Vocabulary Accretion Thread

[fineslime]

http://youtu.be/ZJM6DDvzm84

everyone in this thread

[SneakySecrets]

Super-Underused Word Alert 🚨

Ennui-
a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement.

Throw that mf in a sentence today, it’s fun.   

Sounds like “Un-Wee”

[rolling is good]

i read a article once about how people with high iq’s have to dumb themselves down to when conversing with lay folk like me

I don't know my IQ nor do I consider myself particularly cultivated but I have to do this very often.
"Dumb down" is a bit strong but so many people are illiterate, you know they won't understand some words/expressions, or will think of you as haughty for using them.
I try to educate others when possible though, the same way I like to learn from them.
A lot of words that you guys seem to like have a greek/latin origin, I guess they sound kind of exotic to english ears.
Ennui means boredom in french, which is not exactly the same meaning as the english use.

[bob george]

ennui is gorgeous.

supernal is nice - meaning heavenly, ethereal; being or coming from on high.

another one that you might not get to use everyday but since learning it does come to mind in situations quite a bit for me is nacristic - to have an appearance like mother of pearl (or nacre). Give it some time and you'll find nacristic pops in lots of things.

ps nacristic is not coming up in google and has a red line under it when i type it - i picked it up from the magus by john fowles and i liked it. so maybe it's not real, but it's still nice.

[JANUS]

ennui is gorgeous.

supernal is nice - meaning heavenly, ethereal; being or coming from on high.

another one that you might not get to use everyday but since learning it does come to mind in situations quite a bit for me is nacristic - to have an appearance like mother of pearl (or nacre). Give it some time and you'll find nacristic pops in lots of things.

ps nacristic is not coming up in google and has a red line under it when i type it - i picked it up from the magus by john fowles and i liked it. so maybe it's not real, but it's still nice.

Perhaps it was nacreous?

[bob george]

Expand Quote

ennui is gorgeous.

supernal is nice - meaning heavenly, ethereal; being or coming from on high.

another one that you might not get to use everyday but since learning it does come to mind in situations quite a bit for me is nacristic - to have an appearance like mother of pearl (or nacre). Give it some time and you'll find nacristic pops in lots of things.

ps nacristic is not coming up in google and has a red line under it when i type it - i picked it up from the magus by john fowles and i liked it. so maybe it's not real, but it's still nice.

[close]

Perhaps it was nacreous?

You're obviously not wrong - but in the book he 100% says nacristic cause I started using the day I read it and have continued since. But yeah, I should probably start saying nacreous haha

[SneakySecrets]

That’s a pretty wild word, but I can’t think of a single time that I ever wanted to describe something as looking like mother of pearl haha.  If I ever have a legitimate opportunity to use the word, you’ll be the first one I tell.  Could be a bit of a wait though.

-

Somewhat related to the topic is the word “decimate” which is normally used when you want to say something was completely destroyed, and apologies if everyone already knows this, but it really doesn’t mean that.  It literally means to reduce by 10%, which makes sense when you think about it.  Pretty sure it comes from when Roman generals would punish their armies by picking out every tenth soldier  to be killed by their peers.  Imagine the psychological trauma that must have caused in those poor people. 

[Dental Dan]

cicatrix        (or cicatrice)

The scar of a healed wound.
A scar on the bark of a tree.

BOTANY

a mark on a stem left after a leaf or other part has become detached.

[bob george]

just came across tintinnabulation in a book i'm reading.

it is the sound of bells, OR simply a ringing or tinkling sound.

[Mr. Kamikazi]

Labile
Acquiesce


Anyone subscribe to word daily?

[companguero]

callipygian

[brycickle]

Dysphemism

[doublesteveburger]

where my parangaricutirimicuaro heads at?

[BurgerCop]

I'm reading Gulliver's Travels and he frequently calls food and drink "victuals". I like that one.
I like using the word "ablutions" in reference to trips to the bathroom sometimes.
There's a butcher shop near my house and occasional I'll say I need to pop down to the "abattoir", though I'm pretty sure abattoir is specifically a slaughterhouse and not a butcher shop.

I use all of these very sparingly and always with an exaggerated british accent.

[SneakySecrets]

Internecine - adj. relating to conflict between factions within a group

Atavistic - adj. having reverted back to a more primitive or ancient form

Samizdat - n. the secret copying and dissemination of banned literature, borrowed from Russian