Seldom-Used Words

[AllardChardon]

Yes, indeed, Carlus, very smart addition to the thread.

Another interesting pair of words;

oblivious - adj 1. lacking remembrance, memory, or mindful attention 2. lacking active conscious knowledge: UNAWARE

oblivion - noun 1. an act or instance of forgetting: FORGETFULNESS 2. the quality or state of being forgotten 3. official ignoring of offenses: PARDON

The final entry #3 took me completely by surprise.

 

[oggbashan]

...
oblivion - noun ...

3. official ignoring of offenses: PARDON

The final entry #3 took me completely by surprise.

But the official ignoring isn't as clear as the other definitions. As one UK government department put it:

"The record of the offence can be erased, but the mark where it was will still show."

Some people don't realise that a Pardon means that you were found guilty. A Pardon is NOT a statement that you were innocent. It means "You did it. You were convicted of doing it. All the pardon does is remit the punishment for your guilt."

That is why a posthumous pardon is pointless for someone already dead. They are beyond punishment in this world.

What is needed, if appropriate, is a statement that they were innocent of whatever they were convicted of doing.

Many men were convicted and shot for 'cowardice in the face of the enemy' during the First World War. Now SOME of them might be classed as having 'shell-shock' or a similar mental impairment. But they were tried and convicted fairly by the standards of the time. We might now consider their treatment unfair and inhumane, but that is a judgement of posterity, not of their contemporaries.

The UK official 'oblivion' now allows their names to be added to war memorials as victims of that war, but cannot clear their names. If it did, it would accept that the trials were unfair and the judges wrong, which they weren't at the time.

All we can do is think more sympathetically of the men who were shot - now.

Even if the law at the time was unjust by modern standards, the conviction still stands.

I emphasised SOME above because a very few of those convicted of 'cowardice' behaved in an appalling manner and deliberately betrayed their comrades. But they were a very few among hundreds of thousands who endured so much.

 

[Handley_Page]

But the official ignoring isn't as clear as the other definitions. As one UK government department put it:

That is why a posthumous pardon is pointless for someone already dead. They are beyond punishment in this world.

I emphasised SOME above because a very few of those convicted of 'cowardice' behaved in an appalling manner and deliberately betrayed their comrades. But they were a very few among hundreds of thousands who endured so much.

They deserved the firing squad.

 

[oggbashan]

They deserved the firing squad.

That was the problem with the campaign to 'pardon' all those who were shot for cowardice in WW1.

While the majority were innocent by modern standards, a few were very guilty, and the campaign wanted all pardoned.

 

[AllardChardon]

Og, I would never have put oblivion with pardon, guilty or otherwise, until happening across it in my daily backward dictionary search. I am very grateful to you for taking the time to explain what the legal term oblivion means and how it has been used in modern times. It makes me wonder if we Americans have a pardon named oblivion, as well. And how would that be used in a sentence? He was granted oblivion, instead of his mandatory punishment.
Side note: I have been thinking that adding a sentence, using the entry word, might add a bit of fun and personal color to this thread.

obliquity - noun 1. DISHONESTY, PERVERSITY 2.a.(1) deviation from parallelism or perpendicularity (2): the amount of such deviation: DIVERGENCE b. the angle between the planes of the earth's equator and orbit having a mean value of 23 (degrees) 26'40".16 in 1960 and diminishing 0".47 per year [~ of the ecliptic] 3.a. indirectness or deliberate obscurity of speech or conduct b. an obscure or confusing statement

The obliquity of his speech made it difficult to believe a single word of it.

 

[Handley_Page]

obliquity - noun 1. DISHONESTY, PERVERSITY 2.a.(1) deviation from parallelism or perpendicularity (2): the amount of such deviation: DIVERGENCE b. the angle between the planes of the earth's equator and orbit having a mean value of 23 (degrees) 26'40".16 in 1960 and diminishing 0".47 per year [~ of the ecliptic] 3.a. indirectness or deliberate obscurity of speech or conduct b. an obscure or confusing statement

The obliquity of his speech made it difficult to believe a single word of it.

