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McAnally's (The Community Pub) => Author Craft => Topic started by: Snowleopard on May 05, 2011, 06:05:10 PM
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There are so many words in the English language that aren't
used much anymore - I thought it would be fun to have people put down fun and somewhat obscure words
that they like.
Lour - a dark and threatening sky or a weird looking sky. Can also refer to the way a person looks at you.
Ferntickled - an old term for being freckled
(drats - gotta find my box of writing books.)
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Lour is a good word. You still run into it now and then spelled lower as in a lowering (louring) sky.
I like the word obstreperous which refers to someone who is not just defiant but is very noisy about it.
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Lour is good you also told me about Mavin which means master in another thread.
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My pleasure N86 but what out of the ordinary words do you like.
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Lour - a dark and threatening sky or a weird looking sky. Can also refer to the way a person looks at you.
IIRC, it's the source of the adjective "lowering", which is used in pretty much the same way.
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Ah. I love the look and the "say" of the word. Lour - it just has a nice sense all round to it.
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I like when writer use words with their original meanings not just the meanings that have become accepted because of common misuse. A couple of examples of that are:
decimate-now used to mean destroyed-original meaning was to destroy one in ten ( usually one in ten soldiers in a Roman troop that showed cowardice or one in ten villagers in a
village that would not give up rebels of some sort )
affinity- now used to mean to one having a natural attraction or liking for something-original meaning was to be related by marraige ( as opposed to consanguinity-related by blood ).
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I got two old international dictionaries from my great grandparents house years ago. They both hail from somewhere around 1900 and are full of words I've never heard of. Love it...although they're falling apart.
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I got two old international dictionaries from my great grandparents house years ago. They both hail from somewhere around 1900 and are full of words I've never heard of. Love it...although they're falling apart.
JEALOUS.
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bathysmal - an abysmal sea. (Fitting for fish-men and/or Deep Ones. And Dagon.)
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Nice one, Piotr.
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I don't know how 'old' these words are, but they are certainly seldom used for how often you come across such situations in literature (and they both happen to be spelled almost the same way, oddly enough):
. aposiopesis - deliberately breaking off in the middle of a sentence, either because you are unwilling to finish, don't know what to say, or because it would be best filled in by the person's imagination.
. apotheosis - the highest level of something that you can possibly achieve. Having no equal. Usually a deification.
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discombobulated I heard it when I was nine, I think. It makes me feel like I'll get lost half way through saying or typing it, or life will interfere and drag me away. It's that magic kind of word where the semantic meaning matches the feeling as you say it.
Ah, wait. Words that aren't used that often.... Well then behoove.
True story. My first writing job was for a professor studying how people learn words. List vs story. He gave me lists and lists of words rarely used (unless you were a fantasy writer/reader LOL) to write into short stories. Then he had his test subjects read them and provide definitions, studying that vs list learning. I love saying, in an uptight high class with a nasual tange, "It behooves us..."
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I love the word "discombobulated". I've played with it a lot over the years. Examples:
- after a couple of drinks and feeling happy and at peace with the world, "Man, I'm feelin' mighty combobulated right now."
- regarding getting my s*** back together, "Ugh, what a clusterf*** this week's been. Head ain't on straight. Gotta get recombobulated."
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cool recombobulated! rolling that one over and over in my mind and tongue! Of course if you were that far in your buzz--I admire your ability to say it at all. *smiling*
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cool recombobulated! rolling that one over and over in my mind and tongue! Of course if you were that far in your buzz--I admire your ability to say it at all. *smiling*
I also took the term "disgruntled" and dissected it with Occam's Razor. Back when I was teaching at a public university (and happy with it), I called myself a "gruntled government employee". ;D
I'm told I speak more easily and more glibly with a wee dram of the booze in me. That or being utterly tired but wired; I've actually invented a few words in that state. My favorite has always been "retrosnack". Think about it. :D
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Urgh, I think I know what retrosnack means Shecky.
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I also took the term "disgruntled" and dissected it with Occam's Razor. Back when I was teaching at a public university (and happy with it), I called myself a "gruntled government employee".
This reminds me of a famous PG Wodehouse quote, something like: "While not precisely disgruntled, he was far from gruntled."
I like defenestrate "to throw from a window" and from HP Lovecraft: squamous, Stygian, ichor, foetid, Tartarean. The problem with using those in a story, though, is that it usually comes off as Lovecraftian pastiche.
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I love the words foetid and ichor. I like the word noisome as well. They may be a bit cliched but I love the descriptive power of phrases like "a dank, foetid jungle" or " foul, noisome ichor dripped from its wound".
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This reminds me of a famous PG Wodehouse quote, something like: "While not precisely disgruntled, he was far from gruntled."
I like defenestrate "to throw from a window"
By logic, "fenestrate" should be "to push in through a window". :D
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"It would be almost impossible for the burgular to reach the second floor window so we think he must have had a friend fenestrate him."
