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Citation Station: Cool words

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      CommentAuthorNI17EG
    • CommentTimeMar 13th 2008 edited
     

    I'm always looking to expand my vocabulary, sometimes with terminology that can be applied on a regular basis, but also sometimes it is nice to have a few odd words to pull out on a rare occassion. What are some of ya'll's favourite words? And if possible, some sort of explanation or definition would be helpful. (I suppose the truly interested could look up the definition on their own...but that would require navigating away from this site =D).

    I'm pretty happy about...
    Flummox (to confuse or perplex)
    Floccinaucinihilipilification (to state something as worthless...also purported as longest non-technical word. And I spelled it right on my first try!)
    OK (um....ok....and I like it because it's just so common)
    Antithesis (opposition, contrast....I was just introduced to this word recently, and it just sounds so nice)
    Nidificate (to build a nest....so I just looked this one up, but it seems completely useless and yet somewhat cool)
    Huggermugger (either confusion or secrecy....seriously, just a very unique word)

    •  
      CommentAuthorUdoboy
    • CommentTimeMar 13th 2008
     

    What sort of tomfoolery is this? We already have a thread like this, don't we?

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      CommentAuthorNI17EG
    • CommentTimeMar 13th 2008 edited
     

    I'm sorry, I must have missed it...I'll search...

    Edit: we do have (or had) a discussion on words that should be used more often....I suppose you could conclude they are similar enough.

    Partly I forgot to search, seeing as after going through 10 pages of discussions I hadn't found it yet.

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      CommentAuthorlegatissimo
    • CommentTimeMar 13th 2008 edited
     

    I support all this ballyhoo. In fact, I've moved it to the citation station. Take that Udo!

    Here are some awesome words that I've come across reading the Dictionarii Obscura, which is an awesome book I picked up from my rare books dealer in Austin, TX:

    Counteralpine - a valley that gets regular snowfall
    Fatidic - of, relating to, or characterized by prophecy
    Quizzlematic - of, relating to, or tendency towards grandiloquent, Socratic lines of questioning (quizzelmaton is the noun)
    Banderfraque - bones that have been broken specifically by falling

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      CommentAuthorFact totum
    • CommentTimeMar 13th 2008 edited
     

    I have mulled using a version of this for the front page: Throughout the 1980s and 1990, the BBC forbade anyone on air to say, "titular", "tittilate" and "niggardly". Thank god that era of verbal oppression has passed.

  6.  

    Some of that carries on to this day! You can't say "tittilate" on any broadcast radio or television station in Alabama. Maybe other states, but I know about that one for sure.

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      CommentAuthormargaret
    • CommentTimeMar 13th 2008
     

    I know that you can in Hawaii. One of my favorite stations, The Fish 95.5 in Honolulu uses "tittilate" on a regular basis, and their programming is advertised as "family-friendly". Actually, they used to play a fun little trivia game everyday, but they've stopped for some reason. :smith:

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      CommentAuthorAthene
    • CommentTimeMar 13th 2008
     

    That's really too bad that they stopped the trivia game. I used to tune in once in a while hoping to catch the trivia, but the last several times I listened, they weren't doing it. I guess now I know why I haven't heard it.

  9.  

    I used to love that show, too. Send me an email if you want... I've got a bunch recorded. I can send them to you so you can listen to some of their greatest hits.

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      CommentAuthormargaret
    • CommentTimeMar 13th 2008
     

    I'll do that. You know what would be even better? If there were some sort of online resource that listed all of the factoids they cited! Now that would be blissful! :thumbup:

  11.  

    You just keep living in your fantasy world, where it rains candy and nothing bad ever happens :rolleyes:

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      CommentAuthorAthene
    • CommentTimeMar 13th 2008
     

    I don't know about all of the factoids, but I bet I can tell you where some of them came from. Let me know if you want a clue - I can whisper them to you. Oh, and Legat, heck yeah I want those recordings!

  13.  

    I like the word 'grandiloquent'...
    And 'parsimonious'...

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      CommentAuthorNI17EG
    • CommentTimeMar 13th 2008
     

    Thank you, legat, for your support =D.

