Art of Expression: Expanding Your Vocabulary, Sharing Sites and Great Words (1 Viewer)

[AmandaPanda17]

One of the weirdest lookin' creatures with the coolest name: Hypostomus "plecostomus". Aka suckerfish. You know some of these guys can live out of water for up to 30 hours?? That's insane! How many of us can say we can hold our breath for the entire day?

 

[Sinera]

Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft

= "Association for Subordinate Officials of the Main Maintenance Building of the Danube Steam Shipping Electrical Services"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft

 

[AmandaPanda17]

Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft

= "Association for Subordinate Officials of the Main Maintenance Building of the Danube Steam Shipping Electrical Services"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft

Insane words like that were the ones chosen or "randomly selected" at probably 90%of the spelling bees my parent dragged me to. Yeah! Then all the other kids word were 1/2 the size of mine! But that one is just craziness! Lol

 

[Laron]

Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft

That really is not going to fit into the limited space and combined letter count on the small scrabble board.

tautologous

MEANING:
adjective: Involving unnecessary repetition of an idea, especially in different words, for example, a good-looking beautiful woman.

 

[Laron]

snollygoster

MEANING:
noun: A shrewd, unprincipled person.

ETYMOLOGY:
Of uncertain origin, perhaps an alteration of snallygaster, a mythical creature said to prey on poultry and children, possibly from Pennsylvania Dutch schnelle geeschter, from German schnell (quick) + Geist (spirit). Earliest documented use: 1846.

 

[Laron]

I went to bed with howling coyotes here in the deserts of Arizona and woke up to hyperborean conditions — 1 degress C (33F).

hyperborean

MEANING:
noun: An inhabitant of the extreme north.
adjective: 1. Relating to the extreme north. 2. Very cold.

ETYMOLOGY:
In Greek mythology, Hyperboreans were people living in a land of perpetual sunshine, beyond the reaches of north wind. The word is from Greek hyper- (beyond) + Boreas (the god of the north wind). Earliest documented use: 1601.

 

[Laron]

widdershins

MEANING:
adverb: In a counterclockwise, left-handed, or wrong direction.

USAGE:
“There was a boat, ‘The Messenger’. It went widdershins around the Middle Sea.”
Jim Webster; Dead Man Riding East; AUK Authors; 2012.

 

[Snowmelt]

widdershins

MEANING:
adverb: In a counterclockwise, left-handed, or wrong direction.

USAGE:
“There was a boat, ‘The Messenger’. It went widdershins around the Middle Sea.”
Jim Webster; Dead Man Riding East; AUK Authors; 2012.

Love it. I'm a lefty - and try teaching a lefty how to crochet. The right-handed person has to hold a mirror up so the lefty can view the actions inverse to the way it is being done!

 

[Lila]

Love it. I'm a lefty - and try teaching a lefty how to crochet. The right-handed person has to hold a mirror up so the lefty can view the actions inverse to the way it is being done!

A mirror sounds like a brilliant solution

 

[Laron]

expergefaction

MEANING:
noun:
1. Awakening or arousing.
2. The state of being awakened or aroused.

USAGE:
“It was as if the humans’ sudden reappearance was an expergefaction; their great destructive potential inspired the actions that the prophets had not deemed essential only a few short weeks before.”
Ivan Henley; The Black Sword of Xorimahr; Writers Club Press; 2002.

 

[Lila]

expergefaction

MEANING:
noun:
1. Awakening or arousing.
2. The state of being awakened or aroused.

I know where that one is going, tee hee. I'll be posting it soon

 

[Lila]

expergefaction

MEANING:
noun:
1. Awakening or arousing.
2. The state of being awakened or aroused.

USAGE:
“It was as if the humans’ sudden reappearance was an expergefaction; their great destructive potential inspired the actions that the prophets had not deemed essential only a few short weeks before.”
Ivan Henley; The Black Sword of Xorimahr; Writers Club Press; 2002.

It's here: https://www.transients.info/roundtable/threads/play-the-reality-making-story-thread-game-rising-near-the.2513/page-11#post-28891

 

[Laron]

sawbones

MEANING:
noun: A doctor, especially a surgeon.

