Seldom-Used Words

Status
Not open for further replies.
reckle - to stifle a cough, to clear one's throat especially when interrupting someone.

Not in any dictionary, but I use it. The frequentive form of retch (OE hræcan to retch, to clear one's throat.)
 
Xelebes, I believe reckon comes from the same root.

From the French;

recherche'
- adj 1. a. EXQUISITE, CHOICE b. EXOTIC, RARE 2. excessively refined: PRECIOUS 3. OVERBLOWN, PRETENTIOUS
 
Xelebes, I believe reckon comes from the same root.

From the French;

recherche'
- adj 1. a. EXQUISITE, CHOICE b. EXOTIC, RARE 2. excessively refined: PRECIOUS 3. OVERBLOWN, PRETENTIOUS

Reckon does not. It comes from gerecenian (to figure, to compute, to recount.) Shares cognates with German Rechner (Calculator.)

In fact, if the computer had a German converse, it would be called Reckoner and the code to run it would be called Reckonerish.
 

ectomorph • n., characterized by long and thin muscles/limbs and low fat storage; usually referred to as slim; someone with lean, sinewy muscles; theoretical body type in which a person has a high metabolism. Such a person can easily maintain a low fat physique, but does not add muscle or body weight easily.







The word immediately came to mind because of another thread's description of Tim Lincecum's eating habits. When I was young, somebody called me an ectomorph; I had to go look it up to be sure he wasn't accusing me of being a mass murderer.





 
Thank, Xelebes. I appreciate your interest. Happy St. Patrick's Day to All!

rebus - noun a representation of words or syllables by pictures of objects whose names resemble the intended words or syllables in sound; also a riddle made up of such pictures or symbols
 

ectomorph • n., characterized by long and thin muscles/limbs and low fat storage; usually referred to as slim; someone with lean, sinewy muscles; theoretical body type in which a person has a high metabolism. Such a person can easily maintain a low fat physique, but does not add muscle or body weight easily.







The word immediately came to mind because of another thread's description of Tim Lincecum's eating habits. When I was young, somebody called me an ectomorph; I had to go look it up to be sure he wasn't accusing me of being a mass murderer.






Ectomorph is one of a three-fold classification of body shapes defined by Sheldon back in the 50s (actually, probably earlier - I should look it up; it had a certain appeal to some physical anthropologists back then). The others are endomorph, or BBW, and the mesomorph, or Charles Atlas type.
 

louche • adj., disreputable or sordid in a rakish or appealing way; of questionable taste or morality: "a louche nightclub", "a louche painting."








You'd be amazed by the interesting words that turn up in a book on the Comanche Indians.





 

louche • adj., disreputable or sordid in a rakish or appealing way; of questionable taste or morality: "a louche nightclub", "a louche painting."








You'd be amazed by the interesting words that turn up in a book on the Comanche Indians.




I'm an Anthropologist, Trysail; spellcheck underlines about 25% of everything I write. You'd be surprised what words you'll find in any anthropological work.


I expect you've come across berdache in that book. It denotes a man who has seen Double Woman on his vision quest and has taken up life as a woman, possibly even as a subsequent wife to a noted warrior.
 
Here is an excerpt from my first novel using that word;

Madam Gigi is speaking;

“The traditional ritual for serving absinthe is to pour ice-cold water over a cube of sugar on a slotted spoon. I will demonstrate as I prepare your drink. In this cedar box I keep my special slotted spoon and a jar of sugar cubes. The sugar cubes sweeten the bitter woodworm and the cold water dilutes the thick syrup. Typically, three portions of water are poured into one portion of absinthe. The slotted spoon holding the sugar is suspended over the glass containing the portion of absinthe. The cold water dissolves the sugar as both of them enter the glass and mix with the absinthe. When the cold water contacts the absinthe, it gets cloudy and this effect is called "louche," which means equivocal in French or ambiguous in English. Here is your drink and, now, I will make mine. Sip it slowly and enjoy.”

Equivocal or ambiguous used to describe the clouding effect of cold water on absinthe? Once again, vocabulary and its usage fascinated Mr. Bradshaw. He sipped the strange alcohol and found it bittersweet. It caused a warming glow to travel down his insides, which brought on a wave of relaxation. While watching Madam Gigi prepare her drink, he felt the further effects of the alcohol taking hold. The creeping heat not only soothed his frayed nerves, but also brought on intense stimulation, especially in his genitalia.
 
louche• adj., disreputable or sordid in a rakish or appealing way; of questionable taste or morality: "a louche nightclub", "a louche painting."

Louche is also used in England to describe a female of a certain character; a chav, ne'r do well, rude or foul mouthed.
 

isogrammatic • n., words in which no letter is repeated ( adj., isogrammatical ).







Goddamnit— I'm now officially pissed ( no, you Brits— I'm not drunk— the American sense of angry ).

