Favorite word you never get to use

[travelover]

Might be a tad too subtle for this crowd...

I got it! I got it!

 

[calmloki]

Might be a tad too subtle for this crowd...

nah - and, BTW, defenestrate made remembering the French word for window memorable for me. One of the few French words i did remember, along with chocolate and eclair.

 

[Amethyst]

Pusillanimous - but those people always whine when I "make them break out the dictionary."

Amethyst

 

[WhoDaresWins]

Flibbertigibbet

I am the go-to person in the office for definitions of odd words. My boss likes to test me. She occasionally sticks her head in and says "I have one for you", and she is good-naturedly pleased when she stumps me. I think her last test was "grosgrain"...which I knew.

 

[Htown Harry]

...compound nouns typically have more stress on the first word, while noun phrases typically have more stress on the second word (if it is the noun)...

Cool!

So the standard American pronuciation of BULLsh*t is a compound noun, but the Texas variation of bullSH*T is a noun phrase?

 

[East Texas]

Defenestrate.

This is one of those English words I really dislike because it does not mean what it says. How exactly do you castrate someone on a fence by throwing them out a window?

Oh, never mind...I get it.

You can always tell the country folks.... "Defenestrate.. De fin eh strate... verb....origin: Texas. Definition: what a cow does to a bull that doesn't take no for an answer."

 

[Gumby]

chthonic

 

[GregLee]

So the standard American pronuciation of BULLsh*t is a compound noun,

Yes, and not just because of the stress on BULL: "bull" and "sh*t" are both nouns, and you can't make a noun phrase by putting together two nouns. So far as I know.

... but the Texas variation of bullSH*T is a noun phrase?

I don't think it's a noun phrase, but I don't know why stress goes on the second part. There are many exceptions to the rule that compounds have stress on the first part, which is why I included the hedge "typically".

 

[scrabbler1]

At least 20 years ago, I was doing a crossword puzzle and had nearly all of the letters in a long word. The word ended up being ENERVATE (def=to deprive of strength) after I filled in the remaining letter or two. A few days later, I played that exact word in a Scrabble game against a friend of mine, scoring a ton of points for the bingo (playing all 7 tiles on one play).

I have never used the word since that time but always wished I could.

 

[M Paquette]

chthonic

O R'LYEH?

I'll take Lovecraftian vocabulary for $400, Alex...

Ineluctable
Rugose
Scoriac
Squamous
Stertorous

Bonus points for working these into official documents, particularly personnel evaluations!

 

[FinanceDude]

antidisestablishmentarianism

pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolvanoconiosis

 

[Moemg]

Stud Muffin !

 

[Sarah in SC]

I came across another one I love: portmanteau! It was used in a Wikipedia entry regarding the origins of Spam. Rarely get the chance to use it.

 

[blizzard]

lickspittle a contemptible, fawning person; a servile flatterer or toady

 

[David1961]

Masticate, which means to chew food.
I'd love to be having a dinner date and tell her "I love the way you masticate".

 

[KingB]

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

 

[FinanceDude]

lickspittle a contemptible, fawning person; a servile flatterer or toady

Sounds like a great username!

 

[ls99]

Pompous, as in pompous a$$. I still encounter some, but they no longer matter.

 

[brewer12345]

reintarnation: coming back as a hillbilly

 

[ItDontMeanAThing]

Jape. Learned it in 1975 and still haven't found an opportunity to use it.

 

[GregLee]

chthonic

O R'LYEH?

Because Cthulhu is chthonic?

 

[braumeister]

Recrement: A bodily secretion that is reabsorbed.
Example: saliva
Usage: Something that "makes your mouth water" (a crass, vulgar expression used by the common people) can be said to "induce an increment in your recrement."

 

[Nords]

The risk is that people will think you're talking excrement...

 

[vicente solano]

listlessness. Maybe due to my current mood.

 

[travelover]

lumpenproletariat