blonde poker forum

My friend from London, the other day, awarded me the "Most Verbose Facebooker" award. In lieu of a lap of honour, I figured I'd start a thread on a forum where I could certainly not be dubbed "verbose." I'd expect this to be in immediate flop on most forums, but there are a lot of smart people here. People who are my superior both linguistically and mathematically. I'd like to pick these superior brains. I can get schooled on math in the PHA, but I'd like to get schooled in words. Moreover, your favourite words, their definitions, and - if you're feeling inspired - where you might use them in an everyday context.

I'll get the ball rolling with the word that earned me the elusive title:

soupçon n.
 - a slight trace, as of a particular taste or flavour.

mo·ron  (môrn, mr-)
n.
1. A stupid person; a dolt.
2. Psychology A person of mild mental retardation having a mental age of from 7 to 12 years and generally having communication and social skills enabling some degree of academic or vocational education. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive.

I use this word far too often.  it's deffo one of my favourites.  I wouldn't direct it at an actual moron though because that would be mean.  So if I've ever called you a moron (and i'm sure there are lots on here i have) it means i really like you :)


bet this is just the kind of stuff you were hoping for........

oh and it's 'maths', please!

Sorry: Canadian girlfriend. Could well be my excuse for everything, though...

mel·lif·lu·ous   [muh-lif-loo-uhs] 
adjective
1.
sweetly or smoothly flowing; sweet-sounding: a mellifluous voice; mellifluous tones.
2.
flowing with honey; sweetened with or as if with honey.

Gout

xx

Gongoozler

A gongoozler is a person who enjoys watching activity on the canals in the United Kingdom. The term is also often used in a more general way to describe those who have an interest in canals and the canal life, but do not actively participate.

Doubt you would use this often, but I love the word :)

Bink

Bouncebackability

Schummie

Since you are a fine writer I want to contribute to your thread for bright people. One of my fav words below and a fine example of the use of definition 2

op·pro·bri·um  (-prbr-m)
n.
1. Disgrace arising from exceedingly shameful conduct; ignominy.
2. Scornful reproach or contempt: a term of opprobrium.
3. A cause of shame or disgrace.
[Latin, from opprobrre, to reproach : ob-, against; see ob- + probum, reproach; see bher-1 in Indo-European roots.]

bumblebee

What a superb thread.

More of a phrase but I loved:

"The whole imbroglio is epiphenomenal"

I really like 'melancholy' too.  Wondefully descriptive.

Just to balance things out, there are some Americanisms that I like way better than the British versions.  My favourite:

burglarize  (bûrgl-rz)
v. burglarized, burglarizing, burglarizes
v.tr.
1. To enter and steal from (a building or other premises).
2. To commit burglary against: The second-floor tenants have been burglarized twice.
v.intr.
To commit burglary

skrilla definition

and skrill

    n.
    money. :  I'm totally outa skrilla, man. Shot to the curb

Its American slang but I like to use it...

"Unrightly", which was in a PM to me.

Quite liked one I saw last week on one of those "Police" Shows, too - "de-arrested".

jux·ta·po·si·tion
   [juhk-stuh-puh-zish-uhn]

–noun
1.
an act or instance of placing close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast.

2.
the state of being close together or side by side.

Love juxtaposition. Awesome word.

Definition for emaciated:
Web definitions:   
bony: very thin especially from disease or hunger or cold; "emaciated bony hands"; "a nightmare population of gaunt men...

Just sounds so cool.

Nudzh (plural nudzhes)

An irritating person.

this is stuck in my head now

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-1W01hDCmc

two more favourites of mine that I was reminded of in the recent vocabulary test:

hypnagogicˌhipnəˈgäjik/
Adjective:   
Of or relating to the state immediately before falling asleep.

hypnopompicˌhipnəˈpämpik/
Adjective:   
Of or relating to the state immediately preceding waking up

Subpoenaed, just for its spelling.

pronounced? I need to start using this

Dali was fascinated by these, he made a device, a semi-hoop mounted on a pole, to support his chin, that had a pointy thing in it, to wake him just as he nodded off. He was using it as he nodded off observing a pomegranate being swarmed by a wasp, giving rise to this wonderful vision: (http://www.schachclub-badsoden.de/images/foto_dali_traum_gesamtbild.jpg)

Pronounced noodge apparently

I just read someone describing Victoria Coren as having "magnificent embonpoint"

Dalliance

Anyone that loves puns will love this word, and it's one that keeps coming out of my mouth at the moment:

portmanteau n. (plural portmanteaux)
 - a blend of two (or more) words or morphemes into one new word, typically combining the sound and meaning of both.

A good example is the word "smog," coined by blending "smoke" and "fog."

