Interesting and useful words
Discussion
Sorry, not the most exciting of threads.
I was going to call it 'Word of the day', but it won't be. If you do genuinely feel (and would argue until blue in the face) that 'Nice' isn't a place in France and is a good way to describe anything other than in a pathetic, sarcastic or in a derogatory way then this thread isn't for you.
This is for people to post up a great, rare or interesting English words and for others to learn from them and enjoy it too.
I do think it's a great shame that most of us survive on the same ten words every day when there are so many better and forgotten words to use.
Don't presume i'm any good at English or some kind of wordsmith. I am not, I just enjoy learning a good word or term.
I used to have an English teacher in high school who knew a thing or two, it wasn't just a job, he enjoyed the language. If the class was disrupted by an oaf he never lost his temper, oh no. He would fix them with an unwavering stare and let loose with such derogatory and fantastic describing words (adjectives) that the whole class would titter, the time waster would blush, have no retort and stand down. Job done. I remember him describing a scruffy gobby kid as a 'vagabond'.
He was the man who pulled me up on the use of the word 'nice'. I'd done one of those awful Monday tasks of writing 'What I did at the weekend' (how I hated those) and had just used it to describe everything, "There are better ways" he said sagely, "Nice is not a good word to describe anything at all".
30yrs on I can still remember it and agree with him, although interestingly it has changed over the years and originally did mean 'stupid', but by 1926, it was described as "too great a favourite with the ladies, who have charmed out of it all its individuality and converted it into a mere diffuser of vague and mild agreeableness."
Anyhow, today's word from me is 'Obfuscation'. It's used a lot on internet forums to try and win an argument and convince the reader that they know what they are talking about whether they do or they don't.
Obfuscation is the obscuring of the intended meaning of communication by making the message difficult to understand, usually with confusing and ambiguous language. The obfuscation might be either unintentional or intentional (although intent usually is connoted), and is accomplished with circumlocution (talking around the subject), the use of jargon (technical language of a profession), and the use of an argot (ingroup language) of limited communicative value to outsiders.
Over to you....
I was going to call it 'Word of the day', but it won't be. If you do genuinely feel (and would argue until blue in the face) that 'Nice' isn't a place in France and is a good way to describe anything other than in a pathetic, sarcastic or in a derogatory way then this thread isn't for you.
This is for people to post up a great, rare or interesting English words and for others to learn from them and enjoy it too.
I do think it's a great shame that most of us survive on the same ten words every day when there are so many better and forgotten words to use.
Don't presume i'm any good at English or some kind of wordsmith. I am not, I just enjoy learning a good word or term.
I used to have an English teacher in high school who knew a thing or two, it wasn't just a job, he enjoyed the language. If the class was disrupted by an oaf he never lost his temper, oh no. He would fix them with an unwavering stare and let loose with such derogatory and fantastic describing words (adjectives) that the whole class would titter, the time waster would blush, have no retort and stand down. Job done. I remember him describing a scruffy gobby kid as a 'vagabond'.
He was the man who pulled me up on the use of the word 'nice'. I'd done one of those awful Monday tasks of writing 'What I did at the weekend' (how I hated those) and had just used it to describe everything, "There are better ways" he said sagely, "Nice is not a good word to describe anything at all".
30yrs on I can still remember it and agree with him, although interestingly it has changed over the years and originally did mean 'stupid', but by 1926, it was described as "too great a favourite with the ladies, who have charmed out of it all its individuality and converted it into a mere diffuser of vague and mild agreeableness."
Anyhow, today's word from me is 'Obfuscation'. It's used a lot on internet forums to try and win an argument and convince the reader that they know what they are talking about whether they do or they don't.
Obfuscation is the obscuring of the intended meaning of communication by making the message difficult to understand, usually with confusing and ambiguous language. The obfuscation might be either unintentional or intentional (although intent usually is connoted), and is accomplished with circumlocution (talking around the subject), the use of jargon (technical language of a profession), and the use of an argot (ingroup language) of limited communicative value to outsiders.
Over to you....
Edited by 227bhp on Tuesday 15th January 11:17
techiedave said:
Cunnilingus
I find it rolls easily off the tongue.
Its such a shame it cant be used more often in conversation
"I find it rolls easily off the tongue. " Pun intended? I find it rolls easily off the tongue.
Its such a shame it cant be used more often in conversation
Can I give you 'Hyperbole', you can just imagine Blackadder saying it.
