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BS: $5 Word Contest...
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Subject: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Bobert Date: 30 Jul 13 - 08:43 PM My grandmother used to talk about $5 words even though she didn't have much more than 50 cents words... So, give us your best $5 word... Rules: no going thru the dictionary or Googling... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Ebbie Date: 31 Jul 13 - 12:44 AM I quite like 'elucidate'. :) |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 31 Jul 13 - 12:59 AM evisceration incorporeal phantasmagoria erectile particolored ampule syrette singlestick For extra credit, use all of these in one meaningful sentence. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Georgiansilver Date: 31 Jul 13 - 01:40 AM Inconsequential.......... |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Ebbie Date: 31 Jul 13 - 02:23 AM indubitably |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Dave Hanson Date: 31 Jul 13 - 03:14 AM wheelbarrow. Dave H |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: GUEST,spleen cringe Date: 31 Jul 13 - 03:54 AM penultimo. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Leadfingers Date: 31 Jul 13 - 05:24 AM Antidisestablishmentarianism |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: TheSnail Date: 31 Jul 13 - 06:24 AM pulchritude palimpsest cuspidor hirsute |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Nigel Parsons Date: 31 Jul 13 - 07:21 AM "Harold Melvin" Actually a £5 word. Slang term for £5- (which is a 'blue note') |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Musket Date: 31 Jul 13 - 07:32 AM nipple Although around here, that would set you back £5.00 which is $7.60 today. A tenner allows you to increase your vocabulary somewhat.... |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Becca72 Date: 31 Jul 13 - 08:25 AM spondylolisthesis *medical transcriptionist's mind at work* |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 31 Jul 13 - 10:00 AM rhodophyta oogonium saprophytic mucilaginous oviparous ovine polymorphous |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Pete Jennings Date: 31 Jul 13 - 10:04 AM Dialectical. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 31 Jul 13 - 11:06 AM Here's a musical one. You know that song from "The Messiah,": And he shall purify-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y the sons of Levi." Apparently you can sing all those extra syllables smoothly or by giving each one its own separate little puff of breath. That is called 'melismata.' It's harder to do. We were going to sing that in choir, and the editor wrote "Melismata are extensional." I asked and was told that means you can do it either way. So that's my $5 word: extensional. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Pete Jennings Date: 31 Jul 13 - 11:54 AM No such word, Leeneia. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Pete Jennings Date: 31 Jul 13 - 11:56 AM I take it back, Leeneia! Yes there is - I spelt it wrong in the online dictionary! Doh! |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Bill D Date: 31 Jul 13 - 12:41 PM Incontinent, retrograde valedictorians simultaneously inhibit anthropomorphic, cretaceous calligraphy. (some people count sheep late at night to help get to sleep... I have, for the last few years, played this 'game' of constructing sentences of words of 3 syllables or more, in a stream-of-conciousness way. It has to be a complete sentence, it does NOT have to make 'sense', but merely be grammatically correct. In fact, 'making sense' tends to inhibit creativity. If I pause more than 2-3 seconds in coming up with a word, I have to start over. I try not to repeat words in any single 'session'. Sometimes I try in alphabetical order, or using one beginning letter only. Obviously, some letters are easier than others. Some nights I surprise myself with vocabulary I was not aware of.)(I considered allowing myself pronouns and prepositions, but that makes it too easy.) Bipolar nonentities surreptitiously Gerrymander vacillating, quiescent marauders, eliminating lachrymose constables. (in my head at night, there's no spell checker looking over my shoulder...here, I occasionally get caught.) |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Ebbie Date: 31 Jul 13 - 12:53 PM Rap, I would think a five dollar word is a word that one might conceivably find oneself using, even if inadvertently. You use those words?? I can 'hear' Bill D using those words. :) |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: GUEST,Grishka Date: 31 Jul 13 - 03:06 PM Dictionaries define: "A fancy word", "A large word, often hard to pronounce". Examples