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  1. #721
    Quote Originally Posted by House P View Post
    I somehow got subscribed to a word-of-the-day email blast. Today's word was abecedarian.

    It was defined as "of, or relating to the Alphabet", "Arranged in alphabetical order", or "Basic, rudimentary".

    I was initially skeptical that this is a real word (the daily email I get is pretty "spam-like"), but according to Meriam-Webster online, abecedarian has been in use since at least the 17th century.


    Now, I just have to decide if abecedarian is a word I really like, or a word I dislike.
    I thought it would describe someone who names their kid "Abcde".

  2. #722
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Chesapeake, VA.
    Quote Originally Posted by DukieInKansas View Post
    I thought it would describe someone who names their kid "Abcde".
    Of course pronounced "Ab-suh-dee." And those people actually do exist. It's not just an urban legend.
    "We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us, an effort which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." --M. Proust

  3. #723
    Quote Originally Posted by rsvman View Post
    Of course pronounced "Ab-suh-dee." And those people actually do exist. It's not just an urban legend.
    As I recall from when that story first came out, Hawaii had the highest number of people with that first name. I still think it is weird and a mean thing to do to your child.

  4. #724
    In the 'Dukies in the NBA 2019-20' thread, DBR members are admitting to some lapses in vocab knowledge. Is admission of ignorance allowed on the interwebs?
    Brings to mind this fun word:
    Ultracrepidarian - someone who has no special knowledge of a subject but who expresses an opinion about it

    Unfortunately, we have very little use for it on DBR
    Last edited by bedeviled; 08-27-2019 at 06:33 PM. Reason: a kinder definition

  5. #725
    Quote Originally Posted by bedeviled View Post
    In the 'Dukies in the NBA 2019-20' thread, DBR members are admitting to some lapses in vocab knowledge. Is admission of ignorance allowed on the interwebs?
    Brings to mind this fun word:
    Ultracrepidarian - someone who has no special knowledge of a subject but who expresses an opinion about it

    Unfortunately, we have very little use for it on DBR
    Actually, me might create a Board with that name!😂

  6. #726
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Chesapeake, VA.
    I heard this word on the radio this morning: mendacious.

    Reminded me of another word I really like: prevaricate.
    "We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us, an effort which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." --M. Proust

  7. #727
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    On the Road to Nowhere
    I have a new favorite word: unscathed.

    As in: I got through Hurricane Dorian unscathed.

  8. #728
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Undisclosed
    Merriam-Webster word of the day: mumpsimus -- a stubborn person who insists on making an error in spite of being shown that it is wrong.

  9. #729
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Winston’Salem
    Quote Originally Posted by OldPhiKap View Post
    Merriam-Webster word of the day: mumpsimus -- a stubborn person who insists on making an error in spite of being shown that it is wrong.
    Care to provide a contemporary example?
    "Amazing what a minute can do."

  10. #730
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Undisclosed
    Quote Originally Posted by Tripping William View Post
    Care to provide a contemporary example?
    Merriam-Webster seems to time their words very well, it's a fun Twitter follow.

  11. #731
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Wilmington, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by Tripping William View Post
    Care to provide a contemporary example?
    I can think of several.

  12. #732
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Chesapeake, VA.
    Over the weekend I heard an NPR guest use the word "licit." This is one of those words that is almost always used only in its negative form, "illicit."

    Clement is another such word.
    "We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us, an effort which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." --M. Proust

  13. #733
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Cambridge, MA
    Quote Originally Posted by rsvman View Post
    Over the weekend I heard an NPR guest use the word "licit." This is one of those words that is almost always used only in its negative form, "illicit."

    Clement is another such word.
    This brings up the concept of an orphan or unpaired word, which is defined by Wikipedia as a word that "according the usual rules of the language, would appear to have a related word, but does not ... In some cases a paired word does exist, but is quite rate or archaic"

    Examples include:

    Disheveled - sheveled
    Discombobulted - combobulated
    Inept - ept
    Unbeknownst - beknownst
    Feckless - feckful


    To take this a step further, here is a poem which is frequently attributed to J H Parker.

    A Very Descript Man

    I am such a dolent man,
    I eptly work each day;
    My acts are all becilic,
    I’ve just ane things to say.
    My nerves are strung, my hair is kempt,
    I’m gusting and I’m span:
    I look with dain on everyone
    And am a pudent man.
    I travel cognito and make
    A delible impression:
    I overcome a slight chalance,
    With gruntled self-possession.
    My dignation would be great
    If I should digent be:
    I trust my vagance will bring
    An astrous life for me.

  14. #734
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    On the Road to Nowhere
    Quote Originally Posted by House P View Post
    A Very Descript Man

    I am such a dolent man,
    I eptly work each day;
    My acts are all becilic,
    I’ve just ane things to say.
    My nerves are strung, my hair is kempt,
    I’m gusting and I’m span:
    I look with dain on everyone
    And am a pudent man.
    I travel cognito and make
    A delible impression:
    I overcome a slight chalance,
    With gruntled self-possession.
    My dignation would be great
    If I should digent be:
    I trust my vagance will bring
    An astrous life for me.
    Excellent. The only word I'm lost on is "span".

  15. #735
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Chesapeake, VA.
    I'm not sure if this word has been raised in the thread earlier, but I really like the word "cantankerous." Also "irascible." "Curmudgeon" is pretty solid, too.
    "We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us, an effort which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." --M. Proust

  16. #736
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Winston’Salem
    Quote Originally Posted by rsvman View Post
    I'm not sure if this word has been raised in the thread earlier, but I really like the word "cantankerous." Also "irascible." "Curmudgeon" is pretty solid, too.
    devildeac obviously agrees.
    "Amazing what a minute can do."

  17. #737
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Greenville, SC
    Borborygmi

    Like the sound of distant thunder, only closer.

  18. #738
    Quote Originally Posted by camion View Post
    borborygmi

    like the sound of distant thunder, only closer.
    sounds like it 😳😳😳😳😳

  19. #739
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Undisclosed
    Quote Originally Posted by rsvman View Post
    I'm not sure if this word has been raised in the thread earlier, but I really like the word "cantankerous." Also "irascible." "Curmudgeon" is pretty solid, too.
    Did you just come back from a family reunion, too?

  20. #740
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Chesapeake, VA.
    Quote Originally Posted by OldPhiKap View Post
    Did you just come back from a family reunion, too?
    LOL.

    More likely I was just musing about the people on this board. j/k
    "We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us, an effort which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." --M. Proust

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