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LOL
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I've always loved the phrase "inane little twit" myself. It gets the point across without being vulgar.
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I've always loved the phrase "inane little twit" myself. It gets the point across without being vulgar.
"Yammerhead" does the same thing in one word and just sounds worse. ;D
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I love the word "discombobulated". I've played with it a lot over the years. Examples:
- after a couple of drinks and feeling happy and at peace with the world, "Man, I'm feelin' mighty combobulated right now."
- regarding getting my s*** back together, "Ugh, what a clusterf*** this week's been. Head ain't on straight. Gotta get recombobulated."
i may just use thease in RL
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I'm trying to remember which airport has a "recombobulating zone" right after you pass thru security... Milwaukee? Green Bay? It always makes me laugh...
coprolite - fossilized dinosaur doo. Also always good for a smile.
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There was a humorist - Jack Douglas who said that the town he was living in, small town in Connecticut I think - gave
him a pair of Coprolite cuff links. He was highly amused.
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The troll in the Discworld novels--essentially a living rock--uses "Oh, coprolites!" as a swear word.
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Detritus. Love Detritus.
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flyting
blevey
qualms
Mississippi question: which is flotsam and which is jetsam?
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Flotsam is the floating remains of a ship or stuff that was on it. Jetsam is floating stuff that was deliberately tossed from a ship (think "jettison").
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I also have a secret passion for fortification names, sometimes useful for fantasy: barbican, bartizan, caponier, counterscarp, courtine, demilune, enceinte, fausse braye, glacis, mamelon, motte, ravelin, redoubt, tenaille
(Yes, I know, fantasy in which cannon or their analogues work).
Flotsam is the floating remains of a ship or stuff that was on it. Jetsam is floating stuff that was deliberately tossed from a ship (think "jettison").
This is my understanding also. Jetsam was tossed.
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I always find cool new words in Robert Ludlum books.
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dilettante
onus
bamboozled
actinic
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disheveled
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not sure if any of these have been used already
Plethora
Harlot
impish
Dervish
Coalition
Citadel
Imperium
Legion
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Verisimilitude
Posit
I am also a fan of 'discombobulated', its how I always describe the way I feel after a migraine.
Similarly, I love the phrase 'it boggles my mind'. I usually say 'I am unboggled' when I understand things.
I am sure there are more, but it is late and I have consumed many cold remedies. I am very discombobulated.
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cwm
dearth
lumen
lacuna
zeppa
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wretch
quandary
antediluvian
rapscallion
Monolith
Aplomb
Quixotic
Reconnoiter
Isthmus
God, this is FUN!
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Yes it is fun!
mercurial
titivated
titfer
bombastic
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twee
prat
cavil
adit
succulent
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Delenda - Things to be deleted or destroyed (IE "Delenda est Carthago", or "Carthage must be destroyed")
Amphigory - A nonsense verse. Specifically, a poem designed to look and sound good, but which has no meaning upon closer reading. (also applies to lots of music from the last 40 years or so.
Locus - A site considered to be the centre of a particular activity. pl. `Loci'
Pleonasm - The use of more words than are required to express an idea... (As much as I love Penny Arcade they frequently do this.)
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I like the pleonasm, Lord Rae. That's a new one for me.
Grumble, still need to find my boxes of writing books.
Got a great one for older/out of use words.
Mrs. Bryne's wierd, unusual, and bizarre words.
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Good, I actually know some of the above mentioned words.
btw, a coprolite is any fossilized dung, not just from dinosaurs.
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puerile
recidivism / recidivist
milquetoast
homunculus
Brobdingnagian
btw, a coprolite is any fossilized dung, not just from dinosaurs.
But... but... but I like my story better - 'cause it involves dinosaurs! ;D
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But... but... but I like my story better - 'cause it involves dinosaurs! ;D
Oh, it is ok, I admit that.
I know and used with some frequency all the words except "milquetoast". What is that?
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Hi Dina. A milquetoast is a very meek person. I believe it comes from a story about a very meek guy called
Casper Milquetoast who let everyone figuratively walk all over him and was very meek and mild.
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Ah, thanks a lot, Snow! I'll keep reading this thread, trying to learn.
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You're welcome. That's part of the reason I started it. Because some words are just so cool in both meaning and sound.
and nowadays they aren't used as much as they might be.
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perambulation
palaver
pipsqueak
sussurus & (especially for me!) sussuration
ablution
Oh, it is ok, I admit that.
I should also have said "You are 100% correct" - I was just being my silly self... :)
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Whenever are you not silly Piotr? ;D
Good morning by the way, how goes your day?
bamboozled
donnybrook
destrier
hedonist
hirsute
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I am appalled at how many of those words I actually use.
That said, I love "cattywampus."
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I am appalled at how many of those words I actually use.
Why? I thought the request was primarily for "cool" words, not primarily "ones we've likely never heard of?"
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Whenever are you not silly Piotr? ;D
Good morning by the way, how goes your day?