USAGE:
"Under the Knife 2 continues the story of Dr. Derek Stiles, the brilliant young sawbones from the original game."
—Earnest Cavalli, WIRED, "Review: Trauma Center 2 Is Routine Surgery," 1 July 2008

or perhaps

"Experienced sawbones Henda, laid hands on and reconnected her patient to source."

 

[Sinera]

sawbones
MEANING:
noun: A doctor, especially a surgeon.

On Star Trek Dr Leonard McCoy was given the fun name "Bones" by Kirk. So it is a shorter version of it I assume.

 

[Laron]

Today we have an interesting word (thanks to wordsmith.org):

trencherman

MEANING:
noun
1. A hearty eater.
2. A hanger-on; parasite.

ETYMOLOGY:
From trencher (a flat piece of wood on which food is served or carved), from Old French trenchier (to cut), from Latin truncare (to lop). Earliest documented use: 1590.

USAGE:
“The detective constable was attacking his food like a trencherman.”
Mike Hollow; Direct Hit; Lion Fiction; 2015.

 

[Laron]

adulatory


MEANING:
adjective: Praising or admiring slavishly.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin adulari (to flatter, to fawn upon, like a dog wagging its tail). Earliest documented use: 1587.

USAGE:
"Stargazer reappeared after a ten year absence—possibly after meditating in a cave in Tibet—leaving adulatory responses to much of the existing content on the Roundtable forum."

 

[Lila]

Today we have an interesting word (thanks to wordsmith.org):

trencherman

MEANING:
noun
1. A hearty eater.
2. A hanger-on; parasite.

ETYMOLOGY:
From trencher (a flat piece of wood on which food is served or carved), from Old French trenchier (to cut), from Latin truncare (to lop). Earliest documented use: 1590.

USAGE:
“The detective constable was attacking his food like a trencherman.”
Mike Hollow; Direct Hit; Lion Fiction; 2015.

I recently read that a 'trencher' was an eating implement of sorts in Europe in the Middle Ages. It was a flat 'trench' of bread used to help lift food into the mouth. Apparently it was ideally about 4 days old so that it stayed intact even when dipped in sauce.
This was a book explaining how tools historically came to be what they are and was discussing how forks came to have 4 tines and a slightly curved shape. I guess if you didn't have a trencher of 4 day old piece of bread to help your food into your mouth you were out of luck at that time as forks hadn't yet come into use.
Unless you were in Asia, in which case you'd have chopsticks for the job.

 

[Laron]

blate


MEANING:
verb intr.: To babble or to cry.
adjective: Timid.

ETYMOLOGY:
For verb: Apparently an alteration of bleat, whose earlier pronunciation rhymed with the word great. Earliest documented use: 1878.
For adjective: From Scots blate (timid, sheepish). Earliest documented use: 1000.

USAGE:
“Much blating took place in the far corners of the Roundtable forum, yet no sounds were heard as the spam was removed by moderators.”
Laron; Roundtable Forum; 2018.

 

[Sinera]

I just found out that 'wischiwaschi' also exists in English. Wow.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wishy-washy
http://www.dict.cc/?s=wischiwaschi

Did not know that.

 

[Laron]

hotsy-totsy or hotsie-totsie


MEANING:
adjective:
1. Just right; perfect.
2. Haughty; pretentious.

ETYMOLOGY:
Coined by the cartoonist Billy DeBeck (1892-1942), famed for his comic strip Barney Google and Snuffy Smith. Earliest documented use: early 1920s. Another of his coinage that has found a place in English language dictionaries is heebie-jeebies.

USAGE:
“Hotsy-totsy Hailstones Melt thought. The paragraph had come together very nicely. Very nicely. The words just flowed, with much creative thought — it was a piece of art. Now it was time to hit the post reply button.”
Laron, Roundtable Forum, 2018.

 

[Laron]

boondoggle

MEANING:
noun: 1. A pointless project funded as a political favor.
2. A holiday trip to an exotic location, disguised as a business trip.
3. Braided cord, made of plastic strips, fabric, etc.
verb intr.: 1. To do useless or trivial work.
2. To go on a business trip in which the real purpose is relaxation or fun.
3. To braid plastic strips, fabric, etc.

