Word of the Day. Post it Here

wegs said:
If you are able to get your “invented” words published, we should be able to list them here.

I could see “peepslatch” catching on. ;)
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Douglas Adams published his, in "The Meaning of Liff" .

One of those I do in fact use from time to time is a kingston bagpuize, for denoting an overweight and unfit, middle-aged, male jogger.

All the words in that book are repurposed place names:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Bagpuize
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaplode_Drove

I also quite like pott shrigley, which is a term for the week-old remains of a casserole or stew, eaten cold at 2 a.m. when very drunk: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pott_Shrigley
 
exchemist said:
Douglas Adams published his, in "The Meaning of Liff" .

One of those I do in fact use from time to time is a kingston bagpuize, for denoting an overweight and unfit, middle-aged, male jogger.

All the words in that book are repurposed place names:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Bagpuize
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaplode_Drove

I also quite like pott shrigley, which is a term for the week-old remains of a casserole or stew, eaten cold at 2 a.m. when very drunk: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pott_Shrigley
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Pott Shrigley. That would be the perfect name for an Irish pub that serves shepherd’s pie. Freshly made, though. ;)
 
The story of a polymer.

This is not a story in the linguistic sense, but this self-writing story has a beginning, a middle and a definitive ending, and it is beautiful.
 
Satire: A Form of Art
Satire is a form of art that uses humor, exaggeration, or irony to expose and mock human vices, follies, or abuses.

Example - ''If a tree falls in the forest and no one posts about it on Instagram, does it make a sound?''
 
Can anyone think of a word or expression that is like "faint praise" but would actually describe praise from a person whose opinion you hold in less than maximal esteem?

They might give you fulsome praise (fulsome in the abundant sense) but you would be disappointed in that it counted not so much for you.
 
Write4U said:
Presumptuous?
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No ,the expression I am looking for is the feeling of the person receiving the praise but who feels disatisfied because the person who is giving the praise is not ,in his own view sufficiently qualified to give that praise .

It is like it is hollow praise even though it is well intentioned and sincere.

Suppose some terrific snob (maybe a top chef-the kind you might find in a Monty Python skit) were to be hosting a dinner party and one of the other diners was a Peter Sellers kind of an idiot sage and made the comment that the coffee was absolutely fabulous "did you get it in Tescos?" when it was some recherché brand of fine coffee bean from Sicily with a soupçon of Himalaya.

How does the recipient of that "beneath him" praise feel?

It is not "faint praise" .The giver of the praise really loves Tescos own brand instant coffee and admires the man's taste in selecting it.

The receiver of the praise thinks he deserves praise for his choice of coffee but he is being praised for the wrong thing.

He is not angry at being inappropriately praised but he is confused at the misunderstanding and maybe wishes he could have been praised for the actual thing he felt he deserved praise for.

Is there a phrase that describes his predicament?
 
geordief said:
No ,the expression I am looking for is the feeling of the person receiving the praise but who feels disatisfied because the person who is giving the praise is not ,in his own view sufficiently qualified to give that praise .
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Yes, in the eyes of the person receiving the praise, the person giving the praise is being presumptuous for feeling qualified to give that praise.
 
Write4U said:
Yes, in the eyes of the person receiving the praise, the person giving the praise is being presumptuous for feeling qualified to give that praise.
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So "presumptuous praise"?

But what about the feeling of liking the praise but feeling it is unsatisfactory.

Everything is perfect but there is a little something that is missing....

"I deserve to be praised but this does not feel quite right...."

"I want to keep this praise but is it really what it seems?"

There is no judgement of the praise giver.

"Presumptuous " does make that judgement ("how dare you praise me with fake praise"-it is not that.It is more regret than a sense of entitlement)
 
To irk (=to annoy or to pain)

Sarkus wrote in a recent post

"I do irk at the idea a government can claim they have massive support for their agenda based on a majority of seats when in reality a majority of people didn't vote for them."The waThe way he hs

It strikes me as a wrong usage.I only know the usage as shown in the various dictionaries online (and cannot find Sarkus' usage in the official" dictionaries -unless I didn't look hard enough)

eg https://www.merriam-webster.com/sentences/irk

Basically "it irks me" or "I am irked" and not "I irk at" **

When I search online ,yes others also use this expression but it feels wrong to me and that they ate all making the same "mistake"

I know Sarkus knows his stuff when it comes to this sort of thing
Does he think it is right?

