The Word Thread

[Virgilijus]

Expanding your vocabulary is something I always try to do, but I have a tendency to forget some of the really cool, unique words I learn through out the days.

So, here's a thread where if you find a cool word or interesting expression, just post it (preferably with a link to its definition and maybe a story that goes along with it) and see how much we all learn

I'll go first:

Anathema: a detested and cursed person or thing. (Found it browsing the Marvel Comics wiki site )

Mudita: A sympathetic joy, one received from seeing others succeed or be happy. Antonym of schadenfreude. (Found it browsing Reddit, oddly enough!)

 

[Battlecow]

Paneity

The quality of being bread

Best ever. I work it into conversation on the daily.

 

[Virgilijus]

Would also be nice to slip into insults

 

[Alien Vision]

''Daedal''

The paramount of intelligence. Adj.

 

[Link2thelost90]

"Bundesbank"

the central bank of Germany.

"endoscope"

An instrument for examining visually the interior of a bodily canal or a hollow organ such as the colon, bladder, or stomach.

 

[Kanelol]

Pulchritudinous: adj; aesthetically beautiful

 

[Virgilijus]

In college, I once used 'pulchritudinous' in a comic I drew for the newspaper and was asked to take it out because no one knew what it meant

 

[Gatlin]

"Confusticate" - To confuse

"Flumoxed" - To confuse

"Effervescent" - Bubbly

Thought these words sounded cool, and had such simple meanings behind them.

 

[Alien Vision]

''Niveous'' Like snow. Adj.

''Aphotic'' Dark. Adj.

''Ambage'' Displaying multiple notions through one idea. N.

''Noumenon'' The belief that the human mind exists only through another's human mind.

''Empyreal'' Lighter; brighter than fire, and light. Heavenly. Adj.

''Isocracy'' Equal power. N.

''Haecceity'' The essence of who we are. N.

''Atramentus'' Black as ink. Adj.

''Achroous'' Dark. Adj.

''Isatis'' A fox. N.

Those are some of the words I know off the top of my head, but keep in mind, big words aren't all that amazing IMO. Words were ment to be communication, not a game to see who can learn the most arduous nonsensical behemoths. If an adult, and a child can speak at the same level, and hold the mature foundation. What is the use of big words, except personal gain? I understand if you like words that sound better than the other, but I used all these words for my names I used to go by. I never use them outside of that. I speaketh engrish. (and the truth) ^^

 

[DerpDaBerp]

Temulency
N.: state of being drunk.
(adj.: temulent)


Aglets
N.: the little plastic tips at the ends of shoelaces


<3 this thread btw

 

[#HBC | J]

Abhor:
to regard with extreme repugnance or aversion; detest utterly; loathe; abominate.

Horrendous:
shockingly dreadful; horrible

I just found one of my new favorite threads ever.

 

[Virgilijus]

Rictal: having the qualities of an open mouth.

 

[Gatlin]

Floccinaucinihilipilification - the estimation of something as valueless.

Probly my favorite word when I was in middle school, a friend told me about it. I think I actually tried putting it in an essay once but the teacher had no idea what it meant, hah.

 

[Link2thelost90]

bungalow -
1. A small house or cottage usually having a single story and sometimes an additional attic story.
2. A thatched or tiled one-story house in India surrounded by a wide verandah.

obscurant-
n.
One who opposes intellectual advancement and political reform.
adj.
1. Characterized by opposition to intellectual advancement and political reform.2. Tending to make obscure: an obscurant bank of clouds.

 

[DerpDaBerp]

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
N.: a lung disease caused by the inhalation of very fine silica dust, causing inflammation in the lungs

but more importantly, the longest word in the english language

Spoiler

Cunnilingus

 

[Scav]

Awww. "Anathema" was the title to the first story I posted on Smashboards. Too bad SWF's archives don't go back past 2007.

Words!

When I was a copywriter, a client once got angry with me for using the word "Sartorial" in an ad. (It means pertaining to tailors and tailoring. And clothes. And such.)

At a recent job interview, I dropped the word "esoteric" in a sentence. I later found out that they specifically referred to that when talking about why they wanted to hire me. Nerds. (It refers to knowledge only known by a select few.)

Lately, though, I've been fascinated more with usage than with exotic vocabulary, particularly with words that have similar but slightly different meanings.

For instance:

You can both sleight someone and slight someone. Sleight pertains to dexterity and trickery, especially when it pertains to magicians. It can also be used for con men. Hence the term "sleight of hand."

A slight is an insult. "He slighted Bob by not inviting him to the party." You can slight someone through sleight if you embarrass them in a game of 3 card monte. You can sleight someone through slight if you create misdirection buy calling their mother a dirty prostitute.

 

[#HBC | J]

I was texting a friend of mine this word and she couldn't believe it was a real word and I couldn't believe she never heard of it before.

