Author Topic: WordNerding  (Read 31930 times)

SugaAndSpice

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WordNerding
« on: April 12, 2015, 10:36:09 PM »
I know this isn't the most interesting of threads, buuuuuuut, I happen to be a Word-Nerd. So! Let us start with some of our favorite underused words. My personal favorites are:

Underutilized
Discombobulated
Anomily
Octagonapus

Ha, that last one was a joke. I think everyone probably guessed.
I say vol, you say tron! Vol!
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tabeabd

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Re: WordNerding
« Reply #1 on: April 12, 2015, 10:40:55 PM »
Do non-English words count? My favorite German words are ausgezeichnet and Eichhörnchen. :D
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SugaAndSpice

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Re: WordNerding
« Reply #2 on: April 12, 2015, 10:52:34 PM »
Translate, please? I speak only English, un poquito de Español, y un poquito to de Greek. It's sad how much Greek I have forgotten in two years.
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Adrai Thell

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Re: WordNerding
« Reply #3 on: April 12, 2015, 10:55:55 PM »
Not an answer, Willowham, but...

I love the word octothorpe. Seriously, best ever.

And of course there's the stupidly long word with no real need to exist, antidisestablishmentarianism. Favorite of a friend who tried to impress everyone by rattling it off in conversation every once in a while, without it pertaining to the sentence in any way...
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tabeabd

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Re: WordNerding
« Reply #4 on: April 12, 2015, 10:58:21 PM »
Translate, please? I speak only English, un poquito de Español, y un poquito to de Greek. It's sad how much Greek I have forgotten in two years.

Greek? That's so cool!!
Anyway-
Ausgezeichnet: Excellent
Eichhörnchen: Squirrel

Oh oh, and my favorite Lithuanian word so far is the word for thank you. A?i?. Which keeps not showing up correctly on my screen for some reason.

I love the word octothorpe. Seriously, best ever.

YES.
« Last Edit: April 12, 2015, 11:00:46 PM by tabeabd »
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SugaAndSpice

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Re: WordNerding
« Reply #5 on: April 12, 2015, 11:17:30 PM »
Not an answer, Willowham, but...

I love the word octothorpe. Seriously, best ever.

And of course there's the stupidly long word with no real need to exist, antidisestablishmentarianism. Favorite of a friend who tried to impress everyone by rattling it off in conversation every once in a while, without it pertaining to the sentence in any way...

Not to be personal, but is that friend named Leo? I know a Leo who baffled the class by rattling it off at the end of the day. What the HAY is an octothorpe?? wow, sorry. Just looked it up. I have Internet, but apparently no brain. Ha, when I typed brain, it came up with Braidy in the auto correct. LOL.
« Last Edit: April 12, 2015, 11:22:18 PM by Willowham »
I say vol, you say tron! Vol!
…Voltron?

SugaAndSpice

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Re: WordNerding
« Reply #6 on: April 12, 2015, 11:24:31 PM »


Oh oh, and my favorite Lithuanian word so far is the word for thank you. A?i?. Which keeps not showing up correctly on my screen for some reason.

YES.

Bless you. ;)
I say vol, you say tron! Vol!
…Voltron?

DancingRanger

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Re: WordNerding
« Reply #7 on: April 12, 2015, 11:42:28 PM »
My favorite words are Smörgås (sandwich), Sköldpaddan(the turtle), and nej(no).
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Sunflower

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Re: WordNerding
« Reply #8 on: April 12, 2015, 11:50:58 PM »
I know it's really low-brow to be amused/intrigued by perfectly ordinary words in other languages, but when I was about 12 I was just knocked over to learn:
1) "Pamplemousse" = "grapefruit" in French
2) "Kartoffel" = "potato" in German.  It's just fun to say.  Kartoffel, Kartoffel, Kartoffel.   ;D

EDIT: 

One of my favorite English words to baffle people with is "monopsony."  It's the mirror-image of "monopoly."  In a monopoly, one supplier controls the market for something, holding all the buyers hostage. 

