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T Clark
13.8kI contributed to some confusion in @Wayfarer's "Word de jour" discussion by misunderstanding its purpose. I liked the idea though, so here it is. At a place I used to work, there was a whiteboard in the lunch room. Every day someone would put up a new word of the day and we'd discuss it. I used to enjoy it. Gotta love words.
The words I used in Wayfarer's discussion were "gregarious" and "craptacular." "Gregarious" because it feels good to say and "craptacular" because it is the perfect word.
My word for today is "woebegone." - looking sad, pitiful. A friend was having a bad day yesterday and I described her this way. Feels good to say. Elicits an image in my mind of whomever I am talking about with an expression like Eeyore's. Reminds me of German - they build their words like brick walls, one word on top of another. Love German.
So, please contribute. Let's keep it to English. That odd English they speak in the UK, Australia, Canadia, etc. is fine. Words you love. Words you hate. -
Noble Dust
7.9kI like “recalcitrant”. I like recalcitrant people, and I count myself among their number. -
T Clark
13.8kI like “recalcitrant”. I like recalcitrant people, and I count myself among their number. — Noble Dust
I like "recalcitrant" people too, although I sometimes use a more vulgar word. The word feels good to say also. -
T Clark
13.8kTenebrous. — Baden
Here's a quote using "tenebrous" I tripped across while looking up its definition. From Lovecraft; "Dunwich Horror":
One dreads to trust the tenebrous tunnel of the bridge, yet there is no way to avoid it. Once across, it is hard to prevent the impression of a faint, malign odour about the village street, as of the massed mould and decay of centuries. -
BC
13.6kBrassicas are also referenced as 'coles'; cole slaw is a cabbage salad. Old King Cole was a cabbage head.
Old King Cabbage was a sharp witted savage
and a sharp witted savage was he.
He called for his pipe, he called for his stash
and he called for his brass players three.
He wanted to be chopped, and then be slopped
with mayonnaise, sugar, and cream.
Cole, apples and bananas, odd it may seem,
for a fine supper salad can't be topped.
'Cole' appears in Latin, German, Dutch, and Old Norse, and Old English. -
T Clark
13.8kBrassicas are also referenced as 'coles'; cole slaw is a cabbage salad. Old King Cole was a cabbage head.
Old King Cabbage was a sharp witted savage
and a sharp witted savage was he.
He called for his pipe, he called for his stash
and he called for his brass players three.
He asked to be chopped, and then be slopped
with mayonnaise, sugar, and cream.
Cole, apples and bananas, odd it may seem,
for a fine supper salad can't be topped. — Bitter Crank
I forgot to say "No doggerel," another good word. Although it means verse or words that are badly written or expressed, it aught to mean the fenced area where dogs are kept before the big drive to Abilene. -
T Clark
13.8kI forgot to say "No doggerel," another good word. Although it means verse or words that are badly written or expressed, it aught to mean the fenced area where dogs are kept before the big drive to Abilene. — T Clark
Or maybe it can be used in a sentence like "@ArguingWAristotleTiff and @TimeLine, what a couple of doggerels. -
BC
13.6kOh, did you know "aught" means anything at all? As in "know you aught of this fellow, young sir?" You were probably thinking of "ought" as in "you can't derive an 'is' from an 'ought', or 'aught' either.
Old English āwiht
Antique now, but it also means 'zero'.
Doggerel indeed! My doggerel is bigger than your doggerel. -
SophistiCat
2.2kMy word for today is "woebegone." - looking sad, pitiful. — T Clark
That's a word that sounds right, but a naive parsing suggests a meaning that is the opposite of what it actually means. Woe - be gone! But, according to Dictionary.com, the etymology is "Middle English wo begon orig., woe (has or had) surrounded (someone); wo woe + begon, past participle of begon, Old English begān to surround, besiege".
It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon...
Tenebrous.
Came up regularly in a book I once edited and I had to look it up. It still sounds to me to be the opposite of what it is. But maybe that's just me. — Baden
To speakers of Slavic languages it should sound just right: the first syllable stands of "shadow" or "darkness."
A word that I often encountered in Falkner, and practically nowhere else, is susurrating. Now that's a word that doesn't even need an explanation. -
Baden
16.3kTo speakers of Slavic languages it should sound just right: the first syllable stands of "shadow" or "darkness." — SophistiCat
Latin roots though, right? I would guess. Anyway, it reminds me phonically too much of its opposite, "luminous". -
T Clark
13.8kYou were probably thinking of "ought" as in "you can't derive an 'is' from an 'ought', or 'aught' either. — Bitter Crank
Thanks for the correction.
My doggerel is bigger than your doggerel. — Bitter Crank
I don't have a doggerel. Maybe my pen is bigger than yours though. -
BC
13.6kRelated word: tenebrae: (in the Roman Catholic Church) matins and lauds for the last three days of Holy Week, at which candles are successively extinguished. Several composers have set parts of the office to music.
craptacular — T Clark
Craptacular is excellent, but don't forget "crapulous", from Latin crapulosus
Caused by or showing the effects of alcohol.
‘I was a little too crapulous to register what had happened’
‘I'm surprised to see Graham spouting crapulous nonsense like this’
Then there is plain old crap which is, sadly, not derived from crapulous or crapulosus;
Crap, of course, means crap.
noun
noun: crap
1.
something of extremely poor quality.
nonsense.
rubbish; junk.
2.
excrement.
an act of defecation.
plural noun: craps
verb
verb: crap; 3rd person present: craps; past tense: crapped; past participle: crapped; gerund or present participle: crapping
Used in an obscure novelty song, "I Crept Into the Crypt and Crapped" by Homer & Jethro" -
T Clark
13.8kexcrement. — Bitter Crank
I'm disappointed. I had believed the word came from Thomas Crapper, who manufactured toilets back in the late1800s. -
unenlightened
9.2kThe word 'tremendously' is tremendously important and valuable and I am tremendously fond of it. Unfortunately, due to quantitive easing, it now means 'very slightly'.
Origin
Mid 17th century: from Latin tremendus (gerundive of tremere ‘tremble’) + -ous. — oxford dictionaries.com
Everyone loves a gerundive, surely? -
unenlightened
9.2kIn other news, the word 'dispute' used to have the emphasis on the second syllable in line with 'discard' and 'dismiss', and out of line with discord. But thanks to the tireless efforts of one man, Arthur Scargill, it has seemingly irrevocably changed allegiance. That's what you can expect more of with the triumph of Postmodern neo-Marxism, so don't pretend you haven't been warned.
-
S
11.7kTenebrous. — Baden
I can get a little tenebrous after I've had a few beers.
I forgot to say "No doggerel," another good word. — T Clark
I like the way you work it, no doggerel, I got to bag it up, bag it up.
Effervescent is one of my favourites. — Benkei
Bring me to life, wake me up inside, wake me up inside, call my name... -
T Clark
13.8kThe word 'tremendously' is tremendously important and valuable and I am tremendously fond of it. Unfortunately, due to quantitive easing, it now means 'very slightly'. — unenlightened
It's a word, like "terrific" or "awesome", that used to refer to something frightening or overpowering but now refers to something really good.
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