Expand Your Vocabulary
 

21 Interesting Words From David Foster Wallace's Vocabulary List

1. aerobe—organism requiring oxygen to live

2. afterclap—unexpected, often unpleasant sequel to a matter that had been considered closed

3. anaclisis—psychological dependence on others; “anaclitic”

4.apophasis—allusion to something by denying that it will be mentioned

5. bistre—yellowish-brown color

6. catadromous—living in freshwater but migrating to sea to breed

7. ecotone—transitional zone between communities containing the characteristic species of each

8. euphuism—ornate, allusive, overpoetic prose style

9. gloze—minimize or underplay… “gloze” the embarrassing part

10. muntin—strip of wood or metal that separates & holds various panes in a window, like a window w/ four individual panes
arranged in a big rectangle, etc.

11. nidifugous—leaving the nest shortly after hatching

12. ocherous—moderate orange yellow

13. ordurous—dungish or shitty

14. patelliphobia—fear of bowls, cups, basins, and tubs

15. peritrichous—having a band of cilia around the mouth as certain protozoans

16. privity—secret, special knowledge between two or more people; (adj.) privitive

17. serrate—having or forming a row of sharp little teethy things

18. tarantism—disorder where you have uncontrollable need to dance

19. tardive (adj.)—having symptoms that develop slowly or appear long after inception

20. tenesmus—urgent but ineffectual attempt to pee or shit

21. valetudinarian—sickly, weak, morbidly health-conscious person

Mephitic --- foul smelling

who here does not already have that in their vocab?

smeghead ;)

Till now I thought afterclap was a euphemism for condom. :D

I knew three of the words on the list (do I win a prize?)

I'd also forgotten how much I fancy Arnold Judas Rimmer (you can take the prize back now).

I think most every one of those words has an alternate definition....

For example:

14. patelliphobia—fear of bowls, cups, basins, and tubs
No, it's the fear of knee caps, and certain Italian bicycles

,

No, Lamp, It's the fear of Indian Customers. My salesmen all have it, so I know.

What difference does it make in scrabble, when you lay down J+E+W, whether you think it's a noun or a verb? :confused:

If you think it's a verb, you may be able to use more letters by laying down present participle jewing or simple past and past participle jewed.

Ah, good point. :thumb:

These aren't legit... yet.

expand your vocabulary, quiz style; highlight to reveal answer
 

dunnage

1 -- the language used when a group of friends are insulting one another in a friendly way.

2 -- the weight of the packing material in a freight shipment.

3 -- the boards used to raise a load off the ground to permit forklift blades to fit underneath.

answer: #3

Yay me!

The lumber used to secure and pad cargo on a conveyance.

We called that 'cribbing'.

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I get a daily 'Word of the Day' email from Dictionary.com, that's why mines are snips.

That should read "I get a daily 'Word of the Day' email from thefreedictionary.com, that's why mines are snips."

Sorry for any confusion.

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You might also like:

anal-excitement-what?

This post alone means I won't be able to access this thread when I'm back home loggong on from the library :lol:

Don't look for anything that requires analysis, either.

so what the fuck does it mean?

It might depend on how you see it... as here
Sundae read it one way. But it could also read as:

an-alexithymia
adroit in experiencing, expressing, and describing emotional responses.

Once again I've posted something that
- if you have to explain it, it's not funny :sniff:

No, it's anal exit or some shit. ;)

USA USA USA ;)

I soooo want to pronounce that as "cockistocracy".

What Bruce said.

I think i just have a NORMAL fear of being buried alive. Which is to say, that's about the worst way I could think of to die. I can't breathe right now.

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That last one was just for you Pennsylvaniacs!

1.wend
You rarely see a “wend” without a “way.” You can wend your way through a crowd or down a hill, but no one wends to bed or to school. However, there was a time when English speakers would wend to all kinds of places. “Wend” was just another word for “go” in Old English. The past tense of “wend” was “went” and the past tense of “go” was “gaed.” People used both until the 15th century, when “go” became the preferred verb, except in the past tense where “went” hung on, leaving us with an outrageously irregular verb.
Replaced with, boogie.