This has doubly reminded me of something last week where I was trying to think of the word that describes a person who names stuff after themselves, e.g. Pennsylvania or Jamestown or "Zerofive's "Favourite Words" Thread". It's more specific than megalo- or ego-maniac, like I think it was specific to naming towns even, but I can't remember what it is. Anybody know?

An eponym?

Nice word, but I was looking for a word for the person doing the naming. Disclaimer: it may not exist, in which case I am naming them Keysians

i like askance

with suspicion, mistrust or disapproval

Sporking
An phenomenon that occurs when a man and a woman are spooning, and the man gets an erection. Often leads to either anal sex, or a restraining order, or in rare cases, both.

The superlative of eponym is eponymic or, more commonly, eponymous. I don't believe there exists a noun. Keysian would be wonderfully ironic, though.

On that note, there exists a site where two people have taken everyday situations for which there appears to be no appropriate word and assigned them with odd place names. Maybe I'm a massive geek, but I was howling at some of these: The Meaning of Liff (http://folk.uio.no/alied/TMoL.html).

Also, congrats on the thinly veiled rubs Keys. Get the curries in imo.

I found the words years ago because I experience a lot of hypnagogic imagery (as I know know it to be called) and was pretty intrigued by it.  I'm not a creative person by any stretch, but quite often before I drop off my mind will start creating stuff - not just images, lyrics, poetry, that kind of thing.  I always make a mental half-asleep note to write it down in the morning but it's always forgotten by then and I'm back to my usual completely-lacking-in-any-artistic-flair self.

Morning times I use my snooze button a lot, to maintain both states somewhat I guess.  It's when I have my best dreams :)

surely eponym can only be a noun?

it refers to both the person and the thing named after them

This sort of thing has always fascinated me. Many times I have begun dreaming before I have fallen asleep - most of the time this is just voices and when this first started happening, I thought I was losing my mind. But I, the same as you, have found that the mind just "creates." Upon having woken up after perhaps scoring a beautiful symphony, or having written the most beautiful poetry, etc. I will come to find that in actuality, these musical notes or perfect words do not even exist. This makes it difficult not to support such philosophical ideas as methodological solipsism or empiricism. The beautiful thing about dreaming in images, though, is that we have the appropriate mediums to sketch our subject. </random musing>

 rotflmfao rotflmfao

erinaceous

a. like or pertaining to a hedgehog.

quire

n. – two dozen sheets of paper

Meaning of Liff is excellent.  I think 'Pabby' was my favourite entry, if I remember it correctly.

On the subject of portmanteau. I have been trying to patent a couple of words I use

Shituation & Chairdrobe (although they both may not qualify as they use a complete word). Ruling ?

chairdrobes are rubbish.  i have a floordrobe.

Meaning of Liff is excellent - I think referring to Douglas Adams and John Lloyd (the creator of QI if that helps provide a reference) as 'two people' underplays how good it is a tad.

ephemeral adj.
 - lasting a very short time; short-lived; transitory

 - lasting but one day: "an ephemeral thread."

serendipity n.
- an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.
- good luck

I used to love this word until I saw a film by the name on a red eye flight.

Yeah, not seen the film.

arbitrary n.

Why?  Just because.

Saw this one yesterday, it tickled me pink......

strategical

I like discombobulated

Carry on

"ire" & "angst"

I came across "chthonic" in a car review last week. So impressed I've used it twice since.

adjective

    relating to or inhabiting the underworld:a chthonic deity

Pronounced either k-thon-ic, or just thonic with a silent k.

What car was it?

Actually, it was a description of the dashboard of an Audi. Can't remember which one (A6, A8 maybe). Car magazine.

I like:

umbrage,  n
   1.  Offense or annoyance: "she took umbrage at his remarks".
    2. Shade or shadow, esp. as cast by trees.

defenestrate, v
   1. to throw someone/thing out of the window.

tmesis, v
   1. to cut a word in pieces using an intervening word, e.g. 'abso-fucking-lutely!'

Puszipajtas, n
   1. Admittedly, this is Hungarian and not English, being hard to translate, but I've loved it since reading Stephen Fry's 'The Liar' as a lad. It means something like 'a person you know well enough to embrace or kiss in the street/public. It's pronounced               something like pussy-pie-tosh, although I'll ask ingi to confim, init.

