Logophiles Unite!

[Zanahoria_Picante]

You know what to do.

Well, okay, maybe you don't.

Share words you love, words that are ringing (in a good way) through your head, obscure words (or word references / sites) that might be of interest to share with fellow logophiles, words that for no apparent reason stick in your head in an ambiguous, nagging sort of way, words that have special associations, et cet-er-a. Don't be shy. There is no shame in this love. ;D

Much. <:[

Today, this word haunts me:

*in·sip·id
Adjective /inˈsipid/ listen
Synonyms:
o adjective: tasteless, vapid, flat, flavourless, flavorless, dull, savourless, savorless, unsavoury, unsavory
o
Lacking flavor
+
mugs of insipid coffee
o
Lacking vigor or interest
+
many artists continued to churn out insipid, shallow works

www.dictionary.com has the best definitions, though, methinks:

insipid
adjective
1.
without distinctive, interesting, or stimulating qualities; vapid: an insipid personality.
2.
without sufficient taste to be pleasing, as food or drink; bland: a rather insipid soup.
3. This thread. Oh well.

But I know there are others on AS. Please, feel free to share anything logophilia-related. ;)

[Jenn and tonic]

Lately a word I keep repeating inside my head is:

fragmentation
verb
The act or process of fragmentating or making fragmentary
OR The state of being fragmented or fragmentary.

[Yugoloth]

Aspersion
–noun

1. a damaging or derogatory remark or criticism; slander: casting aspersions on a campaign rival.

2. the act of slandering; vilification; defamation; calumniation; derogation: Such vehement aspersions cannot be ignored.

3. the act of sprinkling, as in baptism

4. Archaic . a shower or spray.

[oceandream130]

Oh, dear me! A thread just for me, don't you see? (horrendous rhyming shall cease now...after I take a bow on top of my cow. No, really. I'm just quite silly) *face palms self in response to self*

I do quite love me some words!

Mind if I break from the trend to include a Spanish word? There are hundreds of English words which I love, but for some reason I found the Spanish word trastorno to be reverberating in my thoughts earlier. I was trying to describe to my mother how I was feeling earlier, and the only word that would come to mind was trastorno

Trastorno = a sense of disorder (especially in relation to one's state of mind, e.g. manic depressive disorder), disruption, upheaval.

I just love the sound of it. I feel it really reflects a sense of "upheaval" within oneself, especially since it reminds me of "tornado."

[Zanahoria_Picante]

Thank you-all. It might be sad how much these responses delight me. <:D

Originally Said by Jenn and tonic

Lately a word I keep repeating inside my head is:

fragmentation
verb
The act or process of fragmentating or making fragmentary
OR The state of being fragmented or fragmentary.

That is an excellent word. Where did you first read / hear it that started this "cycle" of repetition, do ye remember?

(That almost sounds like a question a[n Irish] psychologist would ask a patient, but since I and at least four other people [counting "Tala," as well]--along with others, methinks--on AS suffer this malady [word love], it is a question of mere curiosity. Verbose parenthetic explanation over. )

Originally Said by Yugoloth

Aspersion
–noun

1. a damaging or derogatory remark or criticism; slander: casting aspersions on a campaign rival.

2. the act of slandering; vilification; defamation; calumniation; derogation: Such vehement aspersions cannot be ignored.

3. the act of sprinkling, as in baptism

4. Archaic . a shower or spray.

Probably an unfortunate word in use, but such a lovely-sounding and cool word....

Originally Said by oceandream130

Oh, dear me! A thread just for me, don't you see? (horrendous rhyming shall cease now...after I take a bow on top of my cow. No, really. I'm just quite silly) *face palms self in response to self*

I do quite love me some words!

Mind if I break from the trend to include a Spanish word? There are hundreds of English words which I love, but for some reason I found the Spanish word trastorno to be reverberating in my thoughts earlier. I was trying to describe to my mother how I was feeling earlier, and the only word that would come to mind was trastorno

Trastorno = a sense of disorder (especially in relation to one's state of mind, e.g. manic depressive disorder), disruption, upheaval.

I just love the sound of it. I feel it really reflects a sense of "upheaval" within oneself, especially since it reminds me of "tornado."

(Affects Liam Neeson as-the-voice-of-Aslan voice.) Fear not, young one. Come; you will be safe here. You are among friends. (Ushers you into the house-sized, opened pages of a book, the entrance to the mystical world of Logophilia....)