2.deserts
The “desert” from the phrase “just deserts” is not the dry and sandy kind, nor the sweet post-dinner kind. It comes from an Old French word for “deserve,” and it was used in English from the 13th century to mean “that which is deserved.” When you get your just deserts, you get your due. In some cases, that may mean you also get dessert, a word that comes from a later French borrowing.
Replaced with, pay-backs or karma.

3.eke
If we see “eke” at all these days, it’s when we “eke out” a living, but it comes from an old verb meaning to add, supplement, or grow. It’s the same word that gave us “eke-name” for “additional name,” which later, through misanalysis of “an eke-name” became “nickname.”
Replaced with, hustle.

4.sleight
“Sleight of hand” is one tricky phrase. “Sleight” is often miswritten as “slight” and for good reason. Not only does the expression convey an image of light, nimble fingers, which fits well with the smallness implied by “slight,” but an alternate expression for the concept is “legerdemain,” from the French léger de main,“ literally, "light of hand.” “Sleight” comes from a different source, a Middle English word meaning “cunning” or “trickery.” It’s a wily little word that lives up to its name.
Replaced with, trick.

5.roughshod
Nowadays we see this word in the expression “to run/ride roughshod” over somebody or something, meaning to tyrannize or treat harshly. It came about as a way to describe the 17th century version of snow tires. A “rough-shod” horse had its shoes attached with protruding nail heads in order to get a better grip on slippery roads. It was great for keeping the horse on its feet, but not so great for anyone the horse might step on.
Replaced wit, gimme your lunch money.

6.fro
The “fro” in “to and fro” is a fossilized remnant of a Northern English or Scottish way of pronouncing “from.” It was also part of other expressions that didn’t stick around, like “fro and till,” “to do fro” (to remove), and “of or fro” (for or against).
Replaced with, GTFO.

7.hue
The “hue” of “hue and cry,” the expression for the noisy clamor of a crowd, is not the same “hue” as the term we use for color. The color one comes from the Old English word híew, for “appearance.” This hue comes from the Old French hu or heu, which was basically an onomatopoeia, like “hoot.”
Replaced with, bass line.

8.lurch
When you leave someone “in the lurch,” you leave them in a jam, in a difficult position. But while getting left in the lurch may leave you staggering around and feeling off-balance, the “lurch” in this expression has a different origin than the staggery one. The balance-related lurch comes from nautical vocabulary, while the lurch you get left in comes from an old French backgammon-style game called lourche. Lurch became a general term for the situation of beating your opponent by a huge score. By extension it came to stand for the state of getting the better of someone or cheating them.
Replaced with, gotcha sucker.

9.umbrage
“Umbrage” comes from the Old French ombrage (shade, shadow), and it was once used to talk about actual shade from the sun. It took on various figurative meanings having to do with doubt and suspicion or the giving and taking of offense. To give umbrage was to offend someone, to “throw shade.” However, these days when we see the term “umbrage” at all, it is more likely to be because someone is taking, rather than giving it.
Replaced with, come at me bro.

10.shrift
We might not know what a shrift is anymore, but we know we don’t want to get a short one. “Shrift” was a word for a confession, something it seems we might want to keep short, or a penance imposed by a priest, something we would definitely want to keep short. But the phrase “short shrift” came from the practice of allowing a little time for the condemned to make a confession before being executed. So in that context, shorter was not better.
Replaced with, ain't nobody got time for dat.

This is a difficult training exercise for your expanded vocabulary.

An oldie but goodie.

And, still, they don't know whether to use a question mark, or a period.

I'll be foudroyanted if that becomes commonly used. :lol:

A couple of these surprised me.

Data is a plural count noun not, standardly speaking, a mass noun.
Correct: "This datum supports the theory, but many of the other data refute it."

Disinterested means unbiasedand does not mean uninterested.
Correct: "The dispute should be resolved by a disinterested judge." / Why are you so uninterested in my story?

Enormity means extreme evil and does not mean enormousness.
Correct: The enormity of the terrorist bombing brought bystanders to tears. / The enormousness of the homework assignment required several hours of work.

