Comments on: Weekend Word Wrap: obscure and obsolete words

By: Ishmael

Ishmael — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 15:48:07 +0000

Missed (at least) one:

#40: been

By: Ishmael

Ishmael — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 15:47:07 +0000

I’m curious how this list would differ if they flattened out conjugations:

#9: is
#10: was
#16: be
#22: are
#37: were
#324: am

By: Rick

Rick — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 06:52:52 +0000

One of my favorite words is eldritch. I tend to associate certain words and numbers with colors, and this one evokes the deep green of a dark forest, complete with gnarled tree branches. It has a haunting and spooky quality that I suppose I perversely find appealing.

As for words farther removed from the beaten path, how about psychopannychism? I think I found this one lurking in the small print of the compressed OED (which came with a magnifying glass). If memory serves, it refers to a belief in “soul sleep.” Curiously, this gem has a synonym that’s perhaps equally well known: thnetopsychism.

Given my interest in numbers, zenzizenzizenzic is another that sticks with me; and its scope of use in conversation is not to be underestimated. When, at the checkout stand, your total comes to $65.61 (as no doubt it frequently does), what could be simpler than to offhandedly remark that 6,561 is the zenzizenzizenzic of 3?

By: John

John — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 22:05:42 +0000

I know it’s not terribly obscure but;
pneumonoultramicroscopicsiliconvolcanoconiosis. It’s the longest word in the English language with 45 letters. It’s a lung disease obtained from inhaling fine silicon dust.

By: Simon

Simon — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 16:49:59 +0000

And then while reading Fark, I stumble upon this link about odd words:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=2558975&page=1

With the following quote: “In case you wondered, tingo is a Pascuente word from Easter Island in the South Pacific. It means to borrow things from a friend’s house, object by object, until there’s nothing left in it. “

By: Simon

Simon — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 14:22:19 +0000

One of my favourites (and it’s not that obscure, it being found in many dictionaries) is:

callypigian: adj. Having shapely buttocks

By: Bj

Bj — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 13:40:12 +0000

It’s interesting to note that, as are many of our English words, “chantepleure” is really a combination of the French verbs “sing” (chante) and “cry” (pleure).

So maybe they can take credit for that one too and make it a cool 185,001?