Pusillanimous, adj
   1. lacking in courage or sense of purpose.

ancilliary adj
   1. Providing necessary support to the primary activities or operation of an organization, institution, industry, or system.

and now, for an extra, my favourite two words in German, for very different reasons:

feucht, adj/adv
    1. moist. This is one of my favourite words in English too because of the way it sounds (I like jump, for similar reasons). Pronounced foy-ssssshh-t

Vergangenheitsversoehnung nf
    1. The act of atoning for the past.  As a language, German can build new nouns quickly by simply adding two (or many, many more) words together and forming a longer word. This word, meaning literally PastReconcilliation, and a related word, which means roughly the same thing, Vergangenheitsbewaeltigung (lit: coming to terms with the past) first appeared in the German language just after the first world war and Versailles and had quite a short life. You wouldn't see them much these days, I guess. Certainly they had their peak around 1968 and the Student riots where Students rose up against the acts of their parents and grandparents wanting to "make it right".

The last time I saw the word used in print was in an article about the 2 Schumacher brothers in the German equivalent of the Sun in about 2006. It was reported that there'd be no reconciliation of the past as Michael would not stay in Brazil for Ralph's birthday party after the grand prix, because he had to return home for (I forget) the birthday of a child or the birth of his child.

Interesting how words can be defaced by such trivial use.

Sorry for German ITT, thought you might find it interesting.

edit: lolbold fixing

Been mulling oveer a whole half sentence by Tighty today, he's a walking Thesaurus, & I'm incredibly envious.

bon mots, diadems of corruscating brilliance

"bon mots " = "good words, witticisms"

"diadems" = "crown adorned with jewels" (metaphorical in this sense I assume)

"corruscating" = "present participle of corruscate, sparkle, gleam, sparkle, scintillate, vivid flashes of light"

Praise be for google, & the internet.

From Cambridge Alex's signature.....

interrobang

If only I had a keyboard with which to type it.

‽

Numberwang, now that's a word.

These two are some how related: embonpoint derives from the French 'en bon point' -- in good condition.

I also like the stone (which I think you find exclusively in Derbyshire?) Bluejohn. This again, comes from the french bleu (blue) and jeune (yellow) and is so called because of the lovely blue and yellow strata:

(http://www.beadbabe.com/archives/assets/images/BlueJohnStone.jpg)

Evocative ....Now thats a word to make you think !

Ms Coren's embonpoint is part of what makes her so pulchritudinous IMO

what a word. new one for me. love it. great work!

new one from QI....

per·spi·ca·cious

Having a ready insight into and understanding of things.

Blimp

I childhood favourite of mine which still brings a smile to my face.

Ja, das ist Nümberwang!

malfeasance.

came to me whilst writing about supermarkets in another thread.

Chode

spade

I do like "oligopoly".

Suitably niche yet at times very useful in a genuine, rather than contrived, conversation/piece of writing.

sticking with o words with greek roots, I learned this today:

odonym - the identifying part of an address, e.g. street, terrace, way, etc.

one applied today a lot about Christopher Hitchins:

polemicist, polemist
a skilled debater in speech or writing. — polemical, adj.

Yes. Yes. This is one of my favourites. Glad to see this thread back in circulation. :)

Here's one I used recently that I think is used not nearly often enough:

crepuscule n.
 - twilight

Both french words

Language of love and all that.

fyp

Crepuscule: From Latin creper (“dark, dusky”).
Fenestra = "window" in Latin

one could make the argument that crepuscule does indeed come from Old French.

French and Latin are very distinct btw, indeed the notion of the 'latin' languages being derived as such is pretty bogus. Ofc official and scientific words often contain a latin root, but so many words do not, rather they come from pre-Italian which evolved along side latin was the language of commoners and soldiers. For example, very few of the roman soldiers who conquered france could speak latin and same for other romance languages as well. It's just so unlikely that these 4 languages all evolved in similar ways whilst latin took a different direction.

Some Examples: (EN, FR, IT, ES, RO, Latin)

Tomorrow: demain, domani, manana, maine - Latin: cras
Winter: hiver, inverno, invierno, iarna - Latin: hiems
Evening: soir, sera, tarde, seara - Latin: vesper
Thing: chose, cosa, cosa - Latin: res
Strength: force, forza, fuerza - Latin: vis

Defenestrate is definitely up there in my favourite words! I can't wait for the day I can actually use it in a sentence. I also thought it had French roots - one of the first phrases we learned in my remedial French class was "ouvre la fenetre".

I also quite like cacophony. And, subjugate is fun to say. Kafkaesque, as well.

you might be pleased to learn that it was invented as a word in the 17th century to describe one particular situation:

The "Defenestration of Prague," May 21, 1618, when two Catholic deputies to the Bohemian national assembly and a secretary were tossed out the window (into a moat) of the castle of Hradshin by Protestant radicals. It marked the start of the Thirty Years War.

And I think I prefer kafkian to kafkaesque....something about the way it distorts his name.

