Great Words That You Probably Don't Use

[Duleigh]

As a reader, writer, and a crossword fanatic, I come across some great words that I'd like to use, they get the idea across quickly, plainly, with a minimum of baggage and verbiage but I don't dare use them. Why? Because I'm probably the only kid in my entire neighborhood who knows what they mean. I want my readers engaged in my stories and not dashing to a dictionary (highly unlikely in modern times) or searching the internet for their meaning, which is more likely but when you distract the short attention span mindset, you may not get your reader back. Here's one that could have been used in EM's discussion of cats on the disco floor

Coruscation - flash or sparkle "The Christmas lights gave the whole house a beautiful coruscation."

I'm writing about a medieval society and this would come in handy for a young lady:

Palfrey - a horse that is calm and easy to ride

But no, I have to describe the horse because I'm the only person to use Palfrey in that past century

Do you have any cool worlds that you'd like to use but you hold your superior vocabulary in check so you don't loose readers? Here's your chance to sound out and elucidate your skills
(Please don't list "rozzers")

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Years ago, I sat on a scholarship panel with an MD, a lawyer, a Vet and an Ophthalmologist. No, this is not a joke and we didn't walk into a bar, well not in a timeframe that is pertinent to this little tale, anyway...

One of the requirements for the scholarship was an essay. We each read the four essays and then discusses in turn.
The winning essay was so clear, but the girl either had the most esoteric vocabulary on the planet, or she had gone through her essay with AI level efficiency and a Thesaurus.

When we came to review her essay. The lawyer looked at us quizzically and said softly, "Does anybody know what lugubrious means?" I still love that word.


lugubrious: adjective; full of sadness or sorrow : very sad especially in an exaggerated or insincere way

 

[samhasstories]

Palfrey - a horse that is calm and easy to ride

But no, I have to describe the horse because I'm the only person to use Palfrey in that past century

I applaud your restraint. I think a lot of fantasy writers in particular don't exercise this restraint. I don't know what a fucking destrier is, George.

But actually it doesn't bother me. I say use palfrey, and if people want to know what it is they'll look it up. A lot of times I might think of a fancy word that might be fun to use, and I opt not to use it, but that's not because I think people won't know what it means. I opt not to use it because in that particular context, or in the voice I've given the narrator, it's not the right word.

I suspect you have a nice vocabulary in large part because you're a reader, and when you don't know a word you either look it up or intuit its meaning by context. And then repetition solidifies it. That's true for me, and I appreciate it. I read a lot as a kid, I read a lot now. When I was a kid I read books I wasn't supposed to be reading yet, and I came across a lot of words I didn't know. And I learned them.

I say do your readers the same favor. If the Christmas lights gave the house a beautiful coruscation, then give that damn house the coruscation it's asking for. If it works better to say the house glimmered like moonlight on freshly fallen snow, then say that instead. But I wouldn't avoid using coruscation for the sole reason that it's an uncommon word.

That said, I've yet to find a way to get "petrichor" into my writing.

 

[StillStunned]

Early on in my career I was editing a text and used the word "concatenation". My boss and mentor told me she loved the word, but it wasn't a good word to use in an international business context. "Unless you know otherwise," she said, "assume the text is intended for the CEO of a Japanese multinational. Their English is pretty good, but they have 10 minutes to scan the text and find out what's going on. They don't have the time or inclination to wrestle with flowery idiom."

As I've become more experienced as an editor, I've come to appreciate the beauty of simple words. If you use them correctly they can be more powerful than "big" words because they keep the reader's mind on the substance instead of the form.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Palfrey and destrier are words I know from various fantasy and historical novels and fanfics. CS Lewis called Caspian's horse Destrier.

When writing for entertainment and immersion, you can use more niche language IMO, but be mindful of what words are likely to be unknown to many of your audience and provide some context.

So if someone says "Here's your horse, ma'am," and the next sentence is 'I swung myself onto the plump palfrey. She neighed.' then you're good.

Business English, best stick to simplicity, even if you're a horse dealer, unless you know the words are technical terms in your field. I'd expect chemists and Rexx programmers to know about concatenation, but not others.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Do you have any cool worlds that you'd like to use but you hold your superior vocabulary in check so you don't loose readers?

