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Post by En on Dec 5, 2003 11:46:54 GMT -5
Scintillation takes coordination... scintillation, a game we all can play.
So I should put up the "een" list somewhere since I think at least two of Ceri's are new... maybe at Glenmore. Yeah. Thanks Ceri ;D
Ambergris is fun to say... it's a whale secretion that has, in the past, been used in cosmetics (but I think they banned that).
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Ceridwen
Gryffindor Alumni
Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense
Posts: 604
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Post by Ceridwen on Dec 5, 2003 11:52:43 GMT -5
Well, I mean, you'll have to give the credit to REM, seeing as how I used their words, like. But you're welcome! ;D
And ambergris? *shudders* nasty thought. Don't be mentioning it around me, will you.
Another mot du jour: precipitate.
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Isbister15
Gryffindor Alumni
Mmmm...chocolate
Posts: 5,082
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Post by Isbister15 on Dec 5, 2003 23:38:29 GMT -5
Ever since I had an email war/hilarious continuing story thingamajig with my ex-co-worker, and needed to find the perfect term to describe her (fictional) wickedness, I've loved the word "nefarious." I just really like the way it sounds...it seems so much more fitting than using the word "evil" or something else along those lines. I also love the word "resplendent," but I very rarely use it.
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MagPie
Gryffindor Alumni
Posts: 449
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Post by MagPie on Dec 8, 2003 17:53:00 GMT -5
"Nefarious" reminds me of kidneys. I can't think of the proper term right now, but there's a tube or something in that area that has a similar sounding name...anyone have a clue what I'm talking about?
Anyway, I've been absent from here for a while in search of a word I like and I happened upon one the other day: vociferous.
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Post by En on Dec 8, 2003 18:39:51 GMT -5
Oo, I like both of those... I use "nefarious plot" a lot to describe what I get up to in the evenings And vociferous exactly describes a certain woman I know, right down to the way she starts to open her mouth and then jumps up to deliver a big old monologue -- just like the word, with emphasis on the second syllable
Er, I don't know for sure which you mean, MagPie, but the word for the medical field relating to kidneys is nephrology, so you must be on to something there....
I'm reading a load of neurology right now (I really ought to get crushes on less brainiacal people, eh?) and just came across the technical phrase "mnesic incontinence" -- I'm not kidding here, it literally means diarrhea of the memory ;D
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MagPie
Gryffindor Alumni
Posts: 449
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Post by MagPie on Dec 8, 2003 20:19:51 GMT -5
Nephrology! Thank you! That's exactly what I was thinking of!!
And En, you most certainly should not have crushes on less brainiacal people! Have you ever "been slumming," so to speak? It's kinda cute at first but...after a while it's nice to be able to have a conversation!
Mnesic...I'm not quite sure how to say that...I assume it's something like Neeshic, although it's not quite an SH sound. It reminds me of mnemonc devices, which is a nifty little phrase.
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Post by En on Dec 9, 2003 16:06:44 GMT -5
Yeah, it's like "neezhik" though the very proper English sorts will put a bit more m on the beginning (think "a-mnesia" -- a lack of memory). Really, I'm gorging myself on science terms with this book, because the author isn't afraid to make up words from Greek and Latin roots. I love that.
Hah... "slumming" is a phrase I haven't heard in a long time... but yes, I did that a bit, got bored with it, and certainly don't mind intellectual companionship... I just don't think I really ought to be getting the sort of crushes that force me to learn whole new idiolects while I read large tomes to catch up on what my crush is doing... but Oliver Sacks is so worth it. What a brilliant guy. (note, I'm using "crush" rather broadly here)
Today I would like to pay homage to a legal term that no lawyer I've ever met actually knows, but I rather like. "Scilicet." Technically, it means the bit where a legal document gets ready to list something or make its point; but it also refers to the little thinger on a notary block where it says "State of _____, County of ______ ) ss." Sometimes I feel like I would like for my boss to use scilical devices, such as "whereas," more often... so that I know when to wake up and pay attention to the point
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Post by Nie on Dec 10, 2003 6:57:18 GMT -5
I like mingled. It's the kind of word that sounds really nice when you whisper it. It has a variation in the soudns it has, but most of them are soft and the harsher ones are still gentle.