NOTES:
The original boondoggle was a braided cord made by Boy Scouts. In 1935, a New York Times article quoted someone criticizing a New Deal program to train jobless to make handicrafts as a boondoggle. Since then this sense of the word has become more common.

USAGE:
"Carl softly released the boondoggle, letting the gust lift it up into the air, hoping the kite attached would stay attached. Was this a pointless endeavor? A boondoggle, one could say? He pondered on while texting a friend, telling him about his work that happened to be located nearby an exotic beach in Thailand; the friends response: "Sounds like a boondoggle to me, mate."
Laron, The Roundtable Forum, 2018.

 

[Laron]

ceilidh

MEANING:
noun: A social gathering, typically involving folk music, dancing, and storytelling.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Scottish Gaelic ceilidh and Irish célidhe (visit), from Old Irish céile (companion). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kei- (to lie, bed, dear), which also gave us city, cemetery, Sanskrit shiva, and incunabulum. Earliest documented use: 1875.

USAGE:
“The coronal mass ejection took time to reach the surface, but when it did, most of the video sessions of the ceilidh cut out, alongside the power. The folk of the Roundtable had joined together , with the ringing of the bowls, and stories behind told. Would they ever make contact again?’”
Laron; The Times of Old; 2050.

 

[Laron]

sitomania

MEANING:
noun: An abnormal craving for food.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek sito- (grain, food) + -mania (excessive enthusiasm or craze). Earliest documented use: 1882. The opposite is sitophobia.

USAGE:
“After Alain posted a marvelous photograph of the countryside near his home, June followed up with a soft centered pavlova, causing sitomania to spread among the threads visitors.”
Laron; The Roundtable Forum; 2018.

 

[Laron]

ailurophobia


MEANING:
noun: A fear of cats.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek ailuro- (cat) + phobia (fear). Earliest documented use: 1905.

USAGE:
"Sinera headed home, keen to check the latest posts on the Roundtable. As he approached his front door, a commotion caused him to quickly spin around. Upon turning, about 20 yards away a van sat on its side with the doors flung wide open. A hundred flying fur balls came straight towards him. Ailurophobia began to set in; speedily he opened his door, getting inside as fast as possible. Later that day, after posting about his dreadful experience on the Roundtable and getting some great advice from Pod, he saw on the news that the cat shelter had a plumbing issue and were relocating their felines when a flat tire caused the accident.”
Laron; Roundtable News; April 18, 2018.

 

[Pod]

noun: A fear of cats.

Linda is going to do one on a fear of chickens. Seriously, she knows all about it don't you Linda?

 

[Laron]

arctophile

MEANING:
noun: Someone who is very fond of teddy bears or collects them.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek arctos (bear) + -phile (lover). Earliest documented use: 1970.

USAGE:
"The arctophile wall loomed above, as Out of Time rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was in a nightmare. Something pulled at his consciousness, bringing him back to his bed. It was tarot day, he thought. Keen to shuffle the cards, he quickly rose, tripping over something furry beside his bed, he regained his footing and headed towards the bathroom. After wiping his eyes, to his dismay, another arctophile wall of bears lined the hallway."
Laron; Roundtable Forum; 2018.

 

[Pod]

You are brilliant Laron!

 

[Laron]

booboisie


MEANING:
noun: Ignorant or uncultured people regarded as a class.

ETYMOLOGY:
Coined by H.L. Mencken, as a blend of boob (a stupid person) + bourgeoisie (the middle class), from French bourgeois, from Latin burgus (fortress, fortified town). Earliest documented use: 1922.

USAGE:
"Clicking on the create new thread button never felt so good, as June posted her information on the Roundtable. Lila was first to read the post, which really amplified her lack of understanding on the topic, pushing her beyond boundaries that she never knew existed. "Those booboisie folk won't know what hit them," she thought.
Laron; Roundtable Forum; May 2018.

 

[Sinera]

booboisie


MEANING:
noun: Ignorant or uncultured people regarded as a class.

I thought I knew what 'boob' meant.

 

[Snowmelt]

In my country, if you say "You boobed" it means you made a mistake.