Underused words
Thursday, January 11th, 2007 - 2:43pm
Chumpy's post over here got me thinking: There are a lot of good words that don't get used, while there's a lot of garbage being passed around as new "words." I was thinking this morning of a few underutilised words, actually, but i've since forgotten them.
What are some of your favorite underutilized words?
I'll start with an easy one: oogaba. 
Elysium: The democratization of the web ... has installed an illusion of a digital first amendment that protects speech no matter how poorly spelled or stupid.
XBL: E Munnie
elementsofmeaning.blogspot.com
procrustean
sesquipedalian
"All that time you waste dating and having sex could be better spent scouring the web for new game developer press releases." - Quintin_Stone
Barratry.
It's a legal term meaning the sinking of a ship for insurance purposes, and I just love the way that it rolls of the tongue.
If I can put a phrase forward, "associated paraphenalia" always makes me happy, but I use it as often as possible.
Requires 2 non-replaceable LR41 button cell batteries for the monkey (included)
Lepidopterist.
MechaSlinky wrote:
-on L4DCallipygian
Xbox Live: Stilgar Black
'I'm Sorry'.
Somtimes those two words can defuse a wide variety of situation, be it in a pulic or private setting. It just shows a certain amount of respect for another individual. Impolite and rude people are a pet peeves I've mine, and I don't suffer them lighthly, and I sincerely think that those two words could stand to be used a hell of a lot more.
Cerebri Music - Play. Rewind. Repeat.
Twitter | Xbox Live: dhaelis | PSN: dhaelis
Good words from children's shows:
Mr. Rogers: Soporific
Bear/ Big Blue House: Pulchritudinous
Edit: And a classic from freshman year, bildunsroman!
Elysium: The democratization of the web ... has installed an illusion of a digital first amendment that protects speech no matter how poorly spelled or stupid.
XBL: E Munnie
elementsofmeaning.blogspot.com
juxtaposition
I've loved that word ever since a teacher wrote "great juxtaposition" on a paper of mine in high school.
Semper Delectatio
Xbox Live - Cannibal GWJ XFire - cannibalcrowley
Strawberry Shortcake bricked my 360 on December 17, 2008.
My wife has spent the last 10 minutes leaving through the dictionary, as she has one on the tip of her tongue that she can't remember. She has yet to find it, but "prevaricate" and "perambulate" have leapt out at her.
Merkin!
Requires 2 non-replaceable LR41 button cell batteries for the monkey (included)
Defenestrate
Seriously, look it up.
--Edit--
D'oh! Serves me right to post from work while busy.
(@)
Underused words?
How about:
Free Lesbian show
What?
WOW: Bounce
I like that word. I'd like to defenistrate my work computer sometimes.
Cerebri Music - Play. Rewind. Repeat.
Twitter | Xbox Live: dhaelis | PSN: dhaelis
Frobnostication
I just like it
"Screw the speed of light, fan-boy rage is my new gold standard for measuring velocity." - Dr. J
"Lupus with a crowbar is the meaning of life itself." - Certis
Haruspication: when you're in too violent a mood to read your Manga tarot deck.
RIP ChronicNecrosis
See the other thread. You need to watch 24 more.
"All that time you waste dating and having sex could be better spent scouring the web for new game developer press releases." - Quintin_Stone
Thanks, Alien. I was convincing myself not to say that.
Elysium: The democratization of the web ... has installed an illusion of a digital first amendment that protects speech no matter how poorly spelled or stupid.
XBL: E Munnie
elementsofmeaning.blogspot.com
Evince
It is more economic to use "evince" than "show evidence to support" but the word only seems to come up in academic discussion. Therefore... underused.
XBox Live: Croutonic | Bungie.net: Croutonic
kaostheory wrote:
Verily
I'm not lost. I'm locationally challenged.
Spore Profile
This is a thread to show off how many smart words you know isn't it? Jerks!
"Three blokes go into a pub. One of them is kind of stupid, and the whole scene unfolds with a tedious inevitability." - Bill Bailey
Celebutarde
MechaSlinky wrote:
-on L4DArtard
"Three blokes go into a pub. One of them is kind of stupid, and the whole scene unfolds with a tedious inevitability." - Bill Bailey
It's... it's.... it's just toooooo God-damned tempting...
partisan.
MaxShrek .. The reason you keep falling, is there is no bottom.
Horror Vacui
Eh? Barratry is the equivalent of mutiny when done by officers. I think the word you mean is "scuttle"?
Ah. I see my understanding is incomplete. Officers mutiny is barratry, but so is officers' scuttling the ship, damaging cargo or ship, or stealing the cargo. Cool.
My underused word is concupiscence. Very high-rent word. We should all use our word in a sentence; I'll start.
When he observed the effluent results of his labial mastication, his concupiscence grew exponentially. See how dirty you can be when you use big words?
"Sometimes I go around saying, 'Kommisar Paulson has seized the commanding heights of the economy!'" - Paul Krugman, asked if recent changes to banking are socialistic.
You might say it's a thread to show off our grandiloquence.
Elysium: The democratization of the web ... has installed an illusion of a digital first amendment that protects speech no matter how poorly spelled or stupid.
XBL: E Munnie
elementsofmeaning.blogspot.com
Embiggens.
"A Noble Spirit Embiggens the Smallest Man"
Worst signature ever.
Gamertag: Tex Red
www.mumfordland.com
We would except you misspelled it.
pulchritude - beauty; comeliness; grace; loveliness.
malapropism - The usually unintentionally humorous misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of similar sound; also, an example of such misuse.
avuncular - of, pertaining to, or characteristic of an uncle
Fedaykin98 wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:
Prestidigitation: performed with quick fingers
My prestidigitation left her breathless.
I'm not lost. I'm locationally challenged.
Spore Profile
Xyster
EDIT: I just noticed that several online dictionaries don't have it, so here's a link for the curious.
Exteel: Farhunt
Steam: Varigear
Linguistic question: is there a word in english that means the opposite of 'enlarges'? 'Smallens', while effective, isn't an actual word... (And 'shrinks' is missing a certain je-ne-sais-quoi...)
MechaSlinky wrote:
-on L4DOrthogonal
Xbox Live: MNGwinn | Spore: MNGwinn
Unenlarges, of course. Or dwarfifies.
Exteel: Farhunt
Steam: Varigear