And I like malicious, cos even though it's a word with all soft sounds it manages to sound harsh.
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Post by En on Dec 10, 2003 12:01:49 GMT -5
Ganglion. It just feels elongated and knotty, yet elegant.
I would like to throw in for giggles that someone tried to convince someone I know who is going to Paris that there was a train station called "Gare de Robe." Which might sound like it means Clothing Station, but a "garderobe" is technically the little air latrine provided in the upper storeys of medieval castles so that your excretions fall outside the castle
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fico the fur
Hufflepuff Alumni
Why'd you say "halleluia" if it means nothin' to ya'?
Posts: 964
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Post by fico the fur on Dec 13, 2003 17:18:32 GMT -5
My roommate and I got in a small arguement at the beginning of the year over the pronunciation of a word. But I can't remember what it was.
My word-of-the-month is *looks up how to spell it* "palimpsest". (You pretty much don't pronounce the "p".) It's a really fun word to say. The first time I heard it, my friend looked at her arm, then looked up at me and said, "I'm a palimpsest!" Then she started laughing semi-hysterically, due to lack of sleep. After she told me what a palimpsest was, I joined in the vaguely maniacal laughter. A palimpsest is a writing surface that has had stuff written over it, then erased (or faded) and then more stuff written over, and more. We had both been taking so many notes on our arms and hands, you could see faded ink underneath the newer layers.
Another good word: maniacal. I like that it's "cal" instead of "cle", and I like the fact that it's got two vowels together that don't create a diphthong.
Triphthong is also a really cool word. (though i've no clue if i spelled it correctly.) I learned that from a really cool Spanish teacher. (Speaking of him, he sometimes pronounced his ll's with a sort of subtle "j" sound. Like, "llamar" would be "jyuh-mar".
*edit* the word my roommate and i argued over was "vehemently". i said it was "ve-hem-ent-lee", and she said it was "vee-he-ment-lee". we looked it up, and it can be either.
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Post by hermoine on Dec 15, 2003 9:03:27 GMT -5
Last time my English teacher said rows you know like when you have a row with someone, she said it like an a(in Maltese langauge it's pronounced differently;))
Man, I know she tends to be like :"Hey, I'm the Subject Co-ordinator. Don't mess with me." type of person.
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Calantha
Gryffindor Alumni
My name is Luck, this is my song, I happened by when you were gone
Posts: 4,493
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Post by Calantha on Dec 16, 2003 16:47:19 GMT -5
Portmanteau... forming a word by using parts of two different words...or a suitcase thingy that opens up into two parts... But with the first part, I don't know...reminded me of the thread... It hasn't already been said has it?
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MagPie
Gryffindor Alumni
Posts: 449
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Post by MagPie on Dec 17, 2003 15:32:18 GMT -5
Hee hee, my when my sister was little, she pronounced her "th"s as "f"s, as many kids do, so she would say "fum" for thumb. So one night at dinner, we decided to try to get her to say it correctly. So we finally get her to say THumb, and then we pointed to her index finger and said, "Ok, what's this?" And she said "thinger!" Well all thought it was funny I had a good word the other day, but I can't remember what it was
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Post by En on Dec 19, 2003 15:33:07 GMT -5
Heh. I couldn't pronounce "hamburger" when I was 3 or 4, so I said "hangabur."
Found this one in my latest Oliver Sacks book: "oneirophrenia" -- "dream madness." When a person has waking dreams that cripple hir day-to-day life, or has vivid dreams that affect hir problematically on waking up. *shiver*
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Post by Nie on Dec 19, 2003 21:53:44 GMT -5
My little brother couldn't say McDonalds for a while, so he would call it FatDonalds.
I like the sound of the word fish. It's kinda soothing.
For some reason the sound ot the word monotony really bugs me. I'm not sure if it's because of the word itself and it's meaning or whether it's just the sound, but hearing that word seems to get on my nerves.
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