I just googled rather suggest "A word too learned for the context in which it is used" - as if the speaker were overpaying a small service. I guess the expression originated in the time when $5 was real money. (Urban Dictionary mentions "$5 haircut" for "a total mess on the billiard/pool table" - that sounds more contemporary in terms of currency.) The popular "Show Me the Way to Go Home (Learned Version)", as documented in many Mudcat threads, seems to me a good collection of examples, adding up to quite an amount even by today's value. For this thread, words are particularly pertinent that are more or less synonymous to simpler and more common words. Scientific or medical terminology does not hit the point either, but manager-speak often does, even without resorting to other languages such as Greek. To serve that clientele, the notion should be rechristened "$5000 word" - a price that may be charged for one day and person in a crowded management training seminar. "Buzz word" is a related notion, but not exactly synonymous. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 31 Jul 13 - 07:33 PM When the occasion calls for it, yes. They simply trip off the tongue in an iatrogenic manner, causing consternation in those who are bereft of the knowledge of the inventory of base morphemes plus their combinations with derivational morphemes in a given language. Ya see, I'm packin' a vocabulary and I ain't afraid ta use it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Bobert Date: 31 Jul 13 - 08:09 PM Okay, this is a phrase that I have used on occasion to describethe behaviors of some of the folks here: "polymorphous perverse guilt"... Look it up... B;~) |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: GUEST Date: 31 Jul 13 - 08:25 PM hideobilia |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 31 Jul 13 - 09:39 PM The really precious ones are the ones where if they didn't exist it'd be virtually impossible to express them without a lengthy periphrasis. That's an example, but the one that best exemplifies the category perhaps is a more common one - wistful. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Ebbie Date: 31 Jul 13 - 09:56 PM "They simply trip off the tongue in an iatrogenic manner, causing consternation in those who are bereft of the knowledge of the inventory of base morphemes plus their combinations with derivational morphemes in a given language." I know what you mean. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: DMcG Date: 01 Aug 13 - 08:21 AM spanghew - "to cause a toad to fly into the air". Clearly a word the world was in desparate need of. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Becca72 Date: 01 Aug 13 - 09:01 AM sounds more like the sound the toad makes upon lift off... |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 01 Aug 13 - 10:20 AM It's two words, but I kinda like it: "post-electoral coitus." Y'all can probably figger out the meanin' iffen ya puts yer mind to it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Little Hawk Date: 01 Aug 13 - 10:27 AM swan As in, "I swan!" (an expression Amos uses quite often) Yes, it's a short word, but I think it's definitely worth at least 5 dollars. jejeune (another word Amos is fond of) (it's French) verisimilitude concatenacious |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Pete Jennings Date: 01 Aug 13 - 10:28 AM Looks like three words to me... |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: GUEST,Grishka Date: 01 Aug 13 - 10:59 AM Spreading misspelled or non-existing words costs $5 fine, with a surtax when concatenated. "Jejeune" is a (rare) French family name - Amos's secret lover? |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Bill D Date: 01 Aug 13 - 11:34 AM Woke up this morning with Vs running thru my head: Vivacious, voluptuous vegetarians vicariously validating voluminous velocipedes, voraciously vulcanize various validictorians. (yes, I know it's weird.) |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Don(Wyziwyg)T Date: 01 Aug 13 - 11:43 AM The socially ambitious wunderkind is oftentimes an egregious ignoramous, whose insubstantial powers of ratiocination precipitate an ineluctable penchant for sesquipedalian communication, in an ineffectual endeavour to accede to the eminence of the erudite pedagogues of academe. Don T. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Don(Wyziwyg)T Date: 01 Aug 13 - 11:46 AM And it makes sense. Don T. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 01 Aug 13 - 11:50 AM chthonic means 'deep underground' |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: bobad Date: 01 Aug 13 - 02:06 PM syzygy |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 01 Aug 13 - 03:22 PM Bobert, I realize that you are callipygian and steatopygia is not foreign to your aesthetic, but don't confuse it with adipocere or you might find yourself one of Zenker's degenerates. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Ebbie Date: 01 Aug 13 - 04:25 PM Little Hawk, 50 points off for misspelling a $5.00 word. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: GUEST,Grishka Date: 01 Aug 13 - 05:27 PM Ditto for Don. Remember that poor furriners like meself may adopt bad habits ... |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Little Hawk Date: 01 Aug 13 - 06:08 PM Which one? |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Bill D Date: 01 Aug 13 - 06:10 PM He didn't misspell one... he created one that doesn't exist. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Bill D Date: 01 Aug 13 - 06:14 PM concatenate doesn't have an adjectival form. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 01 Aug 13 - 06:17 PM It can have an adverbal form, though. Even a gerundal. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: JennieG Date: 01 Aug 13 - 06:27 PM Transmogrify. Phthisis. Wouldn't want to come down with that; the name probably comes from the breathy sounds one makes as one expires. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: GUEST Date: 02 Aug 13 - 12:11 AM Blatherskite Callithumpian |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: JennieG Date: 02 Aug 13 - 12:14 AM Above guest was me, the interwebz ate my cookie. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 02 Aug 13 - 12:17 AM A veritable plethora of verbiage! |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Ebbie Date: 02 Aug 13 - 12:22 AM I like plethora. Verbiage, not so much. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Ebbie Date: 02 Aug 13 - 12:23 AM Sounds like cattle fodder. And mudder too. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 02 Aug 13 - 12:34 AM Walter Whitman, Jr., the poet, wrote about the "scented herbage" of his breast. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Don Firth Date: 02 Aug 13 - 01:09 AM "Singlestick." Well . . . maybe a $3.50 word. "Sherlock Holmes, while returning to his apartment at 221B Baker Street, was set upon by two footpads. Skilled in singlestick fencing, he deftly wielding his walking stick, smote them about the head and ears, and sent them scuttling for cover." I'm sure Rapparee knows this, but for others, singlestick is derived from fencing, and as I understand it, when gentlemen stopped wearing swords, they carried a walking stick. There was (is) a science of using such a gentleman's accessory as a weapon, wielding it much like a lightweight fencing saber. It won't cut, but it can sure leave welts and bruises. Makes a fairly effective weapon in skillful hands. Don Firth |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Little Hawk Date: 02 Aug 13 - 08:10 AM Why shouldn't concatenate have an adjectival form? Perhaps the online dictionary simply neglected to include it. Fie, I say! Fie! (another great $5 word, and it only has 3 letters) |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 02 Aug 13 - 10:17 AM Moulinette. Riposte. Falchion. Cuttoe. Seax. Poignard. Quillions. Buckler. Targe. Riccasso. Main gauche. Pommel. Fuller. Plastron. Is that better, Don? |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: dick greenhaus Date: 02 Aug 13 - 10:22 AM steatocephalic |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: GUEST,Chongo Chimp Date: 02 Aug 13 - 10:26 AM Kreegah! Bundolo! Gom! Gumado. Histah. Sabor. Tantor. Ungawa! Ahhh-EEE-Ah-EEE-Ahhhhhhhhhh!!! - Chongo |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Pete Jennings Date: 02 Aug 13 - 11:18 AM Ook. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Ebbie Date: 02 Aug 13 - 12:02 PM (Just an aside here to Chongo: You are tiresome. Please tell your master that I prefer his words to come from his mouth. Others' mileage may vary, but that is how I feel.) |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Pete Jennings Date: 02 Aug 13 - 12:47 PM Uh oh... |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: sciencegeek Date: 02 Aug 13 - 01:07 PM well... I entered junior high with college level vocabulary and my college degree added more specialized jargon, not to mention the assorted areas of interest I get involved with. So all due respect to your granny, Bobert, but the words that I think most highly of and seem to be the hardest to embrace have to be: empathy, charity, compassion, respect, honesty and reasonablity. There is a time and a place for proper word usage needed to be clear and concise, which includes those $5 words... but, I've had to dig through too many piles of wordy BS in my life to be awed by a multisyllabic vocabulary. