Seldom-Used Words

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Good morning all you sesquipedalians,
('sesquipedalian' - an obscure word that means 'a lover of obscure words).

What dictionary is that, then ?

sesquipedalian

A n: 1 A person or thing a foot and a half high or long. E-M17
2 A polysyllabic word. M19.

B: adj. 1 Of a word etc.: polysyllabic, lengthy.
2 Characterized by long words; tending to be lengthy or ponderous in speech.

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Excerpted from Oxford Talking Dictionary
Copyright © 1998 The Learning Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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And we DO need obscure words to enrich our language, and confuse the youthful idiots who insist on "Text speak" and bad spelling !
 
Welcome, Matron. Yes, we are lovers of obscure words, whether sesquipedalian or not. And I did like that article you posted very much. Thank you.

Amonst the many power words, I found a new one to me;

powder monkey - noun one who transports powder from the magazine to the guns esp. on shipboard
 
Welcome, Matron. Yes, we are lovers of obscure words, whether sesquipedalian or not. And I did like that article you posted very much. Thank you.

Amonst the many power words, I found a new one to me;

powder monkey - noun one who transports powder from the magazine to the guns esp. on shipboard


Errrmmmmm.......that's Matriarch, and usually shortened to just Mat. More than happy with that.
Glad to add to the richness of our language, and get away from the damned text speak.
 
aeolist - A pompous windy bore who pretends to have inspiration....

I'm going to assume we have ALL encountered one of this species.
 
Sorry, Matriarch, I read your name correctly and my wandering mind shortened it to Matron. I won't make the same mistake twice. Thanks for correcting me.

Yes, we all have met the boasters, braggarts, and all the rest of the great words the dictionary holds to describe this human condition that survives it all.

pousette - vi to swing in a semi-circle with hands joined with one's partner in a country-dance
 
Sorry, Matriarch, I read your name correctly and my wandering mind shortened it to Matron. I won't make the same mistake twice. Thanks for correcting me.

Yes, we all have met the boasters, braggarts, and all the rest of the great words the dictionary holds to describe this human condition that survives it all.

pousette - vi to swing in a semi-circle with hands joined with one's partner in a country-dance

Not a problem.

adoxography Skilled writing on an unimportant subject

I wonder how this word applies to Lit members????
 
A Good Sunday of Rest to you, All.

I won't be resting today. Every year, I conduct several wars on my property. The Dandelion Wars are usually first, followed by the Stinky Weed Wars and culminating in the Blackberry Wars. Due to unfortunate familial circumstances over the last three years, I was behind and losing all these battles. This year, I am at it, again, and so far I have won several victories.

That is why I have only been posting in the morning, lately. When I finally drag my ass back in, I am too tired to move. Gardening is hard work. I guess it is a great workout because it gets every muscle in my body responding and aching in the end. LOL

pousse-cafe' - noun 1. an after-dinner drink consisting of several liqueurs of different colors and specific gravities poured so as to remain in separate layers 2. a small drink of brandy or a liqueur taken with black coffee after dinner
 
Amonst the many power words, I found a new one to me;

powder monkey - noun one who transports powder from the magazine to the guns esp. on shipboard


Royal Navy ships of the Napoleonic era had a wide ranging age group as crew. The youngsters, not being strong enough or experienced enough in seamanship but small and agile, were those who delivered the gunpowder (usually in silk bags, contained in a wooden carrier) to the Gunner and thus kept him topped up in supplies.
 


connate adj.,
1. Existing at birth or from the beginning; inborn or inherent.
2. Originating at the same time; related.
3. Being in close accord or sympathy; congenial: "In the wilderness, I find something more dear and connate than in streets and villages" (Ralph Waldo Emerson).
4. (Biology) United to a structure of the same kind: a connate leaf.
5. (Geology) Trapped in sediment or rock at the time of deposition: connate water.


ETYMOLOGY:
Late Latin conntus, past participle of connasci, to be born with : Latin com-, com- + Latin nasci, to be born; see gene- in Indo-European roots








The word was used by William F. McClenney in a discussion of fracking and geology.

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/04/29/on-fracking/

 
The Garden Warrior wishes you a wonderful Monday, even though my hands are so sore I can barely type. LOL

pour point - noun the lowest temperature at which a substance flows under specified conditions
 
Good day, everyone. Here is a word I found interesting;

pourparler - noun a discussion preliminary to negotiations
 
Good day,dear Allard.

Yes, from the French..."for to speak." A discussion to set the terms within which negotiations can take place. It helps avoid the sudden appearance of unacceptable demands at the table.
 
Hello Tio dear. Yes, I fully understand the meaning, especially after watching the mini-series John Adams. Benjamin Franklin was very good at pre-negotiation, as well as the rest of the Continental Congress members. Great word to describe it all. I do love the French and their language.

pourboire - noun TIP, GRATUITY
 
and also related to the French, though pronounced very Englishly...

pottage noun A thick vegetable soup.
 
I did not know that word was French in origin. Thanks, Tio, for the info.

Here is a goody;

pound-foolish - adj (from the phrase penny-wise and pound-foolish) imprudent in dealing with large sums or large matters
 
Speaking of penny-wise, our phrase, "A penny for your thoughts," comes from the French, "Une pensee pour tes pensees," "A pansy for your thoughts." It's clearly more euphonius in French, and the "penny" in the English was a result of trying to put sense together with sound.

Which brings us right back to where we began, almost, with the British dictum, "take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves," or, as Lewis Carroll put it, "take cares of the sense and the sounds will take care of themselves."
 
Nothing like a good quadrille with the Dodo to put one in a better mood. Thanks, Tio dear, for the wonderful information, once again.

pouncet-box - noun archaic a box for carrying pomander
 
I wouldn't want to leave the ps without noting this all-too-seldom used word:

punctillious adj Marked by or concerned about precise exact accordance with the details of codes or conventions.

We do seem to have some of that around here.
 
Tio, I rarely engage in other discussions and avoid the drama as much as possible over here in my little seldom-used words thread, but I do remember some posters as being very punctillious. That is a great word.

There are five entries for pounce, but I am only listing the two I did not know;

pounce(1) - noun the claw of a bird of prey

pounce(5) - noun 1. a fine powder formerly used to prevent ink from spreading 2. a fine powder for making stenciled patterns
 
Pounce is a wonderfully evocative word, but the other definitions were foreign to me. I have never seen an eagle's pounce written anywhere in all my years.

poulter's measure - noun (from the former practice of occasionally giving one or two extra when counting eggs by dozens) a meter in which lines of 12 and 14 syllables alternate
 
Pounce is a wonderfully evocative word, but the other definitions were foreign to me. I have never seen an eagle's pounce written anywhere in all my years.

poulter's measure - noun (from the former practice of occasionally giving one or two extra when counting eggs by dozens) a meter in which lines of 12 and 14 syllables alternate

is that along the same lines as "a Baker's Dozen" ?
 
Handley, that is exactly what I wonder, but did not investigate further.

potty(1) - adj 1. British: TRIVIAL, INSIGNIFICANT 2. slang: chiefly British: slightly crazy 3. SNOBBISH
 
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