Atheist Discussion

Do you have unusual words you'd like to share?  Vera used the word "treacly" which I had never heard of so I looked it up.  Now I have new word.  Is there an unusual word that you think is seldom used but we should all know about?  Thanks!

I worked with electromagnetic propagation and scattering for a lot of years, and the word "attenuation" came up a fair amount. Look it up yourselves. 

Mine! MIne! MINe! MINE! MINE! MINE!

I'm fond of "deliquescent".

(06-25-2020, 05:26 AM)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: [ -> ]I'm fond of "deliquescent".

Never heard of the word.  What's it mean?

I like verbing nouns. Can't think of any now but it's fun.


What I life I lead.

Like if I saw the remnants of an old tree, like a stump. I could say stumped. Is that correct?

(06-25-2020, 06:00 AM)c172 Wrote: [ -> ]I like verbing nouns. Can't think of any now but it's fun.


What I life I lead.

Lets surface that. Let's brain that. Spot that dalmation. Fur the cat. They are molding the cheese.

prestidigitation

perambulation

peroration

My favorite word is discombobulated. I don't know why, but I really like that word.

(06-25-2020, 09:44 AM)Cavebear Wrote: [ -> ]

(06-25-2020, 06:00 AM)c172 Wrote: [ -> ]I like verbing nouns. Can't think of any now but it's fun.


What I life I lead.

Lets surface that.  Let's brain that.  Spot that dalmation.  Fur the cat.  They are molding the cheese.

Yes, I'm liking this a lot.  So I need to fabric the material.   

(06-25-2020, 05:48 AM)Dancefortwo Wrote: [ -> ]

(06-25-2020, 05:26 AM)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: [ -> ]I'm fond of "deliquescent".

Never heard of the word.  What's it mean?

It means prone to liquefying by absorbing moisture from the air. It can also mean simple liquefaction through contact with water.

(06-25-2020, 02:08 PM)Dānu Wrote: [ -> ]prestidigitation

I've been told I have magic fingers.

(06-25-2020, 02:28 PM)Dom Wrote: [ -> ]My favorite word is discombobulated. I don't know why, but I really like that word.

It onomatopoeic; it's a jumble of confused syllables jammed together, which in that sense sounds like the mental state it's describing.

I've always liked the word "tintinnabulation" and the way Edgar Allen Poe used it in, The Bells.

Quote:HEAR the sledges with the bells —
Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
In the icy air of night!
While the stars that oversprinkle
All the heavens, seem to twinkle
With a crystalline delight;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells
From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells —
From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.

And Wikipedia tells me that Poe uses "onomatopoeia"  to create the sounds of bells, another word I really like.  

Onomatopoeia is such a buzz saw of a word.  Boing!

ETA: Funny how I like unusual words but can't spell for shit.

(06-25-2020, 03:24 PM)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: [ -> ]

(06-25-2020, 02:08 PM)Dānu Wrote: [ -> ]prestidigitation

I've been told I have magic fingers.

(06-25-2020, 04:53 PM)Dancefortwo Wrote: [ -> ]Funny how I like unusual words but can't spell for shit.

I love the sound of certain words, it literally gives me pleasure (and then there's goggles which is just such a cute word).

Anyway, in one of Oliver Sacks' books I just finished listening to, there was a guy with Tourette's and his kids would collect "weird" words (and names) that he'd just repeat over and over. If I have to be perfectly honest, sometimes I,too, feel this urge to say a certain word out loud, often repeating it a couple of times (it does have a bit of an OCD feel to it), it does something to my brain. And then I just like certain words, in a perfectly normal way.

What I meant was, spelling or no spelling, words can trigger (ha!) interesting reactions.

(discombobulated is a nifty word indeed)

When I translate, I sometimes wonder whether to use a lesser known (usually older and/or more poetic) word as I'm pretty sure the stupid readers of my stupid books won't know them. Sometimes I just go, screw it, let'em look'em up, learn something.

cacophony
bunglesome
skulduggery
bumbershoot

(06-25-2020, 06:00 PM)Vera Wrote: [ -> ]

(06-25-2020, 04:53 PM)Dancefortwo Wrote: [ -> ]Funny how I like unusual words but can't spell for shit.

I love the sound of certain words, it literally gives me pleasure (and then there's goggles which is just such a cute word).

Anyway, in one of Oliver Sacks' books I just finished listening to, there was a guy with Tourette's and his kids would collect "weird" words (and names) that he'd just repeat over and over. If I have to be perfectly honest, sometimes I,too, feel this urge to say a certain word out loud, often repeating it a couple of times (it does have a bit of an OCD feel to it), it does something to my brain. And then I just like certain words, in a perfectly normal way.

What I meant was, spelling or no spelling, words can trigger (ha!) interesting reactions.

(discombobulated is a nifty word indeed)

When I translate, I sometimes wonder whether to use a lesser known (usually older and/or more poetic) word as I'm pretty sure the stupid readers of my stupid books won't know them. Sometimes I just go, screw it, let'em look'em up, learn something.

Yes, I use the word "willy-nilly" a lot.  I like to just say it apropos ( <----- another great word) of nothing.  It fits into so many of life's circumstances, especially these days.  I love the word "hoytie-toytie" as the perfect word for those uppity rich people who go through life, "willy-nilly", thinking their shit don't stink.  

(06-25-2020, 06:14 PM)Alan V Wrote: [ -> ]cacophony
bunglesome
skulduggery
bumbershoot

The first one sounds like shit.  In a similar vein, I don't find "chthonic" getting much air time in spite of beginning with such bunglesome consonants. 

When I was teaching students liked hearing certain words, especially "shenanigans".

Oh yeah, if bumbershoot isn't a reference to flatulence, it should be.

(06-25-2020, 05:56 PM)Dānu Wrote: [ -> ][...]

Might as well continue with the Ps...

Pettifoggery
Persnickety
Perspicacious

(06-25-2020, 06:43 PM)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: [ -> ]

(06-25-2020, 05:56 PM)Dānu Wrote: [ -> ][...]

I also love "whatnot". It's a slant-rhyme, which I like, and for only two syllables it can carry an awful lot; it's very efficient.

"Dandelion" is cool by me as well. I think it's the alliteration inside the word, the two hard-Ds (shut it, you pervs) one after the other.

(06-25-2020, 06:54 PM)Dānu Wrote: [ -> ]

(06-25-2020, 07:03 PM)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: [ -> ]

(06-25-2020, 06:54 PM)Dānu Wrote: [ -> ]