Piano World Home Page Forums Restricted and Archives The Coffee Room An obscure, favorite word

Mine aren't necessarily obscure or elegant, but I do have a list of favorites, including puerile, encomium and plotz.

As in: "My mother would plotz if she knew I lost my chance at high school encomia because of my puerile decision to TP the principal's house."

Nina

Thinking of "callipygous" again, I'm reminded that somewhere, in one of Beetfhoven's conversation books, he has scrawled: "Seitwärts, ein prächtiger Popo!"

What Tomk doesn't know is that I own almost as many dictionaries as I do cookbooks.

Done

your long word that you fixed.

Sorry jgoo, only the first part was for you. The second part of my post, (about the umlaut), was for Kathy with a K.

Thank you for fixing the thread.

Hi Bob. I realized that right after I made the post and then edited it out.

OK, now that we're not scrolling, here are some - I think - great words. Thanks, jgoo, for correcting the posting of YOUR terrifying word. It would be very hard to rhyme!

I like these words because they are unique - saying a lot in one bite, which can't be said together in English. And - be prepared, like Matt, I am a polyglot (looks like troglodyte). I like unusual words from other languages.

1) Remugles (des/les): fr. French (and oddly, from an early Nordic root!). Means, the peculiar odor of "shut-in-ness" or (by extension) of the sickroom. Kind of Baudelairish.

2) Nachiss: fr. Yiddish and originally from Hebrew (with a different slant)- means the particularly parental joy of pride in ones offspring.

3) Which goes naturally with Kvell(en): also fr. Yiddish, but the Germanic side of it. Meaning to burst with pride (usually at the achievement of ones children) as in "Mama kvellt when she hears Motel playing the fidl" (violin). Understood to mean no matter how >~/>%6*0@!~ he sounds!

4) Zaif (fr. Turkish, fr. Arabic. Ah, means both thin and pitiful!! As in "Pek cok zaif" - poor little waiflike [name favorite movie star]. Hahaha.

5) Defenestrate: English. Look it up. Not the fate of recalcitrant virgins - well, maybe amongst the Aztecs.

6) Procrustean bed: fr. Greek (admittedly a phrase). As in "to be forced into a Procrustean bed". If you don't know it, look this one up too! Greek has so many fantastic and utterly unique words. I want to learn it someday.

And of course, with the infinite compound words possible in German (which you can really put together yourself), there are never-ending possibilities. Example: Wiedergutmachungsgelt. Literally: making-good-again-money - otherwise known as "reparations"!

Russian too is rich with its compounding, but not so permissive about do-it-yourselfs as German.

And the infinite varied abstract/concrete vocabulary of Hebrew is intoxicating - with almost everything built up from three (or at most four) letter cores or "Shoreshim". Each can be whittled or bent to mean practically anything, while retaining the asssociations with all the alternate permutations of the core! Very neat - especially for poetry.

Just to kvell a little about English, however. The language of Shakespeare (and Piano World) is the richest language in the world in terms of vocabulary - encompassing some one million words!

Of course, that's because - scuze me - it's a bastard language, with Germanic roots and borrowings from all over the place (especially Latinates). Makes for a pretty fat language!

Ariel

Speaking of rhyming words. Did you know the only (or one of the only) words in English with no rhyming words is orange.

Although my kids and I hashed it over last night (having played for years games we invented called "Rhyme Crime" and "Synonymous/Antonymous", they're pretty good at it). We came up with some near-misses (see in context). Sampling:

Spring is in the air. That robin's surely harbinge-ing it! (pathetic).

You can't cut that apple. It's mechanical. Open it by the core-hinge!

[The WINNER...Mine!]

I don't know what's come over me. I just find myself obsessing over laminates and ceramic and vinyl tile! I'm afraid I'm just on a floor-binge.

Any other rhyme challenges? :-)

Ariel

Orange, Smorange, I'm tired of your citriolic lemonstrations of my Mother Tongue's shortcomings.

Bob

I had a friend who would reach for a word...and then produce a new one as she struggled to remember the proper word.

The words she sought could be very common nouns, but she would produce a new word to replace it...such as "dickeywater" -- whose definition I no longer remember -- but it had nothing to do with water.

Over time, I'd write them down and would incorporate her secret language into conversation.

Once, upon seeing an elephant, she produced my favorite new word...."lufalump." Now, whenever I see an elephant, I prefer to call them lufalumps...seems to fit them so much better.

Ken

Kids are great sources for invented words, also. My daughter once informed me that she was feeling tired and wanted to "slounge around." Ever since then, we never relax, we just "slounge."

She also invented the word "flanch" instead of "haunch," as in "that jockey is really whipping that horse's flanches!"

Nina

Just found a fine collection of obscure words in this article . Nugatory might be my new favorite.

Kid words will be with my wife and I forever. I think we'll still be saying "ting" (thank you, from a one year old) to each other when we're quite gray.

Ariel, I can't help you in the rhyme deparment, but DEFINITELY go with the ceramic! Hey, I'll even help you install it. We can have a mud party.

ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ, Bob Muir, wie schöne! Höw can I ever thänk
Ü!!!