Flounder means to flop around ineffectually and does not mean to founder or to sink to the bottom.
Correct: "The indecisive chairman floundered." / "The headstrong chairman foundered."

Fulsome means unctuous or excessively or insincerely complimentary and does not mean full or copious.
Correct: She didn't believe his fulsome love letter. / The bass guitar had a full sound.

Homogeneous is pronounced as homo-genius and "homogenous" is not a word but a corruption of homogenized.
Correct: The population was not homogeneous; it was a melting pot.

Hung means suspended and does not mean suspended from the neck until dead.
Correct: I hung the picture on my wall. / The prisoner was hanged.

Ironic means uncannily incongruent and does not mean inconvenientor unfortunate.
Correct: "It was ironic that I forgot my textbook on human memory." / It was unfortunate that I forgot my textbook the night before the quiz.

Irregardless is not a word but a portmanteau of regardless and irrespective.
Correct: Regardless of how you feel, it's objectively the wrong decision. / Everyone gets a vote, irrespective of their position.

Nonplussed means stunned, bewildered and does not mean bored, unimpressed.
Correct: "The market crash left the experts nonplussed." / "His market pitch left the investors unimpressed."

Practicable means easily put into practice and does not mean practical.
Correct: His French was practicable in his job, which required frequent trips to Paris./ Learning French before taking the job was a practical decision.
(my spellcheck refuses to accept practical, insisting on practicable, almost had me convinced I was wrong)

Protagonist means active character and does not mean proponent.
Correct: "Vito Corleone was the protagonist in 'The Godfather.' " / He is a proponent of solar energy.

Refute means to prove to be false and does not mean to allege to be false, to try to refute.
Correct: His work refuted the theory that the Earth was flat.

Reticent means shy, restrained and does not mean reluctant.
Correct: He was too reticent to ask her out. / "When rain threatens, fans are reluctant to buy tickets to the ballgame."

Urban legend means an intriguing and widely circulated but false story and does not mean someone who is legendary in a city.
Correct: "Alligators in the sewers is an urban legend." / Al Capone was a legendary gangster in Chicago.

To lie (intransitive: lies, lay, has lain) means to recline; to lay (transitive: lays, laid, has laid) means to set down; to lie (intransitive: lies, lied, has lied) means to fib.
Correct: He lies on the couch all day. / He lays a book upon the table. / He lies about what he does.

What if the prisoner had a big dick?

Then he was a well-hung, hanged prisoner.

So, "hung by the neck" means there's a big dick in ya throat?:D

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

From French coup de foudre = stroke of thunder/lightning

Reminds me of the opening verses of the Canterbury Tales (see lines 16 & 21 below)

I used to know the opening 20 lines or so of the Prologue by heart. Love the way it sounds when spoken aloud.

When you read english from that period, it is so like german. I love it. That's what got me interested in the german language, in fact.

Re hung/ hanged. I've noticed that "hung" is more prevalent, probably even correct, in American-English.
It's therefore becoming more common here - probably because we don't hang people any more, so there is less reason to use the term.

I always use the correct (traditional) hanged, and have been picked up on it before. People think it sounds wrong, like referring to a group as a singular entity ("The party was shown round the castle.")

I'm by no means a grammarian, and I do speak and write in the vernacular. It's just interesting how language bends and flexes over time. One generation's slang is another generation's standard.

I think 'hung drawn and quartered' probably plays a part in that too.

the hung/hanged thing is one of those thuings I sort of know, but then forget about until reminded again.

Hung sounds naturally right to those of us who are.













So they tell me. :o

WTF? Is that clishmaclaver or dishmadaver?

Just like it says, gossip; idle or foolish talk.

Some of these words would be useful if anyone knew what you're talking about, but having to explain the word every time you use it is hardly a shortcut.

Hebe got me Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary of unusual, obscure and preposterous words. IT'S AWESOME!!!!!!!

Quidnunc is one of our favorites so far. A gossip/nosy parker.

And I get to feel all special 'cause I already know some of them :D

I stopped getting Word of the Day, some time ago. Why do you get it, and I don't? I demand an investigation.