Learn a Word!:– Neglected Vocabulary Thread

[sagewolf]

(Basically the same idea as FP's Word of the Week. Except we decided that it wasn't going to be a word every week, more like every-so-often-when-we-got-tired-of-talking-about-the-old-word, and starting the actual discussion of the words (i.e., the point of the thread) fifty posts in strikes me as stupid. So I've started a new thread. Nothing against FP doing it when his ten-day ban is up, but it's best to try and keep this going while the interest is there, IMO. Strike while the iron is hot!)

Okay, basically, a word is introduced, suggested by someone in the thread. Since the idea is to learn new vocabulary, it should probably be a word that isn't in everyday use: this way we'll all learn something. Discussion is encouraged on all words, so if you think a word is useful, or useless, or over-used or underused or redundant, say so! I'll do everything I can to keep this thread alive and I hope I won't be alone in that (Melkor, I'm looking at you, IMP-boy).

In the other thread, three words were suggested for starters, and here they are:

Circumlocution (n)
1 : the use of an unnecessarily large number of words to express an idea
2 : evasion in speech

Caliginous (adj)
1 : dark; dim; misty; obscure

Sylph (n)
1 : A graceful, slender woman or girl
2 : An unseen spirit of the air

Pick one and... Begin!

 

[Seducer of the Homeless]

i'm picking the Two I Didn't Post.

 

[QSR]

Funny... all three words sound a lot like other words that come to mind.

 

[Seducer of the Homeless]

elaborate.........we want your nuggets of thought and information

 

[Ermine]

defenestrate - v. to throw someone out the window. My favorite!

sphinx - n. mysterious, enigmatic person

 

[inquiringF]

Sphinx too simple.

 

[Ermine]

But the definition I gave is rarely used.

 

[inquiringF]

But the definition I gave is rarely used.

It's pretty easy to deduce that it'll have such a definition. I did.

 

[Parodyofme]

Sylph just sounds dirty

 

[dwags222]

It's pretty easy to deduce that it'll have such a definition. I did.

gosh i would love to see the decutive logic behind that one.

 

[inquiringF]

gosh i would love to see the decutive logic behind that one.

For the basis, the statue is of a mythological figure. Next is the legendary Riddle of the Sphinx.

 

[Dissident]

I think we need less words and more discussion about the words. Maybe creative examples of sentences using them, some related issue that involves the word in order to help relating and incorporating the word, etc.

For example:

Circumlocution is not always negative, it is used a lot in poetry and some styles of writing in general. What separates shakespeare's circumlocutions from annoying ones? (assuming shakespeare doesn't annoy you )

Do you use circumlocution? In what situations and for what reasons?

Etc.

 

[Seducer of the Homeless]

Re: Learn a Word!:– Neglected Vocabulary Thread

defenestrate - v. to throw someone out the window. My favorite!

sphinx - n. mysterious, enigmatic person

are you on Stephen Frys Forum?

i like the Sphinx. i also like Sylph (my word)
i like these classical sounding words...

 

[Ermine]

^ No, I just fell in love with the word after I was informed of the 1618 Defenestration in Prague in world history class. The image of a catholic throwing a protestant out the window has stuck in my mind.

 

[Seducer of the Homeless]

someone on the forum said this word in a thread similar to this. i thought it odd then and just...it could have been you.

 

[Wisp]

Ermine, defenestration has been my favorite word for ages, just above facetiously. (It has all the vowels, in order).

 

[Ermine]

Soth, I believe that would be either me or Wisp. I think I remember both of us declaring it as our favorite word.

 

[FF]

Apparently, I have a tendency to be very caliginous.

 

[sagewolf]

Yes, but why? Dissident's right: we need more talking about the words.

I'm the one that suggested caliginous, and I did so because it distils many different meanings into one. It communicates something that the others don't, too: a dim thought is very different to a dark thought, and I don't know if a thought can be misty or not-- that sounds odd. A caliginous thought, though, is all of those things and more than them: the word has a unique identity all its own and the definition only describes different facets of it. That, and my thoughts are also often quite caliginous, so I suppose I have a preferential attachment to it.

(And yes, defenestration is a brilliantly underused word.)

 

[Seducer of the Homeless]

not any more it isn't underused...

 

[sagewolf]

Not here, anyway, but I have yet to hear anyone other than my mom use it IRL. But it's such a great threat, especially if you're several storeys up!

 

[Seducer of the Homeless]

but if they don't know what it means, we can make it seem very sinister