pull." Sniglet - Any word that should be in the dictionary, but isn't. I remember when Rich Hall debuted sniglets on Not Necessarily The News. His first ones were kinda gibberish-ish. But then people started sending in their own, and they made a lot more sense. Bovilexia - the urge to lean out the window and yell "Moo!" as you pass a cow. Ignisecond - the time between realizing you left the key in the ignition and the locked door closing (probably happens less often these days) Gimmeimium - the length of time you wait to be the nth caller for a radio giveaway. Arachnidiot - flailing about after walking through a spider web. (a common affliction of mine...) I know - these don't even come close to the cool ones y'all have been posting!
	__________________ "Vootie!" - Mezzrow

19th January 2021, 04:45 PM	#30
Myriad The Clarity Is Devastating Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Betwixt Posts: 17,613	When I moved next to an estuary I learned some new relevant ichthyological terms: euryhaline -- able to tolerate a wide range of salinity anadromous -- ocean dwelling but entering fresh water sources to spawn (e.g. salmon) catadromous -- fresh water dwelling but entering the ocean to spawn (e.g. many eel species) diadromous -- cycling between fresh and salt water habitats (e.g. alewife)
	__________________ A zømbie once bit my sister...

19th January 2021, 05:07 PM	#31
Norman Alexander Philosopher Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Gundungurra Posts: 9,124	Qausiantichurchdisestablishmentarianismistically. No idea what it means, but I trot it out in "longest word" contests. Also, chemical formulae tend to be longish too. 2-4-toluene di-iso-cyanate. Used in paint, do NOT drink it!
	__________________ _{...our governments are just trying to protect us from terror. In the same way that someone banging a hornets’ nest with a stick is trying to protect us from hornets. Frankie Boyle, Guardian, July 2015}

19th January 2021, 05:56 PM	#32
Gord_in_Toronto Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 20,573	Juicing - what you do to pigs.
	__________________ "Reality is what's left when you cease to believe." Philip K. Dick

19th January 2021, 06:57 PM	#33
bruto Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Way way north of Diddy Wah Diddy Posts: 28,194	The salinity words above remind me of one that's rather limited, but those who have ever owned a Ducati motorcycle will be fond of it: desmodromic. Describing a valve train both opened and closed by cams. I've always had a fondness for the word hebetude, too. Boring dullness. And in the category of a good word and an even better definition, I bring you (probably not for the first time) pleonasm, defined by Ambrose Bierce as "an army of words escorting a corporal of thought."
	__________________ I love this world, but not for its answers. (Mary Oliver) Quand il dit "cuic" le moineau croit tout dire. (When he's tweeted the sparrow thinks he's said it all. (Jules Renard)

19th January 2021, 07:11 PM	#34
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ngunnawal Country Posts: 70,919	Originally Posted by Norman Alexander Qausiantichurchdisestablishmentarianismistically. No idea what it means, but I trot it out in "longest word" contests. Someone's mangled the word to make it meaninglessly longer. The word is Antidisestablishmentarianism. And it means being against the people who are against the establishment (ie, the Church of England) without necessarily being for the establishment yourself. Construction of stacked prefixes and suffixes: Establishment - Church of England Disestablishment - Against the Church of England Antidisestablishment - Against those who are against the Church of Engliad Antiodisestablishmentarian - Descriptive of a person who is against those who are against the Church of England Antidisestablishmentarianism - The philosoophy of being against those who are against the Church of England. Your word is a bit like hippomonstrosesquipedaliophobia. The word sesquipedaliphobia is the recognised word for an irrational fear of long words. Someone just tacked on "hippo" and "monstro" to make the word bigger because they are big-sounding components. Also, Wiktionary notes that "fear of long words" is perfectly valid.
	__________________ Semantic ambiguity is how vampires get you.

19th January 2021, 07:23 PM	#35
TragicMonkey Poisoned Waffles Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Monkey Posts: 59,717	I've always been fond of the word "gelid" because for some reason to me it really, really looks like it ought to mean the exact opposite of what it does. I don't know why it strikes me that way, but it does.
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