Crazed images aside, that is a lovely, lovely word. Quite descriptive of life at times. Such feeling in that word, indeed--in just the way it sounds. That is why I, too, love Spanish--though I'm not nearly as fluent in it as you, no doubt. Not even close. Still, lovely. :)




Thank you all again. I enjoyed reading your responses. <:)

...

Among my favorite words at the moment...

peripatetic
–adjective

1. walking or traveling about; itinerant.
2. of or pertaining to Aristotle, who taught philosophy while walking in the Lyceum of ancient Athens.

(First heard in the movie Doubt, as said by Meryl Streep.

"The wind is so...peripatetic...this year." [Slams shut window].)

[GoddessDivine]

^Doubt!

Bindle Stiff is a good one. I believe it is a tramp or bum.

Oh and I remember this word i had a chuckle at when i first took drama:

Vomitory which is of course a tunnel or stairway to seats in places like a theater.

Those are both pretty common words, but i like the first one, and the memory of the mental image i got when i first came in contact with the second word still gives me a laugh.

[Zanahoria_Picante]

Originally Said by GoddessDivine

^Doubt!

Bindle Stiff is a good one. I believe it is a tramp or bum.

Oh and I remember this word i had a chuckle at when i first took drama:

Vomitory which is of course a tunnel or stairway to seats in places like a theater.

Those are both pretty common words, but i like the first one, and the memory of the mental image i got when i first came in contact with the second word still gives me a laugh.

That is on my clone's and my "daily movie play list." Meaning, we have watched more times than is natural. <:)

Ha to "Bindle Stiff." And vomitory, for that matter. I actually don't think I've ever encountered the second one. It does conjure up some pretty funny images. :D

"Terribly sorry, have to run to the vomitory! Please forgive me."

Or perhaps as an adjective. ;P

Was that sort of the mental image you had? Or was it something...completely different?

Another that gets stuck in my head...

sanguine
–adjective

1. cheerfully optimistic, hopeful, or confident: a sanguine disposition; sanguine expectations.
2. reddish; ruddy: a sanguine complexion.
3. bloody; sanguinary.

[ablethevoice]

Two words which come to mind:

Distaff:

1 a : a staff for holding the flax, tow, or wool in spinning
b : woman's work or domain
2 : the female branch or side of a family

Until i looked the word up, I didn't know that it also meant "woman's work" or a component of a spinning wheel, but I did know about def# 2.

Avuncular:

1: of or relating to an uncle

2: suggestive of an uncle especially in kindliness or geniality.

~~~~~~~~~~

And a couple of words frequently used by H.P. Lovecraft in his works - words which I actually had to look up the first time I saw them in his stories because I'd never encountered them anywhere else prior to that:

Outré: : violating convention or propriety : bizarre

Eldritch: eerie, weird or spooky

That's all for the moment. I'll probably come up with a few more.

[Yugoloth]

Invective/inˈvektiv/

Noun: Insulting, abusive, or highly critical language.

[Zanahoria_Picante]

Originally Said by ablethevoice

Two words which come to mind:

Distaff:

1 a : a staff for holding the flax, tow, or wool in spinning
b : woman's work or domain
2 : the female branch or side of a family

Until i looked the word up, I didn't know that it also meant "woman's work" or a component of a spinning wheel, but I did know about def# 2.

Avuncular:

1: of or relating to an uncle

2: suggestive of an uncle especially in kindliness or geniality.

~~~~~~~~~~

And a couple of words frequently used by H.P. Lovecraft in his works - words which I actually had to look up the first time I saw them in his stories because I'd never encountered them anywhere else prior to that:

Outré: : violating convention or propriety : bizarre

Eldritch: eerie, weird or spooky

That's all for the moment. I'll probably come up with a few more.

Never heard "distaff" before. But somehow, somehow, have encountered "avuncular" before. Probably on some random, obscure-word site. -.- Or maybe if you posted it on AS before? <:)

Actually, it might also have been from Jane Eyre.
Bad memory....

Those last two are really cool. Never heard either before, either. That Lovecraft...*wince*...is a crafty one.

Douglas Adams also had quite the vocabulary; I recall formulating a fair collection of interesting words from his Hitchhiker and Dirk Gently books. It's on the other computer, though. (The list, that is.)

If the first one (outré) isn't French, I will eat my coffee mug.

Thank you for sharing, by the way. :)

Originally Said by Yugoloth

Invective/inˈvektiv/

Noun: Insulting, abusive, or highly critical language.