Flabbergasted: to overcome with surprise and bewilderment; astound

She thought I made it up and gave me quite the laugh.

 

[Gatlin]

Erinaceous - Of the hedgehog kind or family

 

[Kantrip]

Floccinaucinihilapilafication

noun
Rare . the estimation of something as valueless (encountered mainly as an example of one of the longest words in the English language).



My uncle told me this one once when I was younger and trying to show off my vocabulary. Needless to say, I added it.

 

[T-block]

Dammit Crimson =P

Floccinaucinihilipilification - the estimation of something as valueless.

Probly my favorite word when I was in middle school, a friend told me about it. I think I actually tried putting it in an essay once but the teacher had no idea what it meant, hah.

I love this thread haha... I'll try to contribute. For now, the only word that comes to mind is

ameliorate - to make better or more tolerable

 

[Kantrip]

Rofl, that's what I get for completely disregarding previous posts

 

[#HBC | J]

Assuage - to make milder or less severe; relieve; ease; mitigate; mollify

 

[GoldShadow]

I can't believe nobody's mentioned one of my all-time favorite words: defenestrate. To throw something out of a window.

 

[Link2thelost90]

narcotic -
a: a drug (as opium or morphine) that in moderate doses dulls the senses, relieves pain, and induces profound sleep but in excessive doses causes stupor, coma, or convulsions
b:a drug (as marijuana or LSD) subject to restriction similar to that of addictive narcotics whether physiologically addictive and narcotic or not
2: something that soothes, relieves, or lulls.

perplex:
1:to make unable to grasp something clearly or to think logically and decisively about something
2:to make intricate or involved

 

[GoldShadow]

Speaking of sleight, Scav, I just came across legerdemain today, which also means sleight of hand/trickery/deceit.

 

[DerpDaBerp]

Speaking of homonyms
I find it interesting that the word 'incense' is a pleasant fragrance meant to soothe, while another definition of the same word means 'to infuriate'



And for the word bank:
pecksniffian
- Hypocritically and smugly affecting benevolence or high moral principles

 

[Virgilijus]

The word 'cleave' actually has two definitions that are antonyms: one to separate and the other to join together!

Funny thing, this language of ours.

 

[#HBC | J]

Quibble

1.
an instance of the use of ambiguous, prevaricating, or irrelevant language or arguments to evade a point at issue.
2.
the general use of such arguments.
3.
petty or carping criticism; a minor objection.

^This is honestly one of my favorite words to use ever.

 

[Gatlin]

"Qualtagh"
- the first individual a person meets after exiting his or her house.

"Slubberdegullion"
- A villian

"Tarantism"
- A psychological illness characterized by an impulse to dance, prevalent in southern Italy from the 15th to the 17th century, believed at the time to have been caused by the bite of a tarantula

 

[DerpDaBerp]

"Qualtagh"
- the first individual a person meets after exiting his or her house.

<3 this for some reason

 

[DerpDaBerp]

Spoonerism: an error in speech where corresponding consonants, vowels or morphemes are switched


A while ago my mother asked me to get her a "shipe knarf" (sharp knife)
there was laughing out loud

 

[D13]

discombobulate: to confuse or disconcert; upset; frustrate

 

[Anjila]

Persnickety
1. Overparticular about trivial details; fastidious
2. Snobbish; pretentious.
3. Requiring strict attention to detail; demanding

Macaronic
1. Of or containing a mixture of vernacular words with Latin words or with vernacular words given Latinate endings.
2. Of or involving a mixture of two or more languages.

... I guess Spanglish could be considered macaronic?

Spoonerism: an error in speech where corresponding consonants, vowels or morphemes are switched

Haha, I did that plenty while playing Melee. You'd hear me saying "Loung Yink" a lot

 

[Gatlin]

Adoxography - Skilled writing on an unimportant subject

Brontide - The low rumbling of distant thunder

Cacoethes - A bad habit or insatiable urge

 

[Alien Vision]

''I do''.

 

[DerpDaBerp]

So most people (or maybe just most Americans) speaking modern English consider jealous and envious to be interchangable. Turns out, they aren't actually synonymous.

Envy is to want something someone else has.

Jealousy is kind of an anxious resentment as if to fear having something of yours taken from you.


That may be kindergarten stuff, but it's also probably one of the biggest misconceptions in modern English.

Spoiler

which I only just recently learned

 

[Lore]

Bird is the word.

Spoiler

Great thread idea, btw.

 

[Virgilijus]

Today I learned:

Paean, a song or lyric poem expressing triumph or thanksgiving
Satori, the Japanese Buddhist word for an epiphanic enlightenment
Ombudsman, an intermediary between an organization and its constituents

 

[Alien Vision]

Haiku (a Japanese term) is a poem with 3 lines.

 

[Virgilijus]

More specifically, the first line has 5 syllables, the second 7, and the third 5.