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: DMcG Date: 02 Aug 13 - 01:20 PM A google search didn't readily show it, but some well known author of the past declared that good writing is not such that those who want to understand it can, but that the reader must understand it, whether they want to or not. A good principle, I think, and I agree with sciencegeek that there are an awful lot of small ideas hiding behind impressive words in many fields. Management-speak is a prime example, but there's no shortage in other disciplines... |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: sciencegeek Date: 02 Aug 13 - 01:33 PM LOL... the hubby loves to paraphrase Thomas Jefferson regarding speeches. If you want a 2 hour speech I'll have ready immediately... if you want a 15 minute speech, that may take me days. Nobody remembers the many droning speeches made that day at Gettysburg... only that short, concise one given by Lincoln. It was over before most of the audience knew it had started. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Little Hawk Date: 02 Aug 13 - 02:25 PM MY thoughts come from my mouth, Ebbie. Chongo's thoughts come from his. We are quite different. Did you think Walt Kelly was identical to any of his comic strip characters? Not so! They each had a personality all their own, though Pogo was probably the closest to being "Everyman", but still probably quite different from Walt Kelly. Chongo serves the purpose of social satire. He holds up a mirror for people to see relfections of themselves...or what they fear in themselves...either way. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 02 Aug 13 - 02:42 PM The difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter--it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning. --Mark Twain, 1888 |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: bobad Date: 02 Aug 13 - 03:12 PM pusillanimous |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Georgiansilver Date: 02 Aug 13 - 04:03 PM Floccinaucinihilipilification... longest word in the English language and it means "The art of establishing something to be worthless"! |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Ebbie Date: 02 Aug 13 - 04:19 PM "He holds up a mirror for people to see relfections of themselves...or what they fear in themselves...either way." Ah, Little Hawk, if Chongo, et al, is your way of dealing with your fears then it is OK with me. Carry on. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Little Hawk Date: 02 Aug 13 - 04:29 PM Ebbie - LOL!!! ;-D No, I have quite different ways of dealing with my fears...I hide under the bed. Or in the broom closet. Or in back of the china cabinet. Chongo, you'll note, has a completely different way of dealing with fear. He attacks whatever he is afraid of head-on and with deadly force whilst pretending to be utterly fearless. This has given Chongo a very exciting life, to be sure, but I can't see adopting his approach in my own case. That's why I enjoy Chongo so much. He does all kinds of things I would never do, and he gets to go out with sharp-looking dames too, while I sit peacefully at home reading good books about people like Joan of Arc and Leonard Cohen. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: bobad Date: 02 Aug 13 - 05:23 PM mucilaginous |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Little Hawk Date: 02 Aug 13 - 05:54 PM gelatinous imperturbable perspicacious concupiscence satyriasis megalomania eldritch phenomenological incontrovertible incomprehensible inconCEIVable! (when uttering the capitalized part of "inconCEIVable!", one's eyes should bug out dramatically, and it helps if this is accompanied by a deep flush to the facial tissues) |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Little Hawk Date: 02 Aug 13 - 06:02 PM soporific necrophilia mephistophelian outre' parsimonious pecuniary apothecary rhinoplasty |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Don(Wyziwyg)T Date: 02 Aug 13 - 06:22 PM I'll see your Floccinaucinihilipilification...Mike and raise you a pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis Also spelled pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis The longest word in the O.E.D. and undoubtedly accepted as English. Don T. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Little Hawk Date: 02 Aug 13 - 06:26 PM brevity succinctness rue awe |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Don(Wyziwyg)T Date: 02 Aug 13 - 06:30 PM ""The socially ambitious wunderkind is oftentimes an egregious ignoramous, whose insubstantial powers of ratiocination precipitate an ineluctable penchant for sesquipedalian communication, in an ineffectual endeavour to accede to the eminence of the erudite pedagogues of academe. Don T."" BUGGER! All that flawlessly constructed sesquipedalian, but perfectly cogent text, and it's destroyed by one of the $2.50 words. Igno-bloody-ramus! I do think 50 points off is a bit harsh though. After all, LH only got that much for invention. I feel that I must appeal to the third umpire! Don T. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 02 Aug 13 - 06:45 PM Hey, I used some of those words earlier! You should penalized! I think scaphism appropriate for this offense. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Don(Wyziwyg)T Date: 02 Aug 13 - 07:41 PM Terribly sorry Rap! I didn't know you had copyrighted them, though I would claim to have made better use of them. Don T. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: kendall Date: 02 Aug 13 - 08:24 PM Becca! that's one of my problems; now I can't use it. However I shall toss out this gem, Savagrus. A very common word back where I came from. It means difficult, such as working with a dull tool, shoveling snow in minus zero weather. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Bill D Date: 02 Aug 13 - 08:41 PM philtrum frenulum metrolabial sulcus tragus bromidrosis scapula clavicle |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Keef Date: 02 Aug 13 - 08:49 PM BOLLOCKS! WhatEVER! That's all you really need! |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Little Hawk Date: 02 Aug 13 - 10:09 PM Keep your sodding opinion to yourself, Keef! ;-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Ebbie Date: 02 Aug 13 - 10:44 PM A great many of these words I have no idea of. I must say though, that most of them look more like 15 dollar ones. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Pete Jennings Date: 03 Aug 13 - 06:28 AM Ker-ching! |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Mrrzy Date: 03 Aug 13 - 03:38 PM sphagnum ubiquitous irk |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Little Hawk Date: 04 Aug 13 - 08:42 AM skulk verge meander ilk wrestlemania |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 04 Aug 13 - 10:30 AM maniacal phosphorescence fluorocarbons trichlorethylene dioxin trinitrotoulene consubstantial transubstantiation dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (growing up we really like this one) onanism mixologist coefficient repose ringlets mitral nitrification scrofulous geode geosynchronous jollification |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Ebbie Date: 04 Aug 13 - 11:38 AM One of my favorite emotion-evoking words is a simple one: lilt. It has always made me smile. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Bill D Date: 04 Aug 13 - 11:46 AM One word I heard used over 50 years ago, by one person and never since, is 'faunching'...I took an instantly dislike to the word. It upset me even without a definition.... it seems to be an older bit of vernacular meaning approximately: "To be so angry as to make uncontrollable sounds likened to hyper-ventilating or grunting." |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Ebbie Date: 04 Aug 13 - 12:40 PM The only person I have ever heard use 'faunching', Bill, was a woman who used it to mean 'idling', as in "This morning I accomplished nothing. I just faunched around.' Wonder about the derivation? |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 04 Aug 13 - 07:10 PM chupacabra isosceles areal musketoon frizzen mellifluous portentous |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: bobad Date: 04 Aug 13 - 07:16 PM perspicacity |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 04 Aug 13 - 08:48 PM inherent duplicity barratry mote promissory androgyny zygote gamete avuncular interstices thumbstall trunnion redoubt gabion linstock |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Bert Date: 04 Aug 13 - 08:58 PM Metamorphosing Pollywogs, who thinks these things up? And concatenate is tortuous. Catenate means from into a chain, the con is superfluous. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Bert Date: 04 Aug 13 - 09:01 PM Of course, sometimes these words are necessary. Somebody once wrote, 'a hirsute telescopic copulatory appendage'; but you can't write 'big hairy dick' in an entomology textbook. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: GUEST,Grishka Date: 05 Aug 13 - 05:59 AM Bert, "concatenate" is of reasonably good Latin pedigree, originally meaning "join two or more existing chains to form a single one". Still, it is a $5 word (i.e. "overpaid"), if it can be replaced for example by "join". Compared to other languages such as Spanish, English is struck with a very large number of words known only to (varying) minorities. Such words are called "worthless" on a nice topical website I just stumbled over when searching for "faunch". While some $5 words may not be understood by all listeners or readers, this is not their main point. Rather, a typical $5 word user wants to dress up shallow thoughts as |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: TheSnail Date: 05 Aug 13 - 06:37 AM Rapparee dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane Speaking as an erstwhile research chemist, I'm not convinced about that one. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 05 Aug 13 - 10:00 AM DDT, a now-banned insecticide. IUPAC name: 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethane. C14H9Cl5. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 05 Aug 13 - 09:34 PM Hinny. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 05 Aug 13 - 09:59 PM Floccinaucinilipilification A medical/mental condition causes one to compulsively pick at tiny (almost surely imaginary) hard-to-see bits on one's clothing. Dave Oesterreich |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: JennieG Date: 06 Aug 13 - 01:26 AM What I would like to know is........ .......has any body won the $5 yet? and who gets to decide, anyway? |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Ebbie Date: 06 Aug 13 - 03:20 AM To me, a $5 word isn't worth that much if one cannot use it in a sentence or in a conversation where practically everyone involved agrees that, under-used or not, it expresses the thought perfectly. Otherwise, pah! |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: GUEST,Grishka Date: 06 Aug 13 - 08:56 AM Ebbie, from reading some samples I googled the other day, I conclude that "$5 word" is normally meant critically. The metaphor suggests some construct, say a patchwork blanket, in which one piece is much more expensive than necessary and fitting. Obviously, this is a property of the whole context, not only of the incongruous word itself. Although I did not plan to participate in the contest, my candidate is “profound”, since the claim it denotes is the very epitome of fivedollarism, while not being rare at all. (When I learned English in France, we used to anglicize French words at liberty. The teacher, a native speaker, insisted that those words did not exist; sometimes we could prove her wrong.) |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Pete Jennings Date: 06 Aug 13 - 09:38 AM Polyisocyanurate. Normally abbreviated to PIR, it is produced as a solid foam for use in insluation boards for buildings. I sat a 3 hour building technlogy exam in 2007 and managed to use it (the whole word) twice! |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Don(Wyziwyg)T Date: 06 Aug 13 - 09:58 AM ""Rather, a typical $5 word user wants to dress up shallow thoughts as deep profound. This phenomenon can be observed in all languages, even without problems of understanding."" Precisely the gist of my earlier offering, couched in words valued between $5 and $50. You don't get much more pseudo profound than the following: ""The socially ambitious wunderkind is oftentimes an egregious ignoramus, whose insubstantial powers of ratiocination precipitate an ineluctable penchant for sesquipedalian communication, in an ineffectual endeavour to accede to the eminence of the erudite pedagogues of academe. Don T."" |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Don(Wyziwyg)T Date: 06 Aug 13 - 10:01 AM I also have a soft spot for "Nodule." Don T. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Don(Wyziwyg)T Date: 06 Aug 13 - 10:24 AM ""Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee - PM Date: 02 Aug 13 - 06:45 PM Hey, I used some of those words earlier! You should penalized! I think scaphism appropriate for this offense."" In a moment of idle curiosity, I looked back through the thread and found none of my words in posts by you except for the following 5 cent variety: "the", "is", "an", "of", "in" and "to". Can it be, Sirrah, that your post above was directed at some other member, or must I perforce direct my seconds to attend upon you to present my gauntlet of finest dove grey kid (with the lead shot filled Fingers) in a challenge to restore my honour. I shall of course allow sufficient time for the broken jaw to heal, not being one to seek unfair advantage. I await your response in due course. Don T. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 06 Aug 13 - 10:28 AM "You ride that hinny over there. We'll ride out to Don Springs, then over to the thicket and then back, making an isosceles triangle. Use a McClelland to saddle up." "When you get the trunnions set, load canister and push 'er up to the gabion. I'll use the linstock. We'll take that redoubt." |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Ebbie Date: 06 Aug 13 - 11:09 AM Ah. That's the ticket, Rap. