Jump to content
  • entries
    636
  • comments
    12,222
  • views
    157,283

Must-know Words


Dokuma

431 views

1. Defenestrate: "throw somebody or something out of window: to throw something or somebody out of a window (formal or humorous)"

 

It is quite entertaining to defenestrate paper airplanes.

 

2. Garbology: "study of waste materials: the study of a cultural group by an examination of what it discards"

 

Garbology might be a good career choice for dumpster divers. Recycling may make the job of future garbologists extremely difficult--they'll have less to study.

 

3. Digerati: "computer experts: people who have or claim to have a sophisticated expertise in the area of computers, the Internet, and the World Wide Web"

 

Not too long ago, computer expertise was considered nerdy. These days, many people strive to be among the digerati.

 

4. Antipodes:

1. "places at opposite sides of world: places at opposite sides of the world from each other, or the areas at the side of the world opposite from a given place"

2. "opposites: two points, places, or things that are diametrically opposite each other"

 

One could say that Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli and Warren "Potsie" Weber are antipodes.

 

5. Hallux: "first digit on the foot: the big toe on the human foot, or the first digit on the hind foot of some mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians (technical)"

 

The ballerina had her hallux insured for $10 million!

 

6. Otiose:

1. "not effective: with no useful result or practical purpose"

2. "worthless: with little or no value"

3. "lazy: unwilling or uninterested in working or being active (archaic)"

 

Will e-mail render traditional letter writing otiose? Let's hope not.

 

7. Cullet: "glass to be recycled: broken or waste glass returned for recycling"

 

Don't forget to take the cullet out to the curbside, and be sure to put it next to the trash, not in it.

 

8. Pellucid:

1. "clear in meaning: easy to understand or clear in meaning (formal)"

2. "transparent: allowing all or most light to pass through (literary)"

 

The police officer's warning was pellucid: Drivers must go the speed limit in the school zone.

 

9. Borborygmus: "stomach rumble: the rumbling sounds made by the movement of gases in the stomach and intestine (technical)"

 

If you lay your head on someone's stomach, you are likely to hear borborygmus.

 

10. Expropriate: "take away something belonging to somebody: to take property or money from somebody, either legally for the public good or illegally by theft or fraud"

 

The thief's goal was to expropriate the ladies' jewelry.

 

And thus you are enlightened.

14 Comments


Recommended Comments

Yes! Enlightened! So enlightened! I see it now... allow me to defenestrate my otiose dictionary with my hallux, so we may be antipodes, for now I have the brilliant digerati Sporky to guide, so pellucid, me through the world of large words, fearing no terrible clouded cullet. Don't expropriate Sporky! He's my personal dictionary!

 

Anyone who accuses the aforementioned language of imitating unintelligible garbology will proceed to hear tintinnabulation!

 

 

Turakii

 

P.S. That last one means "the ringing of bells." :P

Link to comment

Shock! Awe! Astonishment!

 

Yes, all that and more. The only thing I would add to this would be "ineffable", which means something along the lines of "Unknowable, unthinkable, not to be spoken of or even thought about, so don't bother asking."

 

It's probably the best word I know.

Link to comment
I knew there had to be a word for that toe. There's prolly some for the others too.

At firstI though you were making 'em up, but I got the gist these are real. I already knew expropriate anyway.


(o)
Link to comment

Susurrus. I dunno if I have the right amount of "S"es.

 

Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliaphobia, the fear of long words.

 

Floccinaucinihilipilification. Don't ask me if I spelled that right.

 

Physiognomy. I don't even know what that means.

 

Parthenogenisis. It was from Bio class.

 

I won't mention antidisestablishmentarianism-- oh, whoops, already did.

 

Evince. Despotism. Usurpation. Yes, I'm just picking words from the Declaration of Independence. "...evinces a design to reduce them under complete despotism" is my favorite line.

 

Aight, got no more off the top of my head...

Link to comment
Guest
Add a comment...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...