Ironically, given my sexual peccadilloes, I’m really bad at self-restraint.

I don’t go out of my way to use recondite vocab, but my first drafts are generally littered with the abstruse. I love words and I love using the precisely correct one, even if it’s not in common usage.

It’s probably annoying to some readers, but I’m doing this for fun, and recherché polysyllables are fun .

Em

 

[EmilyMiller]

I’m also a sucker [insert joke here] for alliteration. I know it’s neither big nor clever, but it amuses me. I rather enjoyed coming up with “carefully callibrated her cunnilingus” - scratching both itches is “glorious glossal gyrations.”

It’s puerile (actually puellile - have to use that), but I’m writing for fun.
Em

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Ironically, given my sexual peccadilloes, I’m really bad at self-restraint.

I don’t go out of my way to use recondite vocab, but my first drafts are generally littered with the abstruse. I love words and I love using the precisely correct one, even if it’s not in common usage.

It’s probably annoying to some readers, but I’m doing this for fun, and recherché polysyllables are fun .

Em

Dammit Em, Where's my dictionary? you fucking sesquipedalians annoy the hell out of me.

 

[yowser]

I finally got around to using 'synecdoche' in a work, a limerick no less. Sure hope it rhymes close enough to 'Schenectady.'

 

[EmilyMiller]

I finally got around to using 'synecdoche' in a work, a limerick no less. Sure hope it rhymes close enough to 'Schenectady.'

I have no idea how it’s pronounced. An example of a word I’m familiar with reading, but can’t recall hearing.

Em

 

[StillStunned]

I have no idea how it’s pronounced. An example of a word I’m familiar with reading, but can’t recall hearing.

Em

I remember being confused the first time I heard the word "awry" out loud. In my head I'd always pronounced it "aw-ree".

 

[EmilyMiller]

I remember being confused the first time I heard the word "awry" out loud. In my head I'd always pronounced it "aw-ree".

Little words can be as confusing as big ones sometimes.

Em

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Little words can be as confusing as big ones sometimes.

Em

Hmmm, Sometimes more so. Just like people... He He.

 

[StillStunned]

Little words can be as confusing as big ones sometimes.

Em

Like that one cobblestone in an otherwise even pavement. Before you know it you're flat on your face with a sore nose and a wife who's trying not to laugh.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Like that one cobblestone in an otherwise even pavement. Before you know it you're flat on your face with a sore nose and a wife who's trying not to laugh.

I feel I have a new insight into your world.

Em

 

[EmilyMiller]

Hmmm, Sometimes more so. Just like people... He He.

Good things do cum in small packages.

Em

 

[samhasstories]

Like that one cobblestone in an otherwise even pavement. Before you know it you're flat on your face with a sore nose and a wife who's trying not to laugh.

Your wife must be a lot nicer than mine. That gets an unabashed belly laugh from mine.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Good things do cum in small packages.

Em

Often in a very big way...

 

[SimonDoom]

I'm confident I have not yet used these words in a story, but it would be fun if they fit because I like the sound of all of them:

eleemosynary -- def. charitable

recrudescence -- the recurrence of something undesirable

impavid -- fearless

tintinnabulation -- ringing, as of bells

 

[EmilyMiller]

When we came to review her essay. The lawyer looked at us quizzically and said softly, "Does anybody know what lugubrious means?" I still love that word.

This is not me being invidious, or humblebragging, it’s an entirely honest question. Is lugubrious really that uncommon?

Em

 

[EmilyMiller]

tintinnabulation -- ringing, as of bells

Ah! Onomatopoeia!

Em

 

[samhasstories]

Ah! Onomatopoeia!

Em

Be honest - did you look it up confirm the spelling?

 

[StillStunned]

Ah! Onomatopoeia!

Em

It's lovely country, especially in the spring.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

This is not me being invidious, or humblebragging, it’s an entirely honest question. Is lugubrious really that uncommon?

Em

It was to us at the time. Kind of sad actually...

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Be honest - did you look it up confirm the spelling?

Nope, if I know anything it's my poeia's and queues