šŸ’¬ šŸ“– New to you words compendium

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#42

Did you get this from Youā€™re Wrong About? Pretty sure sheā€™s the only person Iā€™ve ever heard say this out loud and I definitely couldnā€™t have told you what it meant or how to pronounce it beforehand

#43

One of those words Iā€™m really familiar with (like nonplussed in its original meaning) that I put down to having spent a lot of time listening to audio books by PG Wodehouse, Dorothy L Sayers, Gerald Durrell and Dick Francis as a kid :smiley:

#44

I only know this one because he says it in a pavement song

this one to be precise!

#45

Iā€™ve a horrible feeling Iā€™ve used erstwhile on more than one occasion on DiS.

Perhaps my diction is a tad too ambagious at times. Or perhaps you, sir, are simply pusillanimous when it comes to the vocables. Ha!

1 Like
#46

Hey maybe Iā€™ve used it too!

#47

Collogue?!

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Why are you using 17th c archaic words in a book about computer games?!

:grinning:

#48

Here we go again with viridescent.

Actually a word Iā€™ve encountered before but never looked up. Cripes.

#49

sempiternal
adjective

  1. eternal and unchanging; everlasting.
    ā€œthe sempiternal sadness of the industrial backgroundā€

Thanks to The Third Policeman and Sempiternal Dusk

2 Likes
#50

acatalectic
adjective (of a line of verse) having the full number of syllables.
noun a line of acatalectic verse

Third Policeman again.

2 Likes
#51

defalcate
verb
embezzle (funds with which one has been entrusted)

Oā€™Brien does it again

2 Likes
#52

Benignant
adjective

  1. Favorable; beneficial.
  2. Kind and gracious.
  3. Kind; gracious; favorable.
1 Like
#53

Peremptory

Expecting to be obeyed immediately and without any questions

2 Likes
#54

catafalque (noun)
1: an ornamental structure sometimes used in funerals for the lying in state of the body
2: a pall-covered coffin-shaped structure used at requiem masses celebrated after burial

Knew what this was but never the word, thanks Niall Mac Coitirā€™s book about birds in Irish folklore and myth which included the story about a robin perching on Queen Mary IIā€™s catalfaque and also Thy Catalfaque

also read the theory about robinsā€™ red breasts containing the fires of hell, so they keep a drop of water at all times to alleviate the suffering of the damned. This is both really sweet and metal as fuck.

2 Likes
#55

Cudgel

A short, thick stick used as a weapon.

But used in the following phrases:

  • cudgel oneā€™s brains
    (To think hard about a problem)

  • take up the cudgels
    (Start to defend someone or something strongly)

2 Likes
#56

Psychopomp

A spirit, deity, person who guides the souls of the dead to the afterlife

From the Greek psychopompos, literally ā€œguide of soulsā€. Have a feeling I recently picked this up from Angela Carter too but had forgotten all about it, then as I lay in bed last night it just popped in there, then I thought of that painting of Paddington guiding Liz into the beyond and learned that Paddington as psychopomp is a whole internet thing.

Itā€™s a wild word and I thought it worthy of the compendium

3 Likes
RIP Shrek (not dead)
#57

Vituperative

Using, containing, or marked by harshly critical or irate language, often with ranting or railing.

1 Like
#58

Used to really despise Boris Johnson for using words that basically didnā€™t exist and had really straightforward commonly used alternatives, and the implication that doing this has anything to do with intelligence. See also making references to classical mythology.

1 Like
#59

Definition no. 3 not really pulling itā€™s weight there if you ask me

2 Likes