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General discussion (archive)The Overly Fancy Word Thread(108 posts)(108 posts)
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Posted March 12, 2014
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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".
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Fever_Discordia: 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...
Sauna is Finnish. We use "bastu".
I think muesli might be German (I've seen the spelling "müsli", signifying it comes from a language with u-umlaut).
Fjord is Norwegian.

EDIT: Yeah, according to Wikipedia, muesli is originally from Switzerland, and the Swiss German spelling is "müesli".
Post edited March 12, 2014 by Maighstir
Posted March 12, 2014
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Fever_Discordia: Speaking of immaturity, the technical term for chewing is 'mastication'
And 'formication' is the creepy feeling of spiders crawling along your skin. Talk about a mood-killer!
Posted March 12, 2014
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Nirth: Borborygmus
And there was me thinking it was just a trampling Cyclops legend from the original Ravnica block:
http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=97229
Post edited March 12, 2014 by Fever_Discordia
Posted March 15, 2014
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cmdr_flashheart: The more we read, the more we might understand why certain words exist. That's all, really :]
Truth be told, I already thought before your gracious reply that I was "unnecessarily abrupt" - reads "an ass" - in my reply. I apologize!!

I like your style, what you state above, because it is true.

Do you already know the word serendipity? Or serendipitous?

The first I have a certain hope of pronouncing, more or less, but not too much writing out correctly - the latter most likely fails (epic) on most accounts.

Yet what is there not to love about the word?? See "Prince of Serendip" - a Persian tale I think. :-D

I would say this is eastern equivalent to classic "Deus ex Machina" - a god out of machine - only with a purely positive solution; very good, methinks. If you'd like to comment or post another word you like, I'd be delighted.
Posted March 15, 2014
Besides learning words that give complex ideas just by themselves. I also like to find words with cool origins. Sympathy derives from Latin and means that you suffer with someone.
Posted March 15, 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".
We have it in Danish too. Skadefryd - noun, and Skadefro - adjective.

And I thought they were using our Ombudsman? Of course, as closely related as Danish, Swedish and Norwegian are, for some words I guess it's more or less impossible to know which of the three languages it was borrowed from.
Posted March 15, 2014
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Maighstir: EDIT: Yeah, according to Wikipedia, muesli is originally from Switzerland, and the Swiss German spelling is "müesli".
Müsli I thought - but I am sure there are village orthographies a plenty in CH! ;-)
Posted March 15, 2014
Defenestrate is an easy one, as fenestra is "window" in Latin (also see German "fenster"). In that context, it's actually quite straightforward (i.e. you're de-windowing someone).

I'd suggest maybe "reticulation" isn't necessary as a word. Though, no doubt, someone will provide a context in which it's invaluable.
Posted March 15, 2014
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TheEnigmaticT: 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.
An interesting example of a word from literature which has been incorporated into the actual language itself.

Can anyone come up with more?

One of my favourites is robotics. Granted, it's not significantly sesquipedalian, but I find the origin of the word funny. Isaac Asimov coined it back in 1941 without knowing it. He used it in his robot stories, thinking the word already existed. As it happens, it didn't exist, so he is credited with being the originator of the word.

Edit:
Oh, and chortle and galumphing, both from Lewis Carroll's poem Jabberwocky, are officially recognized words now.
Post edited March 15, 2014 by Wishbone
Posted March 15, 2014
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TStael:
Yes, serendipity is a great word, I like the way it sounds; it's very musical. Another word I like for the same reasons as I like serendipity is crepuscule (kriˈpəsˌkyo͞ol/); it's origin is from Latin, but I don't know much else about it :]
Post edited March 15, 2014 by cmdr_flashheart
Posted March 15, 2014
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Wishbone: An interesting example of a word from literature which has been incorporated into the actual language itself.

Can anyone come up with more?
Cyberspace is one, and ICE is another, both popularized by Gibson's "Neuromancer" (though Cyberspace was previously used by Vinge in "True Names"; and ICE is sort of a forced acronym, presumably by those who idolize the work).
Post edited March 15, 2014 by xaliqen
Posted March 15, 2014
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Wishbone: An interesting example of a word from literature which has been incorporated into the actual language itself.

Can anyone come up with more?
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xaliqen: Cyberspace is one, and ICE is another, both popularized by Neuromancer (though Cyberspace was previously used by Vinge).
ICE meaning network security? I must confess I've never seen it used in the real world, although Wikipedia does list a few real world examples. However, I doubt you will find it in a dictionary (other than in the meaning of frozen water).
Posted March 15, 2014
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TStael:
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cmdr_flashheart: Yes, serendipity is a great word, I like the way it sounds; it's very musical. Another word I like for the same reasons as I like serendipity is crepuscule (kriˈpəsˌkyo͞ol/); another very musical word, it's origin is from Latin, but I don't know much else about it :]
:-)

But I also think that if you have not yet taken up the French studies you should - you would find many a charming Latin friend there. Or possibly Romansh - the Swiss minority language that is closest living language to Latin.

Twilight in my view is equally evocative word. And if only someone would post from which origin "die Finsternis" came forth.

As naughtily evocative word I throw forth "töpselikärsä" in Finnish.

This could be translated into German as "Steckdosenase" - but not to much else methinks. Just as is with "vahingonilo" - Schadenfreude.

Edit: spelling of throw.
Post edited March 15, 2014 by TStael
Posted March 15, 2014
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cmdr_flashheart: Yes, serendipity is a great word, I like the way it sounds; it's very musical. Another word I like for the same reasons as I like serendipity is crepuscule (kriˈpəsˌkyo͞ol/); another very musical word, it's origin is from Latin, but I don't know much else about it :]
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TStael: :-)

But I also think that if you have not yet taken up the French studies you should - you would find many a charming Latin friend there. Or possibly Romansh - the Swiss minority language that is closest living language to Latin.

Twilight in my view is equally evocative word. And if only someone would post from which origin "die Finsternis" came forth.

As naughtily evocative word I throw forth "töpselikärsä" in Finnish.

This could be translated into German as "Steckdosenase" - but not to much else methinks. Just as is with "vahingonilo" - Schadenfreude.

Edit: spelling of throw.
I don't know either Finnish or German, so I have no idea how to pronoun those words :] But from what I do know, both the German and Finnish alphabets are phonetically similar in some ways to the English one (though some sounds are different), so I can make some guesses as to the pronunciations.

One thing a friend told me was that the Finnish language doesn't have the sound for "b", so a word like "bacon" translates to pekoni; I think it's interesting how some languages don't have certain sounds :]

But here's an interesting site about the etymology of English language words: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=bacon&searchmode=none

I typed in bacon, but you can search for others. I am sure there are sites which compile etymologies for the vocab of other languages.
Posted March 15, 2014
ignominy = a situation or event that causes you to feel ashamed or embarrassed

opprobrium = Harsh criticism or censure

obloquy = harsh or critical statements about someone

serendipity = pleasant surprise

and yes I use them all of them (not so much in english but in my native language yes :P )
Post edited March 15, 2014 by GastonArg
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General discussion (archive)The Overly Fancy Word Thread(108 posts)(108 posts)
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