Although it's supposedly pronounced 'Hy-perbilly' It means to speak like Jeremy Clarkson; exaggeration, overstatement, magnification, amplification, embroidery, embellishment, overplaying, excess and overkill.
Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah said:
I've always liked bombastic - ' to speech or writing that is pompous and inflated and suggests extravagant verbal padding and little substance'
I remember smiling to myself as a chap referred to someone else as a 'bombastic t
t', there must be a word for a term which undermines itself so to speak, but I can't bring it to mind.
Roofless Toothless said:
My house was built around 1840 and the brick walls have moved a bit over the years. The surveyor and structural engineer suggested tie bars from one side to the other. Fortunately, the placement of the bars turned out to be parallel to the joists, which makes life a lot easier. The builder checked all this out with a look under the floorboards and said, "oh, that's good, you've got no noggins."
I never really expected to find any little Norsemen under there anyway, but further enquiry revealed that noggins are little bracing pieces between adjacent joists, inserted to increase strength.
And what is more, in Scotland they are called dwangs.
Then you'll maybe like 'Muntin' (as opposed to munter I never really expected to find any little Norsemen under there anyway, but further enquiry revealed that noggins are little bracing pieces between adjacent joists, inserted to increase strength.
And what is more, in Scotland they are called dwangs.
) it's the vertical member inside of the external framework of a door or window frame.Where you put your plants and ornaments is not a cill, that's the bottom member of a window and extends outside, internally it is a 'window board'.
Noggins are now solid strutting, years ago (back when material was expensive and labour cheap) they were herringbone strutting.
Edited by 227bhp on Friday 27th April 10:55
StanleyT said:
Split wi' wainscotting.
Meaning to fall on the floor whilst trying to bend over looking at the skirting board. Possibly whilst drunk but there was no reference to drink in the play I heard it in.
As in "Did you manage to do Ms. May via the passage from number 11 yesterday Boris?". "I was just about to Amber, but she split wi' wainscotting and recovering came to her senses just in time".
That isn't a word it's a phrase, but if we're going down that route I offer up the 'Dirty Sanchez' AKA 'Babatash'.Meaning to fall on the floor whilst trying to bend over looking at the skirting board. Possibly whilst drunk but there was no reference to drink in the play I heard it in.
As in "Did you manage to do Ms. May via the passage from number 11 yesterday Boris?". "I was just about to Amber, but she split wi' wainscotting and recovering came to her senses just in time".
Edited by StanleyT on Thursday 26th April 19:20
You can read about it here and it's cousin Dirty Rodruigez as it's a bit early for that kind of thing: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Di...
marksx said:
227bhp said:
Then you'll maybe like 'Muntin' (as opposed to munter ) it's the vertical member inside of the external framework of a door or window frame.
Where you put your plants and ornaments is not a cill, that's the bottom member of a window and extends outside, internally it is a 'window board'.
Noggins are now solid strutting, years ago (back when material was expensive and labour cheap) they were herringbone strutting.
Is a muntin like a mullion? ) it's the vertical member inside of the external framework of a door or window frame.Where you put your plants and ornaments is not a cill, that's the bottom member of a window and extends outside, internally it is a 'window board'.
Noggins are now solid strutting, years ago (back when material was expensive and labour cheap) they were herringbone strutting.
Edited by 227bhp on Friday 27th April 10:55
I think there are lot of interesting terms in joinery and building; transom, spandrel, balustrade, the aforementioned wainscoting and quoins etc.
Today's word is doldrums.
'Down in the doldrums' is an expression which means a bit dull, depressed and nothing happening, but it's actually derived from a nautical term for an area on the Pacific and Atlantic oceans where the trade winds collide and go up and down instead of sideways, pressure drops and sailing boats could be left drifting with no wind for days or even weeks giving the sailors nothing to do.
'Down in the doldrums' is an expression which means a bit dull, depressed and nothing happening, but it's actually derived from a nautical term for an area on the Pacific and Atlantic oceans where the trade winds collide and go up and down instead of sideways, pressure drops and sailing boats could be left drifting with no wind for days or even weeks giving the sailors nothing to do.
Edited by 227bhp on Wednesday 13th June 08:51
Einion Yrth said:
Frank7 said:
I now have visions of people from Derbyshire, pronouncing Slough as Sluff.
It is pronounced sluff, in some casesslough2
or sluff
[sluhf]
SynonymsWord Origin
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
noun
the outer layer of the skin of a snake, which is cast off periodically.
Pathology. a mass or layer of dead tissue separated from the surrounding or underlying tissue.
anything that is shed or cast off.
