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General discussion (archive)The Overly Fancy Word Thread(108 posts)(108 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted March 11, 2014
Borborygmus
Posted March 11, 2014
"Overly"

:-P
Posted March 11, 2014
Ooh pretty much all the clan specific 'super-power' abilities and other terms from the White Wolf Vampire: The Masquerade (as in Redemption and Bloodlines) used really fancy real world words

Obfuscation - Hiding
Celerity - Speed
Fortitude - Toughness
Thaumaturgy - Magic (I Guess)
exsanguination - drain the blood from
Deabolorise - same thing, I guess
Torpor - Death like deep Sleep

and a bunch of others I'm sure I'm forgetting
Aaaand I've brought this OT thread back to table top and then computer games!
Go me!
Post edited March 11, 2014 by Fever_Discordia
Posted March 11, 2014
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mari29: Here's mine: Gedankenexperiment = Coined by Albert Einstein. Gedanken means "thoughts" in German and Einstein applied it to his theory of relativity....*smile*
FTR, it's actually Gedankenspiel, which translates as "thought experiment". Now you know.

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Fever_Discordia: Pusillanimous - being a pussy, basically
And then there's uxorious, which basically means being a pussy to one's wife. Seems awfully specific if you ask me, but there you go.
Posted March 11, 2014
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mari29: Here's mine: Gedankenexperiment = Coined by Albert Einstein. Gedanken means "thoughts" in German and Einstein applied it to his theory of relativity....*smile*
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TwoHandedSword: FTR, it's actually Gedankenspiel, which translates as "thought experiment". Now you know.

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Fever_Discordia: Pusillanimous - being a pussy, basically
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TwoHandedSword: And then there's uxorious, which basically means being a pussy to one's wife. Seems awfully specific if you ask me, but there you go.
Whoa, yeah, never heard of that one, weird!
Actually I read it as 'unctuous' which I'd heard of but didn't know the meaning of, apparently it literally means oily or pertaining to oil but figuratively it can mean a person is kind of slimey especially if they fain earnestness
Posted March 11, 2014
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Fever_Discordia: Actually I read it as 'unctuous' which I'd heard of but didn't know the meaning of, apparently it literally means oily or pertaining to oil but figuratively it can mean a person is kind of slimey especially if they fain earnestness
Whenever I hear unctuous, I always associate it with obsequious, which means servile or fawning. Kind of like that Snidely Whiplash kind of butler that gives everyone the willies, and is not-so-secretly planning to "service" you to an early death so he can make off with all your stuff.
Posted March 11, 2014
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mondo84: I love the word 'dilettante'. Sounds so sophisticated, but it means mostly the opposite (someone who takes an interest in something but lacks knowledge about it, kind of like amateur).
In other words - it means "noob" ;P.
Posted March 11, 2014
here's another oddly specific one:
Avuncular - to be 'Uncle-like' (only in a nice, kindly way, not like your weird uncle Pete your Mum told you to never be alone with!)
Posted March 12, 2014
Expostulate: to express strong disagreement or disapproval.

Of course since I'm a nine year old and most people don't know the actual meaning of the word, I would use it to mean farting.

Pardon me I just expostulated...



I'll never grow up.
Posted March 12, 2014
Prestidigitation: sleight of hand performed for entertainment.

Although if you ask most of the guys I share the office with, I have a predilection to use words of brobdignagian scope with dismaying frequency.

I tell them it's good for their English vocabulary. They politely disaver. ;)
Posted March 12, 2014
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flubbucket: Expostulate: to express strong disagreement or disapproval.

Of course since I'm a nine year old and most people don't know the actual meaning of the word, I would use it to mean farting.

Pardon me I just expostulated...

I'll never grow up.
Speaking of immaturity, the technical term for chewing is 'mastication'
*snigger*
Posted March 12, 2014
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TheEnigmaticT: Prestidigitation: sleight of hand performed for entertainment.

Although if you ask most of the guys I share the office with, I have a predilection to use words of brobdignagian scope with dismaying frequency.

I tell them it's good for their English vocabulary. They politely disaver. ;)
Thanks for the stroke....
Posted March 12, 2014
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Fever_Discordia: Its interesting that we have that oddly specific word in English but we have to borrow 'Schadenfreude' - meaning 'To take pleasure in the misfortune of others' from German, not sure what that says about us.. or the Germans for that matter!
We, on the other hand, have a translated version of schadenfreude - skadeglädje. "Skada" means injury or injure, while "glädje" means happiness or joy, so yeah, happiness from (other's) injury (or misfortune). To be overly technical, the word doesn't actually specify "other's", but is only used in that sense.

Also, you're using our "smörgåsbord" and "ombudsman".
Post edited March 12, 2014 by Maighstir
Posted March 12, 2014
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Fever_Discordia: Its interesting that we have that oddly specific word in English but we have to borrow 'Schadenfreude' - meaning 'To take pleasure in the misfortune of others' from German, not sure what that says about us.. or the Germans for that matter!
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Maighstir: We, on the other hand, have a translated version of schadenfreude - skadeglädje. "Skada" means injury or injure, while "glädje" means happiness or joy, so yeah, happiness from (other's) injury (or misfortune). To be overly technical, the word doesn't actually specify "other's", but is only used in that sense.

Also, you're using our "smörgåsbord" and "ombudsman".
Are muesli and sauna yours too? (the words, of COURSE the actual things themselves are!)
Fjord from somewhere up by you too, probably not actually you guys though...
Posted March 12, 2014
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TheEnigmaticT: Prestidigitation: sleight of hand performed for entertainment.

Although if you ask most of the guys I share the office with, I have a predilection to use words of brobdignagian scope with dismaying frequency.

I tell them it's good for their English vocabulary. They politely disaver. ;)
Clever. My lilliputian mind can scarcely parse the quintessence of your missive. Mayhap such exigent circumstance requires a perusal of my trusty lexicon.
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This is my favourite topic
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General discussion (archive)The Overly Fancy Word Thread(108 posts)(108 posts)
(108 posts)