Word of the Day. Post it Here

Discussion in 'Linguistics' started by Captain Kremmen, Aug 16, 2007.

  1. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

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    egregious - astounding bad or shocking
     
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  3. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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    psychochiroparaphrenosomnosophistic paleoneologistic sculpture
     
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  5. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    "Fragile" is one of the thousands of French words that were added to our vocabulary after the Norman Invasion. Its origin is Latin fragilis, from the root frag- or frang-, an unusual word that survived in two forms.

    We did not inherit this word from the Anglo-Saxons, who brought with them the German word brechen, from which the Modern English word "break" evolved.

    It turns out that brechen and fragere are the same word, handed down from Proto-Indo-European, each with the evolution characteristic of its own phonetics.
     
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  7. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

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    lament - this is a word that I often confuse with ''complain"

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    ...but really, it means to express deep grief or sorrow

    and another:

    recoil - to flinch in horror and take a leap back...I don't believe we use this word enough in our common dealings. I can think of at least one time this month that I recoiled from spotting a spider in my bathroom before taking a shower.
     
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  8. Sarkus Hippomonstrosesquippedalo phobe Valued Senior Member

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    Just to split hairs, you don't recoil from an action. You can be caused to recoil by an action, of course, but you would say "I recoiled upon spotting a spider..." or "I recoiled when I spotted a spider..."

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    My word of the day is the self-contradictory indescribable, a word used to describe something that is unable to be described, but thus describing it it no longer becomes what you have described it as.

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  9. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    It's Latin lamentum, one of hundreds of Latin words that the English people borrowed, starting in the 14th century when French was no longer the country's official language. The original Latin word doesn't stress grief and sorrow, merely complaint.
    This word was borrowed several centuries earlier, when the Norman French still ruled Angle Land and Medieval French was the official language of government, business and education. It's a French word, and the "coil" part is derived from the French word for buttocks. Don't ask me how that happened!
     
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  10. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

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    Then I haven't been totally off all along.

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    Oh, I need to know the reason behind this now!

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  11. TheFrogger Banned Valued Senior Member

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  12. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

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    aberration:

    a state or condition markedly different from the norm
     
  13. Seattle Valued Senior Member

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    Incorporeal hereditament
     
  14. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

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    ''Lest'' - to avoid risk of, with the intention of prevention

    She won't go alone into the attic, lest a ghost captures her soul.
     
  15. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Heard today: ChickenNutBread.

    "My siste hab azma. ChickenNutBread."
     
  16. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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    Norm walks into Cheers and everybody yells, "Cliff!"
     
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  17. Dr_Toad It's green! Valued Senior Member

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    Allegator tiers.
     
  18. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

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    heretofore - definition: before now

    ''Before now'' and ''heretofore'' both look visually awkward.

    Heretofore, the attic wasn't haunted but it seems like it is now.

    Before now, the attic wasn't haunted, but it seems like it is now.
     
  19. Bowser Namaste Valued Senior Member

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  20. Dr_Toad It's green! Valued Senior Member

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    Why would anyone bowse through all the hauling when wit should suffice?
     
  21. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    As a professional writer, I would go to great lengths to avoid beginning a sentence with "Before now." The example sentence puts the construction in the worst possible light: It starts with "before now" and ends with "now." That's rather awkward writing.

    Yes, "heretofore" is more than a little formal in modern writing. I don't think I've ever used it.
     
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  22. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

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  23. Magical Realist Valued Senior Member

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    pel·lu·cid
    pəˈlo͞osid/
    adjective
    1. translucently clear.
      "mountains reflected in the pellucid waters"
      synonyms:translucent, transparent, clear, crystal clear, crystalline, glassy, limpid, unclouded, gin-clear
      "the pellucid waters"
      • lucid in style or meaning; easily understood.
        "he writes, as always, in pellucid prose"
        synonyms:lucid, limpid, clear, crystal clear, articulate; More

      • (of music or other sound) clear and pure in tone.
        "a smooth legato and pellucid singing tone are his calling cards"
    https://www.google.com/search?sourc...n&oq=pellucid&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l5.6474j0j8
     

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