Uhhh... Ya know Snowy, I don't actually recall the last time I *wasn't* silly...
Probably the last time Herself quietly threatened to skin me alive if I was awful in public.
I wasn't too worried though - I can run faster scared than she can mad! ;D
Until I got to wondering if I could stay scared longer than she can stay mad...
So I behaved(1) myself.
And I am ridiculously better than I deserve.
How about you? Are you recovered from the move, all unpacked, settled in, and everything OK?
(1)For certain values of "behaved". Obviously not badly enough to get skinned...
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Uhhh... Ya know Snowy, I don't actually recall the last time I *wasn't* silly...
Probably the last time Herself quietly threatened to skin me alive if I was awful in public.
I wasn't too worried though - I can run faster scared than she can mad! ;D
Until I got to wondering if I could stay scared longer than she can stay mad...
So I behaved(1) myself.
And I am ridiculously better than I deserve.
How about you? Are you recovered from the move, all unpacked, settled in, and everything OK?
(1)For certain values of "behaved". Obviously not badly enough to get skinned...
Hey, life's too short to be serious all the time and life's too serious to take it seriously all the time. (I think? ::))
I suspect that herself can stay mad lots and lots longer than you can stay scared. ;D
Me, I'm hanging in there. Slowly recovering, trying to unpack and find stuff - more finding stuff than unpacking.
Lots of cleaning up - of friend's place. She's something of an incipient hoarder along with having bad knees.
Sigh.
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And in honor of "Cool words", and due to something I ran into today (metaphorically) I'd like to add the subcategory of "having something to do with indicating irritation, and or anger..."
pique
peeved
waspish
rancor
vituperation
wrath (and cousin "wroth")
ire (and the closely related "Irish")
fulminating (usually paired with "anger", or in another context a chemical compound :) )
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bete noire (I know I haven't added the little thingie)
termagant
virago
shrike
donnybrook
cudgel
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I love cudgel, especially as a verb.
ruffian
curmudgeon (or curmudgeonly)
truculent
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misogynist
surly
saturnine
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I know I am resurrecting this thread but after my first post here
I like the word obstreperous which refers to someone who is not just defiant but is very noisy about it.
I was pleasantly surprised to find the word in Ghost Story.
I know Jim uses many of the fun words here but this one jumped off the page at me and I immediately thought of this thread.
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Articulate - a. Using language easily and fluently. v. To bring clarity or distinction to
I've liked that one since the day I saw american pie for the first time. Especially since it can be an adjective or a verb, and the 2 definitions are similar, but just different enough to feel like it's a different word. You also get to pronounce it differently. It's just fun. In fact, this thread is helping teach us to articulate articulately.
Exsanguinate - To drain of blood.
Don't let the vampire stories spoil this one for you. Assuming you leave emo vampires out, this one can have very nasty implications in your story, especially when you're working with a murder mystery. Or if you get desperate you can mention meat packing.
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I like Donkey Work and haberdasher.
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Pulchritude - formal, literary, or physical beauty.
pulchritudinous - Mostly for physical beauty.
"That girl is pulchritudinous."
I also like old slang like moxie.
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Moll
Gunsel
stool pigeon
saw buck
speak easy
blind pig
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Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious! If you say it loud enough, you'll always sound precocious! Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
^ Lots and lots of good words in that song.
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Yay!!! I love that song! :D :D :D
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I liked Mary Poppins right up until I realized that the medicine she was trying to get the kids to take was for polio. That kind of killed the fun factor for me as an adult, even if it did make a mostly ludicrous movie a bit more realistic to the time period it was set in. But the song is awesome. Still doesn't beat Willy Wonka's "Pure Imagination" or "Candy Man Can", for me, but its inherent awesomeness is undeniable. :D
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I used "paucity" in my WIP the other day. ;D
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Yeah, I used louche the other day on a thread.
Being on the Forum is raising my intelligence and word usage level.
(Right on. ;D)
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Discrete, meaning separate, and indiscrete, meaning its opposite.
One of my favourite bits of verbal misdirection is Nero Wolfe assuring an annoying would-be client that he and Archie are "professionally indiscrete."
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I love that. But then I love Nero Wolfe, both the books and the TV show.
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Found a cool word today.
The word - Manes - which was the word that the Romans used for a ghost or shade.
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pule (pyool) - to whine or wimper.
Also, I think someone early in the thread said mavin is a word for master, but I think it's maven - one who is experienced or knowledgeable, and expert.
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Also, I think someone early in the thread said mavin is a word for master, but I think it's maven - one who is experienced or knowledgeable, and expert.
It is indeed maven. Hence:
Once upon a weekend weary, while I pondered, beat and bleary,
Over many a faintly printed hexadecimal dump of core --
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some Source user chatting, chatting of some Mavenlore.
"Just a power glitch," I muttered, "printing out an underscore --
Just a glitch and nothing more."
(from the EFF online magazine back in about 1991)
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"Harrumphed", and Word knows how it's spelled. ;D
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^
Scary that!