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: GUEST,Grishka Date: 06 Aug 13 - 12:18 PM Don T., I noticed with pleasure that you switched on your spelling checker. (About a year ago, we had a thread titled something like "Are Mudcatters political ignoramouses?" - you need not read it to imagine the content. I suggested a neologism "ignora-mouse", plural "ignora-mice", for a person too shy to acquire any knowledge about controversial topics.) Your sentence contains some excellent $5ers, but some others are more in the realm of scientific terminology. Scientists are not profound, they are geeks or fachidiots - no longer cool, sorry. I think "oftentimes" sounds archaic (or am I mistaken?), which ain't cool either. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Bill D Date: 06 Aug 13 - 12:51 PM It may be that the most relevant, and so far unmentioned, word for this thread is: obfuscation, which has so far not been eschewed. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 06 Aug 13 - 02:22 PM The inherent duplicity of barratry casts a mote in the eye of justice. "You will find androgyny in both zygote and gamete," he said, chuckling in an avuncular tone. "No interstices, no ladder," as the saying goes. "Be sure to use the thumbstall!" cried the number 3 man on the gun. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 06 Aug 13 - 04:55 PM "Nodule" being a relative hard spot. Dave Oesterreich |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Bill D Date: 06 Aug 13 - 06:38 PM You mean my Uncle Doug was a nodule? |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: TheSnail Date: 06 Aug 13 - 08:53 PM dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane Seems I'll have to concede that one, Rap, but it strikes me as very sloppy nomenclature. Hinny is an endearment in Newcastle-on-Tyne. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 06 Aug 13 - 10:11 PM How about 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin then? |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: TheSnail Date: 07 Aug 13 - 09:39 AM Is that right? Looks as if it should be 2,3,6,7-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin to me. I think I'll stick to the beer. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 07 Aug 13 - 10:52 AM Do stick to beer. That's the stuff in "Agent Orange" that's caused all the problems. IUPAC Name is 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo[b,e][1,4]-dioxin. It's the stuff that brought about the EU's Seveso II Directive and has cost billions in US and other currencies because of the health problems it causes. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Don(Wyziwyg)T Date: 07 Aug 13 - 11:46 AM "oftentimes" ROGET'S THESAURUS frequently [free-kwuhnt-lee] Show IPA Part of Speech: adverb Definition: commonly, repeatedly Synonyms: again and again, as a rule, at regular intervals, at short intervals, at times, by ordinary, customarily, every now and then, generally, habitually, in many instances, in quick succession, intermittently, many a time, many times, much, not infrequently, not seldom, oft, often, oftentimes, ofttimes, ordinarily, over and over, periodically, recurrently, regularly, spasmodically, successively, thick and fast, time and again, usually, very often If it's good enough for Roget............! Don T. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: dick greenhaus Date: 07 Aug 13 - 12:19 PM neologism, and its close relation, carcinomenclature |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Bill D Date: 07 Aug 13 - 12:36 PM study of diseases of elephant skin: Pachydermatology for my own skin: 6α,9-difluoro-11β,16α,17,21-tetrahydroxypregna-1,4-diene-3,20-dione, cyclic 16,17-acetal with acetone,21-acetate |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: GUEST,Grishka Date: 07 Aug 13 - 12:53 PM Don, no doubt that "oftentimes" is a correct English word. To my feeling, it does not sound profound, but somewhat finicky, as if it were slightly archaic. As I said, I may be wrong. Neologism: a scientific term, not profound, just exact. "Newly coined word" may do, but is lengthy. (I cannot claim my posts to be always as readable as possible; please grant me pardon as a non-native-speaker. However, if you catch me dressing up shallow thoughts, do not spare me your criticism by any means!) |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: TheSnail Date: 07 Aug 13 - 02:12 PM Yes. Yes. Yes. I know what dioxin is. I was just quibbling about the numbering of the chlorine substitution positions. Don't mind me, I'm just looking for displacement activities. Might go for wine this evening. