Ya learn somethin' new everyday...

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Zaia
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Ya learn somethin' new everyday...

Post by Zaia »

MSN article-writer person wrote:British novelist Evelyn Waugh once said, "One forgets words as one forgets names. One's vocabulary needs constant fertilisation or it will die." Editors at MSN Learning & Research picked some of their favorite words to nourish your vocabulary. Some of them you may even use. (Tip: go to the link first and then click to see the full definition and hear the word pronounced.)

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. Embrangle: "perplex somebody: to confuse, perplex, or entangle somebody or something (archaic)"

As Lord Needlebottom attempted to explain the rules of cricket, his American friends became more and more embrangled.

For more words, explore Encarta World English Dictionary.
Or just click here to see for yourself:
Here! Click right HEEEEERE!!

The first one's my favourite. I love the fact that there's a word for that!
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Post by Demiurge »

Those english have a word for everything.
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Post by Ghost Rider »

I knew of the first two...the next eight are new.

Indeed learn something new everyday(and if you're wondering I learned number 1 from a comic...and number two from a very odd friend)
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Post by Darth Yoshi »

I learned Antipodes playing Chrono Trigger.
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Post by kojikun »

I find it amazing that we need to have no fewer then 10 words to represent a single concept.
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Post by LadyTevar »

Darth Yoshi wrote:I learned Antipodes playing Chrono Trigger.
Me too! Had to look it up in the dictionary to find out it was a real word.
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Post by Darth Wong »

Words like that are interesting but somewhat useless. The average person has much more need of "slightly exotic" words for common concepts such as "ambivalent", "ameliorate", or "mitigate".
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Post by Spanky The Dolphin »

As a reader of the Straight Dope, I probably learn an average of 3-4 things a day. ;) :mrgreen:
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Post by LadyTevar »

Darth Wong wrote:Words like that are interesting but somewhat useless. The average person has much more need of "slightly exotic" words for common concepts such as "ambivalent", "ameliorate", or "mitigate".
"Reader's Digest" is a great magazine for learning new words. It has one regular feature: "Test your Word Power". They give you a word, and multiple choice answers for the meaning of the word. You score yourself, and the answer page tells you the right meaning, as well as gives a context sentence. I was taking that test in elementary school, with my mom helping me pronounce the words. Forget Hooked on Phonics: "Reader's Digest" worked for me!
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Nitram: You -are- beautiful. Anyone tries to tell you otherwise kill them.

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Post by DPDarkPrimus »

Pfft, there are people who don't know of the word "defenestrate"? It's a lovely word indeed. Great to threaten people with.
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Post by The Duchess of Zeon »

Darth Wong wrote:Words like that are interesting but somewhat useless. The average person has much more need of "slightly exotic" words for common concepts such as "ambivalent", "ameliorate", or "mitigate".
Well, a defenestration is actually a form of political protest. In the Kingdom of Bohemia it was traditional for the people, when angry at the policies of the King, to throw his ministers out the windows of his palace, which is actually where the word originated--a Defenestration of Prague started the Hussite Revolts, and another the Thirty Years War. This might have a practical application in Canada.
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Post by RedImperator »

DPDarkPrimus wrote:Pfft, there are people who don't know of the word "defenestrate"? It's a lovely word indeed. Great to threaten people with.
"If you don't shut your fucking mouth, bitch, I'm going to defenestrate your sorry ass."

I don't know if that works.
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Post by Drooling Iguana »

Darth Yoshi wrote:I learned Antipodes playing Chrono Trigger.
I learned it from the Wombat Poem.

The wombat lives across the seas,
Among the far Antipodes.
He may exist on nuts and berries,
Or then again, on missionaries;
His distant habitat precludes
Conclusive knowledge of his moods.
But I would not engage the wombat
In any form of mortal combat.
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Post by InnerBrat »

Funny,I thought "Antipodes" was a fairly concept. It's regualrly used as a collective term for the counrites aroung the continent of Australasia.

And of course I knew the term hallux. I am an anatomist.

The rest were new.
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Post by InnerBrat »

Actually, every time I see the book The Antipope by Robert Rankin I want to pronounce it ant-IP-oh-pee.

But that's just me being wierd
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Post by The Duchess of Zeon »

innerbrat wrote:Actually, every time I see the book The Antipope by Robert Rankin I want to pronounce it ant-IP-oh-pee.

But that's just me being wierd
Yes, it is. *grins* I would think, "Anti-Pope", like any normal history-obsessed person. *flees*
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Post by Hamel »

If I ever say 'perhaps' in place of 'maybe', people complain that I'm trying to sound smart

What a load of bawoney
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Post by Darth Yoshi »

Just don't start saying "mayhap." That's actually a word, albeit a rather archaic sounding one.
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Post by neoolong »

DPDarkPrimus wrote:Pfft, there are people who don't know of the word "defenestrate"? It's a lovely word indeed. Great to threaten people with.
It helps if the person you're threatening knows the definition as well.
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Post by HemlockGrey »

I would like to see a Defenestration of Capitol Hill, if that's at all possbile.
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