Today's words to consider are Quid and Sluttery.
I've always known quid as a pound (£1), or ten quid as a tenner (£10). I've also been aware of its use in Latin such as 'Quid pro quo', but never made the connection until I saw it inscribed in some stonework recently.
Quid pro quo means to exchange, trade, swap, barter etc which is more than likely where the singular quid (used in monetary terms) came from.
Sluttery has progressed over the years to the female sexual term we would use it as now; 'an act of complete sluttery' etc.
In the 1500s it meant just a 'neglect of cleanliness and order', further on in Victorian times it was actually a room of untidiness and disorder, sometimes a work room, or where you threw things which needed mending.
Today I will be fixing things in my Sluttery.
I've always known quid as a pound (£1), or ten quid as a tenner (£10). I've also been aware of its use in Latin such as 'Quid pro quo', but never made the connection until I saw it inscribed in some stonework recently.
Quid pro quo means to exchange, trade, swap, barter etc which is more than likely where the singular quid (used in monetary terms) came from.
Sluttery has progressed over the years to the female sexual term we would use it as now; 'an act of complete sluttery' etc.
In the 1500s it meant just a 'neglect of cleanliness and order', further on in Victorian times it was actually a room of untidiness and disorder, sometimes a work room, or where you threw things which needed mending.
Today I will be fixing things in my Sluttery.
If you've ever built or renovated a house or had some new windows fitted etc you'll be familiar with FENSA, they're the governing body for windows (and doors I think) and get their abbreviation from the word Fenestration (Fenestration Self-Assessment Scheme), this is to do with anything which fills a hole in a building like a door or window of course.
That in itself isn't very interesting or amusing, but it leads me to today's word which is:
Defenestration.
This is the act of throwing someone out of a window.
That in itself isn't very interesting or amusing, but it leads me to today's word which is:
Defenestration.
This is the act of throwing someone out of a window.
Pothole said:
davhill said:
Couple with local connotations.
When I asked in Cornwall when my order would be ready, I was told, "dreckly." It meant 'directly', i. e. when it's ready.
That's just local pronunciation of an old-fashioned use of the word. I've heard it used that way in black and white filmsWhen I asked in Cornwall when my order would be ready, I was told, "dreckly." It meant 'directly', i. e. when it's ready.
davhill said:
Not necessarily useful but certainly interesting.
'Wick' is used in Derbyshire and the North West to mean alive or active.
In the Romiley and Tameside areas there are places called Burymewick,
probably stemming from urban legends about burials of the living.
On the way from New Mills to Disley, there's a side road to an area called Burymewick.
Oddly, it isn't listed among the others.
This reminded me of a small town in the other direction, on the New Mills to
Doveholes road.
People there used to refer to the Buxworth Coat of Arms, which was commonly
said to depict, "One working' an' two watchin."
Sorry i'll have to contest that one. In the North wick means to be quick. In placenames (Barwick, Warwick etc) it originated from'Wick' is used in Derbyshire and the North West to mean alive or active.
In the Romiley and Tameside areas there are places called Burymewick,
probably stemming from urban legends about burials of the living.
On the way from New Mills to Disley, there's a side road to an area called Burymewick.
Oddly, it isn't listed among the others.
This reminded me of a small town in the other direction, on the New Mills to
Doveholes road.
People there used to refer to the Buxworth Coat of Arms, which was commonly
said to depict, "One working' an' two watchin."
Edited by davhill on Saturday 11th August 22:47
Old English wīc ‘dwelling place’, probably based on Latin vicus ‘street, village’.
Barwick will have been a village which grew up around, or had a toll bar.
I'm not really understanding your Burymewick as you say there are several? Are they red light areas or dogging spots perhaps?
Taken from the new Laurel and Hardy film today's word is Parvenu.
The best examples I can come up with is a rich chav or Council estate Lottery winner.
Officially "A person of humble origin who has gained wealth, influence, or celebrity."
An upstart, social climber, arriviste or vulgarian or "one that has recently or suddenly risen to an unaccustomed position of wealth or power and has not yet gained the prestige, dignity, or manner associated with it."
The best examples I can come up with is a rich chav or Council estate Lottery winner.
Officially "A person of humble origin who has gained wealth, influence, or celebrity."
An upstart, social climber, arriviste or vulgarian or "one that has recently or suddenly risen to an unaccustomed position of wealth or power and has not yet gained the prestige, dignity, or manner associated with it."
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