Hmmm. Starting to see a trend here. *Suspicious, slightly worried stare*

Good choice, though. o.O

"Classic" words, to me:

banal
–adjective
devoid of freshness or originality; hackneyed; trite: a banal and sophomoric treatment of courage on the frontier.
("Sophomoric" also happens to be a great word.)

diffident
–adjective
1. lacking confidence in one's own ability, worth, or fitness; timid; shy.
2. restrained or reserved in manner, conduct, etc.
3. Archaic . distrustful.

chicanery
-noun
1. trickery or deception by quibbling or sophistry: He resorted to the worst flattery and chicanery to win the job.
2. a quibble or subterfuge used to trick, deceive, or evade.

...

These two actually came from a movie (to be intentionally vague ):

quidnunc
–noun
a person who is eager to know the latest news and gossip; a gossip or busybody.

poppysmic
-noun
Produced with smacking of the lips.

[ablethevoice]

Bellicose: aggression; a willingness to fight (CF "pugnacious")

Cotyledon: the first green leaves to break ground when a seed sprouts.

Tryptych: a work of art (usually a panel painting) which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and folded.

Quixotic: Exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical.

Barrister: archaic word for lawyer or attorney.

[Zanahoria_Picante]

^ Are you writing these definitions from memory? Just out o' curiosity.

"Bellicose" = Awesome.

"Quixotic" = Classic.

"Tryptych" is just fun to say. 8)

...


winsome
–adjective
sweetly or innocently charming; winning; engaging: a winsome smile.

cloying
–adjective
1. causing or tending to cause disgust or aversion through excess: a perfume of cloying sweetness.
2. overly ingratiating or sentimental.

jejune
–adjective
1. without interest or significance; dull; insipid: a jejune novel.
2. juvenile; immature; childish: jejune behavior.
3. lacking knowledge or experience; uninformed: jejune attempts to design a house.

[EmperorChaos]

Phlebotomy - "vein" + "cutting" - the act of drawing blood for the purposes of tranfusion or testing.

Lexicon - "of words" - a vocabulary of a language.

Plutocracy - "wealth" + "rule" - a form of government in which the wealthy rule.

Trammel - something that hinders progress.

Rake - a man prone to immoral acts, dishonest behavior, and/or sexual debauchery.

[Zanahoria_Picante]

^ Jolly good!

Yet another word that randomly came to mind during the day...

laconic
-adjective
(From the etymology dictionary:)

"concise, abrupt," 1580s, from Gk. Lakonikos, from Lakon "person from Lakonia," the district around Sparta in southern Greece in ancient times, whose inhabitants were famously proud of their brevity of speech. When Philip of Macedon threatened them with, "If I enter Laconia, I will raze Sparta to the ground," the Spartans' reply was, "If."

[GoddessDivine]

hmmm...i like that word jejune. nice one ZP.

I have heard Rake being used in conversation before, i like how it sounds, like i prefer to call people vagabonds rather than tramps or a drifter

[Zanahoria_Picante]

Originally Said by GoddessDivine

hmmm...i like that word jejune. nice one ZP.

I have heard Rake being used in conversation before, i like how it sounds, like i prefer to call people vagabonds rather than tramps or a drifter

Indeed! I quite like it, too.

A word that randomly popped into my clone's head while driving:

pervasive
-adj
spreading or spread throughout

Not obscure, but a good word.

[Zanahoria_Picante]

perspicuous
–adjective
1. clearly expressed or presented; lucid.

convivial
–adjective
1. friendly; agreeable: a convivial atmosphere.
2. fond of feasting, drinking, and merry company; jovial.
3. of or befitting a feast; festive.

[Yugoloth]

defenestrate
-vTo throw someone or something out or through a window

[Zanahoria_Picante]

^ Again, always a classic. A highly underused word. ;D

recalcitrant
–adjective
1. resisting authority or control; not obedient or compliant; refractory.
2. hard to deal with, manage, or operate.

From the Latin recalcitrare, "to kick back."

Not the most wonderfully-defined word, but amusing when..uttered:

malediction
-noun
1. a curse; imprecation.
2. the utterance of a curse.
3. slander.

[Zanahoria_Picante]

The first two keep popping into my head completely at random; the second two I simply like:

somnambulation
-noun
sleepwalking.

ambivalence
–noun
uncertainty or fluctuation, esp. when caused by inability to make a choice or by a simultaneous desire to say or do two opposite or conflicting things.

...from L. ambi- "both" (see ambi-) + valentia "strength," from prp. of valere "be strong" (see valiant).

alacrity
cheerful readiness, promptness, or willingness; liveliness; briskness.
(Along that line, obsequious.)

sinuous
–adjective
1. having many curves, bends, or turns; indirect, devious.

(Sorry for double-post.)