3 ms·

Words we don’t want to lose

17 points by ohjeez 9y ago

klenwell 9y ago
A lot of these words strike me as arcane and obscure. Keep them in the OED, mention them in articles like this, but I don't see them having a lot of practical usage. I do have a special affection for the words fingerpost and mountweazel. I'll often use mountweazel as a sort of easter-egg/test page in my new web projects (e.g. https://sweeperscalendar.com/mountweazel https://sweeperscalendar.com/mountweazel) I think Cassandra is a more deserving epithet for women nowadays than Xanthippe. Finally, a few favorite terms of mine somewhat in this vein: - ramshackle - crackpot - dogeared - touchstone None of these words are lost but they are expressive and exemplify a kind of poetry that words can sometimes capture.
- ohjeez 9y ago
  You don't want a word to capture the wonderfulness of lazing around on Sunday morning? _What kind of monster are you?_ "The difference between the right word and the nearly right word is the same as the difference between lightning and the lighting bug." —Mark Twain
  - klenwell 9y ago
    What find of monster? A frumious frowster who, while he certainly appreciates the rightness of such a term, would argue that it's already lost. I've certainly never seen the word used before and fully never expect to hear it again. On the other hand, I do come across the French expression, "la grasse matinée"[0], (even in an English context) every once in a while and would expect to hear "I enjoyed a nice fat morning in bed" before I ever hear something like "I had a grand old frowst". Now then, back to my regularly-scheduled frowst. [0] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:French_idioms#F https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:French_idioms#F
mc32 9y ago
My favorite would be: Those. To endure with grace.
xelxebar 9y ago
For the fellow logophiles out there: http://phrontistery.info http://phrontistery.info It's one of the coolest dictionaries of obscure words I've run across! Similarly, the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is quite excellent: http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/ http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/
- mromanuk 9y ago
  I desperately need to connect with the logophile community. I'm building a "mobile game keyboard" where words get scored, based on the frequency of use in the language. Less frequency, more score. The obscure words should get, even a higher score.

17 points by ohjeez 9y ago

A lot of these words strike me as arcane and obscure. Keep them in the OED, mention them in articles like this, but I don't see them having a lot of practical usage. I do have a special affection for the words fingerpost and mountweazel. I'll often use mountweazel as a sort of easter-egg/test page in my new web projects (e.g. https://sweeperscalendar.com/mountweazel https://sweeperscalendar.com/mountweazel) I think Cassandra is a more deserving epithet for women nowadays than Xanthippe. Finally, a few favorite terms of mine somewhat in this vein: - ramshackle - crackpot - dogeared - touchstone None of these words are lost but they are expressive and exemplify a kind of poetry that words can sometimes capture.

ohjeez 9y ago
You don't want a word to capture the wonderfulness of lazing around on Sunday morning? _What kind of monster are you?_ "The difference between the right word and the nearly right word is the same as the difference between lightning and the lighting bug." —Mark Twain
- klenwell 9y ago
  What find of monster? A frumious frowster who, while he certainly appreciates the rightness of such a term, would argue that it's already lost. I've certainly never seen the word used before and fully never expect to hear it again. On the other hand, I do come across the French expression, "la grasse matinée"[0], (even in an English context) every once in a while and would expect to hear "I enjoyed a nice fat morning in bed" before I ever hear something like "I had a grand old frowst". Now then, back to my regularly-scheduled frowst. [0] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:French_idioms#F https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:French_idioms#F

mc32 9y ago

My favorite would be: Those. To endure with grace.

xelxebar 9y ago

For the fellow logophiles out there: http://phrontistery.info http://phrontistery.info It's one of the coolest dictionaries of obscure words I've run across! Similarly, the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is quite excellent: http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/ http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/

mromanuk 9y ago
I desperately need to connect with the logophile community. I'm building a "mobile game keyboard" where words get scored, based on the frequency of use in the language. Less frequency, more score. The obscure words should get, even a higher score.