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Bill D Date: 07 Aug 13 - 02:28 PM In Wash. DC 25 years ago, I saw a Volkswagon van with the license plate DIOXIN. I have no idea whether he was for it or against it... or whether it was the initials of his kid's school. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 08 Aug 13 - 12:25 AM Toxicity. Lethality. Hysteresis. Spheroid. Oblate. Rubicund. Rotund. Lobotomy. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Don(Wyziwyg)T Date: 08 Aug 13 - 05:50 AM ""Don, no doubt that "oftentimes" is a correct English word. To my feeling, it does not sound profound, but somewhat finicky, as if it were slightly archaic. As I said, I may be wrong."" Oh dear! One more try. The whole sentence was a sideswipe at the type of twerp who uses long words in a futile attempt to seem erudite. It was me taking the piss by doing exactly the same thing I was taking the piss out of. In that context, the aforementioned twerp would have no choice but to pick the only unusual word, where no $5 words presented themselves.. Hence "oftentimes"! Don T. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Pete Jennings Date: 08 Aug 13 - 07:28 AM "Twerp" is actually a good one... |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: GUEST,Grishka Date: 08 Aug 13 - 08:46 AM Don, no problem there, and certainly no criticism (once the spelling problem was corrected). With my comments (not censures), I want to point out that there are various classes of rare words, corresponding to various aspirations by the writer or speaker. Using "oftentimes" (OED: "(archaic, poetic)" - other dictionaries disagree) may convey the image of a snobbish conservative rather than a deep thinker. Similarly, whoever uses hard scientific terminology outside academic contexts nowadays, even if done convincingly, risks being denounced as a geek. Some decades ago, things were different. Management-speak may be about to go the same way - one positive result of economic turbulences. However, the trendy braggarts will always find new ways, this much is sure. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 08 Aug 13 - 11:45 AM Screw being a geek or a nerd (please?)! I'll continue to use words that are a precise as possible. I was brought up under the the azure skies of Illinois, in a town surrounded by fields of green and golden cord and the semi-opaque waters of the Mississippi River, to use le mot juste whenever possible. As I drift deeper into senescence I shall continue to do so until my quietus stills my voice and I drift away into honored, but dimming, memory. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Don(Wyziwyg)T Date: 08 Aug 13 - 01:47 PM And after that geriatric sea change Rap, What will you do next week? Don T. ):-)LOL |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 08 Aug 13 - 01:56 PM I shall have a sea change -- I'll begin cruising the coast of New England! Hah! Didn't see that one comin', did ya? |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: GUEST,Grishka Date: 08 Aug 13 - 02:44 PM To prevent some misunderstandings: Not all scientists are geeks, but imitating the former successfully to a gullible audience may result in the latter image, instead of the desired prestige. Using any sort of terminology is neither a fault nor a merit by itself ("a priori"); it is the user's responsibility to assess the consequences in the given situation. Even genuine $5 usage can be perfectly justified, e.g. when clearly recognizable as irony. However, overused irony can wear off, as in "I'm afraid my financial situation is somewhat strained" (instead of "Sorry, I'm broke") - not always advisable if you hope for deferred payment. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: dick greenhaus Date: 08 Aug 13 - 08:42 PM a farrago of hemipygian verbosity. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 08 Aug 13 - 09:06 PM There seems to be a confusin as to whether the topic is about words are not in common use that deserve to be used, because they enable us to say things we couldn't readily say otherwise, or words that sound impressive but aren't worth using. "Farrago" and "verbosity" definitely fall into the former category. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Rapparee Date: 08 Aug 13 - 11:27 PM If I speak of "minute of angle" I will do so to someone who I presume knows what I'm talking about. Likewise, "bowhead" would mean one thing if I were talking to someone about whales and something entirely different were I talking with someone about companies held by Native Americans in Alaska -- just as a chord means one thing to a musician and another to a surveyor. Ya gotta know yer audience. |
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Subject: RE: BS: $5 Word Contest... From: Pete Jennings Date: 09 Aug 13 - 07:16 AM Rap can always be trussed when he talks about gnus. |