    As for FT and toab, you guys gave words but no definitions! We need to support the laziness of our readers! (especially me =D)

    Fistulous - tubular or containing tube-like parts (that's totally rad man, like totally fistulous!)
    Xylophage - a wood eating insect (we had a lot of xylophage mounds in PNG!)
    Quixotry - visionary schemes (in honour of the famous Don)

    Oh man, I just found that dictionary.com has a spot where it will show you the "nearby words"! I love looking up random words that sound completely odd =D.

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      CommentAuthorFact totum
    • CommentTimeMar 14th 2008 edited
     

    (I fixed the typo in "titular")

    Those words need no definition. They stand quite well by themselves. Besides which, the point is that the meaning of the words is irrelevant to the factoid -- it's the sound of the words and not the meaning that got them banned by the BBC.

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      CommentAuthorTadGhostal
    • CommentTimeMar 14th 2008
     

    I like the words shit, damn, and Charles Nelson Reilly.

    Some of them are used often, but not often enough, and yet some of them are hardly ever used.

    Seriously, though... I love the word ubiquitous. I even have it embroidered on a throw pillow.

  17.  

    ChuckNorris.
    G-Uses big words to seem...wordy.
    P-cheap

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      CommentAuthorNI17EG
    • CommentTimeMar 17th 2008 edited
     

    Toab, those are great. I'm going to remember them. Now I can tell people I have a tendency to diverge into grandiloquent exposes when simplistic answers are completely adequete.

    And FT, you're right. I apologize. And will do so in the thread if I remember. I overlooked the fact that you were giving a factoid. Although, this is the Citation Station...?

  19.  

    Of course, if you diverged into grandiloquent exposés, you could be an impassioned sycophant, and even though you were quite verbose, they'd have to love you because you were being very jocular and lacked platitude, being that platitudiness (haha) is very odious in society nowadays.

    (I don't even know if that makes sense.)

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      CommentAuthorNI17EG
    • CommentTimeMar 17th 2008
     

    The general gist of the comment has been interpreted by my cognitive abilities, however, the reference to being a sychophant seems slightly derogatory.

    But I could get used to it. :devil:

  21.  

    Oh, I wasn't calling you a sycophant! I doubt that you would ever do that! With your noble name and way of typing....
    (I really suck at flattery. and comedy. but I'm tired and bored.)

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      CommentAuthorNI17EG
    • CommentTimeMar 17th 2008
     

    Ha, it's ok =P. Wow, my noble name. Don't worry about your innability to flatter proficiently. The only time it's really useful is for people who already have bigger heads than they can handle, or to convince someone to do something that perhaps they would not do otherwise.

    And as far as your lacking in the comedy department, I beg to differ. I laugh at your comments all the time. Most times you even meant for me to laugh. =P.

  23.  

    It should also be noted that, since it was made public that he was homosexual, you also cannot use the term "Charles Nelson Riley" on the radio in Alabama. Due to the precedential status of federal law, you can still use it on television, though... This has proven to be a minor "states rights" issue in Alabama in recent elections.

    My word to add is "Godomite" - one who engages in the sin of Godomy.

    More on which: http://honormac.livejournal.com/35564.html

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      CommentAuthorFact totum
    • CommentTimeMar 17th 2008
     

    factoids sometimes crop up in the most unexpected places

  25.  

    We should sponsor a study to find out what is actually -the- most unexpected place to have a factoid pop up...

    After February 2009, of course.

    Until then, I'm pretty sure it will remain the Oval Office.

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      CommentAuthorAthene
    • CommentTimeMar 18th 2008
     

    I was quite surprised to hear that our factoids are read on a regular basis in the North Pole Environmental Observatory and that they were quite popular on space station Mir.