The U.S. radio network, National Public Radio ( "NPR" ), has a semi-humorous weekly program on the topic of automobiles and automobile maintenance hosted by a pair of very bright ( Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates ) and very witty brothers, Tom and Ray Magliozzi. Notwithstanding the humor, the program can be extremely informative as the brothers are knowledgeable automobile mechanics who operate a garage in Cambridge, Taxachusetts ( http://www.cartalk.com/content/about/history/ ). Each week the program includes a "Puzzler" which is, as the name suggests, a puzzle. This answer to this week's puzzle contains the word isogrammatic:

QUESTION:
http://www.cartalk.com/content/puzzler/transcripts/201111/index.html
Week of 03-12
RAY: This is from my "What's Not in a Name" series, and it's about names of states. This was sent in by someone named Arnie Hartika who writes, "For some time now, I've been a New York Times puzzle addict, and hardly a week goes by that I don't learn at least one new word. Last week was no exception, and I realized right away that this knowledge could be used as the basis for one of your cheesy little Puzzlers. So here goes. I'm going to list nine states of union. Maine, Vermont, New York, Iowa, Florida, Texas, Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming."

TOM: That's nine.

RAY: The question is, what makes these states different from all the others? And, I'll give a hint. You don't have to think twice to know that Mississippi and Alabama are not eligible to be on this list.

Think you know? Drop Ray a note!

_______________________
ANSWER:

http://www.cartalk.com/content/puzzler/transcripts/201111/answer.html

Nine Unusual States

RAY: Here's the answer: what makes these states unusual is that they're isogrammatic words-- words in which no letter is repeated. Texas has five unique letters. Wyoming has seven, and so does New York. But none are repeated. And there are no other states, save for those, that are isogrammatical.

TOM: What about Texas?

RAY: I have Texas on the list, you dope. So do we have a winner?

TOM: Our winner this week is Sally Milgram from Prairie Village, Kansas. Congratulations, Sally!

So, here's my problem. I cannot find an entry for "isogrammatic" in my copy of The Concise Oxford English Dictionary. I cannot find an entry for "isogrammatic" in my copy of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary. I cannot find a listing of "isogrammatic" online.

I am not a subscriber to the O.E.D. on-line and am, thus, unable to check that source.

While I strongly suspect "isogrammatic" is not slang and I'd be amazed if it is a neologism, I'll be damned if I can find a listing. Can any of you find a listing and definition for the word?






 
Last edited:
It is not in my Webster's seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, either.

rebarbative - adj CRABBED, REPELLENT

crabbed - adj 1. MOROSE, PEEVISH 2. difficult to read or understand
 
It's not in the Oxford thing I have on my PC.

It is not in my Webster's seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, either.

Thanks for checking; it's frustrating not to be able to find an entry for the word. I'm beginning to wonder if isogrammatical really is a word ( http://forum.literotica.com/showpost.php?p=37034024&postcount=1437 ) "according to Hoyle." I've always been fascinated by the "readers" employed by Murray et al in the compilation of the O.E.D.

Simon Winchester's The Professor and The Madman tells that story so well. My copy of the subscriber edition of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles ( i.e., the original edition of the O.E.D. ) contains all the acknowledgements that Winchester references in his book.


 
My pleasure, Trysail.

I couldn't pass these two up;

razzle-dazzle - noun 1. a state of confusion or hilarity 2. a confusing or colorful often gaudy action or display

razzmatazz - noun 1. RAZZLE-DAZZLE 2. DOUBLE-TALK 3. VIM, ZING
 
Hello, again. I wonder if isogrammatical is not a figment of someone's imagination.

rax - verb (chiefly Scottish) stretch
 
Properly synthesised, it would either be isogrammic or isogrammatonic, not isogrammatic (iso + grammos or iso + grammaton)

Germanic: Lonestaffly.
 
There are several words from my childhood that I seldom hear today. One is fango, which, in the southwest of England, seemed to be understood to mean ‘finger’. ‘Mind yer fangoes’ certainly had people pulling their fingers back from potential danger without further explanation.

I’ve had several attempts to track down the origin, but, so far, without any luck. Catalan and Italian have fango, but in both cases the meaning seems to be totally unrelated to finger.
 
There are several words from my childhood that I seldom hear today. One is fango, which, in the southwest of England, seemed to be understood to mean ‘finger’. ‘Mind yer fangoes’ certainly had people pulling their fingers back from potential danger without further explanation.

I’ve had several attempts to track down the origin, but, so far, without any luck. Catalan and Italian have fango, but in both cases the meaning seems to be totally unrelated to finger.

Fango is the derhoticised form of fingers.
 
Baba Wawa on SNL (Gilda Radner) had that problem and now I know the name for it. LOL Thanks, gentlemen. Welcome, Sam.

ratiocinate - vi REASON
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top