In a monopsony, one *buyer* controls the market, holding all the *suppliers* hostage.  I'm not sure there are pure monopsonies in the U.S. (at least where the gov't isn't involved, e.g. buying nuclear bombers).  However, Wal-Mart is at least a partial monopsony; it's a VERY powerful buyer, so all its suppliers (Colgate-Palmolive, etc.) jump when it snaps its fingers.
« Last Edit: April 12, 2015, 11:54:50 PM by Sunflower »
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SugaAndSpice

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Re: WordNerding
« Reply #9 on: April 13, 2015, 12:09:33 AM »
This is absurd! I was talking about the word anomaly, and it showed up in the comments. My brother was talkeding about pamplmousse juice, and, well, look! Also, I forgot. I know how to say mushroom, window, and spinach in French, amongst other givens ( mui, excuse mui, etc.) .
I say vol, you say tron! Vol!
…Voltron?

Sunflower

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Re: WordNerding
« Reply #10 on: April 13, 2015, 12:58:28 AM »
And of course there's the stupidly long word with no real need to exist, antidisestablishmentarianism. Favorite of a friend who tried to impress everyone by rattling it off in conversation every once in a while, without it pertaining to the sentence in any way...

I once saw at least a derivative of that word used correctly in a British newspaper.  FWIW, I read it because I'm an Episcopalian and the word relates to the Anglican Church, from which we stem.

Want an explanation?  Warning, technical and possibly dull...

The United Kingdom has an "established" (official) church, the Church of England (a/k/a Anglican Church), going back to the days of Henry VIII.  (As you may remember, he wanted to get rid of wife #1 in favor of a hot younger one; since the Catholic Church wouldn't agree to annul his marriage, he decided to start his own national church, owned and run by him.)  The reigning king or queen is always the head of the Church of England, rather like the Pope for Catholics... and regardless of his or her personal behavior.  (By law, the monarch and heirs to the throne *have* to be Church of England, or they get taken out of the lineup.)

"Establishmentarian" is the adjective meaning "in favor of England's established church" -- including keeping the monarch as its head -- and "e... ism" is the noun form of that.

DIS-establishment is the position that England (now a multi-cultural society with low church attendance rates) shouldn't have an official church ruled by the head of state, any more than the U.S. does.  It's a long word, but a valid one, and shows up from time to time in high-minded publications like the Economist and the Guardian.

ANTI-disestablishment is kind of an absurd extension.  But you could say it means "opposing the people who want to get rid of England's established church."


Here endeth today's lesson.
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Adrai Thell

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Re: WordNerding
« Reply #11 on: April 13, 2015, 01:01:52 AM »
Heh, that's awesome Sunflower! I knew bits of that, and kinda guessed at the history, but it's good to have an expert grant some insight.

How 'bout that vomitory, though?
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Laufey

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Re: WordNerding
« Reply #12 on: April 13, 2015, 03:58:39 AM »
My favourite English word is definitely brouhaha. So onomatopoeic!
In Icelandic it would be rör (= straw, the kind that you drink through) because to a Finn it just sounds so hilarious - in Finnish rööri tends to mean a pipe of any kind. Another favourite is á because it can mean just so many things - Árni á Á á á á á (= Árni from Á has a sheep at a river).
In Finnish I'll just go with the vowelmash of hääyöaie (= a wedding night plan). :D
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Re: WordNerding
« Reply #13 on: April 13, 2015, 04:58:02 AM »
Favourite swear word- Nincompoop!
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FinnishViking

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Re: WordNerding
« Reply #14 on: April 13, 2015, 06:13:12 AM »
Mine is PERKELE!

All that history behind the word just adds to the weight of it. It's the literal name of a god turned devil and it can't be properly translated to English.

Other one is probly: Finskjävlar, a swedish word that translates to something like "Finnish devil". to me it just sounds funny  ;D.