    • CommentAuthorC'est Moi
    • CommentTimeMar 19th 2008
     

    I had to go for
    pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis- longest word in the English language
    (a disease caused by the inhalation of fine particles)
    and
    saippuakivikauppia- a palindrome from Finland
    (soap stone dealer)

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      CommentAuthorTadGhostal
    • CommentTimeMar 19th 2008
     
    Posted By: C'est Moi

    saippuakivikauppia- a palindrome from Finland
    (soap stone dealer)

    Am I missing something? How is this a palindrome (unless you added an erroneous s at the beginning or left one off the end)

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      CommentAuthorUdoboy
    • CommentTimeMar 21st 2008
     

    NO NO NO. The word "saippuakivikauppia" means "a Finnish palindrome" in English. :tongue:

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      CommentAuthorTadGhostal
    • CommentTimeMar 21st 2008
     

    You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

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      CommentAuthorAthene
    • CommentTimeMar 21st 2008
     

    Inconceivable!

    • CommentAuthorC'est Moi
    • CommentTimeMar 23rd 2008
     

    Sorry I made a mistake it is in fact saippuakivikauppias
    Is that better?

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      CommentAuthorTadGhostal
    • CommentTimeMar 23rd 2008
     

    Since it is now error-free, it is not only better, but finally acceptible and up to the rigid standards that we all adhere to.

    :boogie:

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      CommentAuthorNI17EG
    • CommentTimeMar 25th 2008
     

    Tad, if you're going to scold someone, then assert that their refined comment is up to standards, you should at least check for grammatical perfection. Moi is clearly missing punctuation in the first sentence. Not that I care greatly about the punctuation. Rather, that if we are to hold to standards we should do so completely and utterly.

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      CommentAuthorTadGhostal
    • CommentTimeMar 25th 2008
     

    I had not counted C'est Moi's entire comment as the refined factoid, but rather only the corrected word "saippuakivikauppias".

    Mentally, I had replaced the word in the original post with the corrected word - the resultant (and at this point, non-existent outside of my own mental faculties) factoid being the one I was praising as being better and error-free.

    But even now, upon further inspection, I notice the the original factoid...

    Posted By: C'est Moi

    saippuakivikauppia- a palindrome from Finland (soap stone dealer)

    ..did indeed lack not only punctuation and factual accuracy, but also some grammatical structure near the parentheses. Therefore, my entire response and clarification is incorrect and should not even be submitted.

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      CommentAuthorNI17EG
    • CommentTimeMar 25th 2008
     

    Having seen the sincerity with which you responded, I pardon your oversight completely. My opinion of you has been restored.

    Go in peace.

    • CommentAuthorC'est Moi
    • CommentTimeMar 25th 2008
     

    Saippuakivikauppias is a Finnish palindrome. It translates roughly into English as "soap stone dealer".
    Have your high standards of grammar and spelling now been met with this refined factoid, O highly acclaimed members of this forum?

    •  
      CommentAuthorNI17EG
    • CommentTimeMar 25th 2008 edited
     

    My apologies, I did not mean to offend you. I do not claim to hold to the high standards of the forum at all times (regarding grammatical accuracy), and therefore do not assert that others should be required to either. I merely was stating that if Tad was going to state that a post did, in fact, live up to the high standards, he should check it more thoroughly. It was more a reprimand on him than on you. (He has since retracted and apologized for his erroneous statement, so I do not wish to dwell greatly on this.)

    Again, I apologize for any offense.

    • CommentAuthorC'est Moi
    • CommentTimeMar 25th 2008
     

    No offense taken at all.
    In fact I am now sorry for making my post seem more serious than it was and causing you to feel the need to express your apologies.

    •  
      CommentAuthorNI17EG
    • CommentTimeMar 26th 2008
     

    Ha, it's all good =). Glad to hear there was no offense, and apology accepted. :smile:

    •  
      CommentAuthorFact totum
    • CommentTimeMar 26th 2008
     
    Posted By: NI17EG

    Again, I apologize for any offense.

    This is not the proper venue for that type of stuff.

    •  
      CommentAuthorNI17EG
    • CommentTimeMar 26th 2008
     

    I realized that halfway through the discussion. However, I felt it important to keep it within this thread, due to the connection to the comments within this thread. Also, I wanted to have a sense of resolution about the issues within this thread.

    I'll go apologize in the appropriate thread now.

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