I think there is another verb that could replace "irk" in the expression "I irk at" .It is on the tip of my tongue but I can't spit it out.

**ie "to irk" would be a transitive verb rather than intransitive.
 
You know how a person who always wears glasses looks when they take their glasses off? They look funny. And there's no words to describe that look. I certainly can't think of any. I'll make up a word now. They look "loofy".
 
"Callipygian is an adjective that means having shapely or well-shaped buttocks. It comes from the Greek word kallipýg, which is a combination of kalli- and pygē, meaning "beauty" and "buttocks". The word was first used in 1831, but the earliest evidence of its use is from 1818 in the writing of politician John Cam Hobhouse." see Jennifer Lopez.
 
"Otaku", in Japan, is a rather mocking term for a socially maladjusted individual, who keeps himself busy with indoor activities while staying at home. Sort of like a nolife! Note that the neologism was popularized by the journalist Akio Nakamori who was the first to use it. In fact, it is the equivalent of the geek and nerd in the Western culture, but that' s not all...

In the land of the rising sun, the expression refers to both pop culture enthusiasts and people who are so obsessed with something that they forget about their social life. Not very flattering!

As for the Western culture, the definition is a bit different and much less pejorative. It concerns a person addicted to Japanese pop culture. At the same time, many fans of manga and Japanese anime have been emerging over the last few decades. These new western otakus, more passionate than withdrawn, are reviving the image of the big, pimply, slightly perverse Japanese geek."

japan-avenue.com

What is an Otaku?

What is an Otaku, what does he or she look like and how is he or she considered? Focus on these mysterious individuals who are fond of Japanese pop culture.
japan-avenue.com japan-avenue.com

​

 
Flummox - to confuse

(From meriamwebster.com) No one is completely sure where the word flummox comes from, but we do know that its first known use is found in Charles Dickens' 1837 novel The Pickwick Papersand that it had become quite common in both British and American English by the end of the 19th century.

One theory expressed by some etymologists is that it was influenced by flummock, a word of English dialectical origin used to refer to a clumsy person. This flummock may also be the source of the word lummox, which also means "a clumsy person."
 
Sambuca
An Italian liqueur

www.thegeneralwine.co.uk

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"The term "sambuca" itself is thought to derive from the Latin word "sambucus," meaning elderflower. While elderflower may not be a prominent ingredient in modern sambuca recipes, the name stuck"

I happened to notice that the elder tree in my nearby national park was tagged with its English and also its Latin name.(Sambucus)

I wondered if it could have given Sambuca its name and a quick search on the seems to give credence to the idea.
 
Nebula

A nebula is a distinct part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. The word also refers to a galaxy other than the Milky Way. (taken from MiriamWebster.com)

Used in a sentence - We were eventually able to see the nebula through the telescope. The closest known nebula to Earth, is the Helix-Nebula.

In English, the word “nebulous” has evolved to describe things that aren’t clear or well-defined, like how a cloud can sometimes obscure our visibility. It’s also used to describe abstract concepts and ideas.

I think “Helix Nebula” would be a great name for a cat, actually.
 
wegs said:
Nebula

A nebula is a distinct part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. The word also refers to a galaxy other than the Milky Way. (taken from MiriamWebster.com)

Used in a sentence - We were eventually able to see the nebula through the telescope. The closest known nebula to Earth, is the Helix-Nebula.

In English, the word “nebulous” has evolved to describe things that aren’t clear or well-defined, like how a cloud can sometimes obscure our visibility. It’s also used to describe abstract concepts and ideas.

I think “Helix Nebula” would be a great name for a cat, actually.
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My father told me his Yorkshireman grandfather had a cat called Henry Richard Plumbub Straightedge Naomi Whitworth Binns. He kept a shop and this cat had a crucial role as mouser.

If I ever get a cat, I think I shall call it Tibshelf, after a bizarrely named motorway service station on the M1.
 
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