A Conversation for The h2g2 Word of the Day (Discontinued)
Ideas for Word of the Day?
World Service Memoryshare team Started conversation Sep 20, 1999
New developments - Mark's passing the Word of the Day over to me. Which I think will be rather enjoyable. We're thinking about cool new things to do on the page. I see there's been lots of feedback on the subject of changing format already... and if you've got any more ideas about what we could do, let me know!
Ideas for Word of the Day?
Rickenbacker Posted Sep 22, 1999
Sententious, An excellent word this and it sums up so many people I've worked with, I never knew one word could be so appropriate.
Sententious - abounding in or given to pompous, high-flown or aphoristic moralizing.
Ideas for Word of the Day?
Cutlery, co-founding Freak and Patron Saint of Cutting Remarks ?¿ Posted Sep 25, 1999
Pendantry's a nice word, if a little common for this column:
Pendantry (n. The act of nitpicking)
Ideas for Word of the Day?
Scythide Posted Sep 28, 1999
iconoclast n. A person who attacks cherished beliefs or traditional institutions.
Ideas for Word of the Day?
Faraday Posted Sep 28, 1999
I rather like "prevaricate". It means to act or speak evasively.
For instance: Let's not prevaricate about the bush...
(Apologies to Wallace and Gromit.)
Faraday.
sextiply
CIG WebGeek Posted Sep 29, 1999
To increase by a factor of six.
One of those words that sounds naughtier than it actually is.
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Ideas for Word of the Day?
Halia Posted Oct 3, 1999
I believe that a very important word is scholionophobia. This is the phobia of school. All of us hitchiker's who must find an excuse to leave school may one day find this word very useful. Please, expose the general population of us h2g2er's to this very important means of escape. Thank you.
Ideas for Word of the Day?
Cutlery, co-founding Freak and Patron Saint of Cutting Remarks ?¿ Posted Oct 5, 1999
My brother had scholionophobia! He stayed off school for 3 weeks in 3rd year... he's very intelligent, but he didn't want to take any sh|t from the teachers. (who would? not me!)
Cut xxx
Ideas for Word of the Day?
Researcher 93445 Posted Oct 7, 1999
I've always been rather fond of
mugwump, one who espouses both sides of a controversial question. Apparently it's derived from an Algonquin indian word, although there's a bit of "folk etymology" that claims it refers to a person who has his mug on one side of a fence and his wump on another.
Also there is
hurlyburly, which means commotion or tumult
Ideas for Word of the Day?
Just zis Guy, you know? † Cyclist [A690572] :: At the 51st centile of ursine intelligence Posted Oct 7, 1999
How about "diaspora"
Ideas for Word of the Day?
Cutlery, co-founding Freak and Patron Saint of Cutting Remarks ?¿ Posted Oct 8, 1999
How about "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicavolcanoconiosis"? (yes I just have to be better than everyone else )
It means a disease caused by inhaling quartz dust (the word is longer than the definition!)
Cut x x x
Catachrestical
zb Posted Oct 13, 1999
Catachrestical adj : constituting or characterized by or given to catachresis
Which in turn is
Catachresis n : strained or paradoxical use of words either in error (as `blatant' to mean `flagrant') or deliberately (as in a mixed metaphor: `blind mouths')
I'm quite sure there's a lot of us catachrestical hikers in here.
sextiply
Spanner Posted Oct 15, 1999
what about masticate? it means to chew, but some people get very confused when you use it in ordinary conversation - eg "i'm having an operation and i won't be able to masticate for six weeks" reply from hapless victim "but how will you relieve tension?" oh dear
Ideas for Word of the Day?
Project Manager Extraordinaire Posted Oct 15, 1999
OMPHALOS (AHM'-fah-luhs) is a £50 synonym for a belly button, but it can also be used to describe the center of something other than your belly. For example, "omphalos" was the name of a stone at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi which was considered to mark the centre of the known world.
Ideas for Word of the Day?
zb Posted Oct 15, 1999
So Belly Button Piercers could have a really 90's job title (like "Refuse co-ordinator" for a dustman/binman)... Omphalos beautification technician?
Tautology
zb Posted Oct 15, 1999
Having had Catachresis so wonderfully accepted (I'm honoured that you took it and am proud to say I have now officially contributed to an official guide entry and at long last have a record on the bottom right of my home!), may I be so bold as to suggest
Tautology n. [L. tautologia, F. tautologie.] A repetition of the same
meaning in different words.
Lest I should display insolence i would like to proffer this word as it features among my favourites. It doesn't beat Serendipity which so very closely matches my experiences whilst surfing h2g2. Have we had Polylogy yet? I would so much prefer this word to be pronounced Polly lodgey as it would conjur images of a bird cage (perhaps inhabited by a somewhat existence inhibited Norwegian Blue), but I digress.
Ideas for Word of the Day?
Neil Horsburgh Posted Oct 16, 1999
I have two possible entries which I try to utilise (in either speech or in the middle of important meetings) as often as possible. They are:
borborygmous (plural - borborygmi) n. a rumbling or gurgling noise made by the movement of fluid and gas in the intestines.
callipygian / callipygean adj. having well formed buttocks (also callipygous)
Ideas for Word of the Day?
Spanner Posted Oct 19, 1999
i'm curious as to what kind of meetings you have that you can use callipygaen often!
Ideas for Word of the Day?
Neil Horsburgh Posted Oct 19, 1999
Sadly, I do not get too use it too often which is a shame. The world would be a much brighter place of I could. Perhaps the callygean state of the office could be a question I ask when I am next interviewed for a job...
Key: Complain about this post
Ideas for Word of the Day?
- 1: World Service Memoryshare team (Sep 20, 1999)
- 2: Rickenbacker (Sep 22, 1999)
- 3: Cutlery, co-founding Freak and Patron Saint of Cutting Remarks ?¿ (Sep 25, 1999)
- 4: Scythide (Sep 28, 1999)
- 5: Faraday (Sep 28, 1999)
- 6: CIG WebGeek (Sep 29, 1999)
- 7: Halia (Oct 3, 1999)
- 8: Cutlery, co-founding Freak and Patron Saint of Cutting Remarks ?¿ (Oct 5, 1999)
- 9: Researcher 93445 (Oct 7, 1999)
- 10: Just zis Guy, you know? † Cyclist [A690572] :: At the 51st centile of ursine intelligence (Oct 7, 1999)
- 11: Cutlery, co-founding Freak and Patron Saint of Cutting Remarks ?¿ (Oct 8, 1999)
- 12: Vestboy (Oct 12, 1999)
- 13: zb (Oct 13, 1999)
- 14: Spanner (Oct 15, 1999)
- 15: Project Manager Extraordinaire (Oct 15, 1999)
- 16: zb (Oct 15, 1999)
- 17: zb (Oct 15, 1999)
- 18: Neil Horsburgh (Oct 16, 1999)
- 19: Spanner (Oct 19, 1999)
- 20: Neil Horsburgh (Oct 19, 1999)
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