Amphioxus: both ends pointed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-16346065.  Scientists find brainless fish at last.
Should have tried the Riverboat Glasgow, hunners of em. :)

 ;applause;

I love this thread, but just quoting the words and their definitions is like looking in a dictionary instead of reading poetry.

Before Leonardo da Vinci stepped in, the Mona Lisa was just so many pots of paint. Before Capability Brown, the gardens at Chatsworth were just windswept moorland, and before Shakespeare put flesh onto their bones and love into their hearts, Romeo and Juliet were just the jumbled letters of our somewhat idiosyncratic alphabet.   

Pancrack........to be out of work.

Love it!

<3 this

Took me nearly 3 months to post this-

Procrastinate

Clunge.

[ ] raising the tone

not poetry but from Look back in anger  - three of my favouite words........

Jimmy Porter: Nigel and Alison, they're what they sound like, sycophantic, phlegmatic and pusillanimous.
Cliff Lewis: Big words.
Jimmy Porter: Shall I tell you what they mean?
Cliff Lewis: No not interested, don't want to know.
Jimmy Porter: Soapy, stodgy and dim.

just for the record without looking in a dictionary I also love the german word schadenfreude - to laugh at others misfortune - a rubdown by any other name

poltroon was a an insult used by one of the old tribeca players who hailed from New York- I cant for the life of me remember his name ( help me out some one.... rob.... or rom... somat}His insults were never mundane and rarely understood by the windowlickers they were aimed at... oh and it means an abject coward- fitting perhaps for those keyboard warriers out there

Raymondo ?

nirvana - I knew i could rely on you... The great raymondo

Have to agree, schadenfreude is up there for me. Taking pleasure in the misfortune of others. Only the germans could give that it's own word

SPT Luton!!

Wait, I think that might be two..

xx

Queef

 ;applause; ;applause; ;applause;

The nuts
As in poker Tony tats has the nuts that's my favourite words

Love how messed up english is, glad I'm not learning it as a second language

(http://www.birdchick.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Attempted-Murder-500x346.png)

I love the word 'Solipsism', but I think I might be the only one...

I know how you feel.

Not a suprise to see such an epistemological position from yourself.

Had an email today with the word

Concatenation

in it


Not a scooby, so I looked it up


One of the rare examples where I was more confused after my research, than I was before.

I use it in excel a lot to merge the content of rows of cells together.  It's a computer-programming term primarily (I think).

I think catena is latin for chain?

Computer science is replete with obfuscation.

Very disappointed that OCD spreadsheet man Tighty hadn't come across concatenate before.

Am liking paucity right now simply because when in a discussion about who would win the Premier League recently I, absent-mindedly, said that 'there was a paucity of poor City players' and came to the sad realistion that it might be the highlight of my drab little life.

There is no greater feeling than accidentally making a fantastic pun. I love this snippet.

Swaffle is my new fav word

Is that the art of eating fried chicken drumsticks in a sexual manner?

chutzpah - Nerve, extreme arrogance, brazen presumption. In English, chutzpah often connotes courage or confidence, but among Yiddish speakers, it is not a compliment.

kvetsh - In popular English, kvetch means “complain, whine or fret,”

shlep - To drag, traditionally something you don’t really need; to carry unwillingly. When people “shlep around,” they are dragging themselves, perhaps slouchingly.

'Inception' - more so when said in movie trailer man's voice.

defenestration

The act of throwing someone out of a window

Self-defenestration - a difficult defence plea in court.

Somewhat easier to make if from a ground floor window

Serendipity.

Great minds: http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=55395.msg1448533#msg1448533

Fools seldom.....

Tosser :D

Nudnik.

An overly fussy or generally annoying person/a pain in the arse.

Similar to Nudzh I take it Ralph.

I've never heard of nudzh but it sounds as though it might well be related.

Yiddish is a very diversified "language" with many different dialects such as Spaniolite which is the version which evolved from the (mainly Saphardic) Jews expelled from Europe into North Africa during the Spanish Inquisition.

Geneff is an old Yiddish word for a crook or a swindler. It was the cause of an amusing chess story many moons ago.

http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=58441.165

Reply #176 is the story.

I've always heard it pronounced gunef or even ganef and in my experience it's meaning is more angle-shooter than out and out crook although I have certainly heard it used in the context of a guy who's business went "machullah" or busto and had all of his property in his wife's name.

In modern Hebrew the word for thief is ganav.

cant wait to call some schmuck a gunef next time I play live :)

This is probably well known to everyone else but me, but anyway... today I discovered the origin of the word: berk.

:D

Yes that's a good one.

I'm going to be using it as part of my everyday vocabulary, so I can use it as a strong insult without people knowing (unless everyone actually knows).

TBH Kin I always thought you were a berk.
;)

Like words?

Love 'Blonderdash'.

http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=60061.0

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