Sounds like almost any politician.

 

[StrangeLife]

I know not wether teledildonics ( -noun cyberdildonics - Use of electronic sex toys that can be controlled by a computer to reach orgasm) is new or even an official word, but I have never encountered it before.

And it definitely has story potential on Lit.

 

[Weird Harold]

bumf

MEANING:
noun: Unwanted or uninteresting printed matter such as governmental forms, legal documents, junk mail, promotional pamphlets, etc.

ETYMOLOGY:
Short for bum fodder, slang for toilet paper. Earliest documented use: 1889.

USAGE:
"A mortgage loan can generate 200 pages of bumf, most of it so boring and repetitious that no one has the energy or the time to read it all." -- John Gilmour; Lenders Use The Hoover Principle; The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); Jan 20, 2001.

 

[AllardChardon]

Welcome, StrangeLife, and thank you for adding such a worthy Literotica seldom-used word.

Harold, that is also a great entry, thanks for posting it with its usage.

obligate(1) - adj 1. restricted to a particular mode of life [an ~ parasite] 2. ESSENTIAL, NECESSARY

The obligate carnivore, called the African Lion, must have meat to survive, for it eats nothing else.

 

[FlyAwayFromHere]

Perspicacious

its my favourite word in the world.

It means a ready understanding into the meaning of things.

[pronounced PER - SPI - KAY - SHUSS]

 

[AllardChardon]

Welcome, FlyAwayFomHere, and thanks for posting your favorite word and one I think I must have missed while traversing the Ps.

oblate(1) - adj flattened or depressed at the poles [~ spheroid]

oblate(2) - noun 1. a layman living in a monastery under a modified rule and without vows 2. cap: a member of one of several Roman Catholic communities of men or women

oblation - noun 1.a. a religious offering of something inanimate b. cap: the act of offering the Eucharistic elements to God 2. something offered in worship

 

[AllardChardon]

Happy Halloween to all. A quick post and off I go to enjoy the day;

objurgate - vt to denounce harshly: CASTIGATE

 

[Tio_Narratore]

Happy Hallowe'en, Allard!

oblanceolate adj. inversely lanceolate (e.g. as a leaf).

It might be a nice addition to our range of adlectives for a particular part of a woman's body that appears often in these pages...

 

[AllardChardon]

Tio, I saw that word and decided not to post it, but now that you mention it, I suppose it could be used as an adjective to describe female genitalia. However, I needed to know what a lanceolate was first to know for sure;

lanceolate - adj shaped like a lance head; specif: tapering to a point at the apex and sometimes at the base

 

[AllardChardon]

Good day, everyone.

objet d' art - noun 1. an article of some artistic value 2. CURIO

 

[AllardChardon]

I decided to add this one, because I have included other theories on here and I did not want to be exclusive;

objectivism - noun 1. any of various theories stressing objective reality esp. as distinguished from subjective experience or appearance 2. an ethical theory that moral good is objectively real 3. the theory or practice of objective art or literature

 

[AllardChardon]

Sunday, the day of rest, but not for me;

obiter dictum - noun 1. an incidental and collateral opinion that is uttered by a judge but is not binding 2. an incidental remark or observation

How would one use this term in a sentence?

 

[Handley_Page]

Sunday, the day of rest, but not for me;

obiter dictum - noun 1. an incidental and collateral opinion that is uttered by a judge but is not binding 2. an incidental remark or observation

How would one use this term in a sentence?

1st thought:
In an orbiter dictum, the Chairman made reference to previous discussion on the subject and made a several pertinent remarks.


My little Oxford says that 'orbiter' was two words: Orb itur ; 'by the way'.

 

[oggbashan]

Sunday, the day of rest, but not for me;

obiter dictum - noun 1. an incidental and collateral opinion that is uttered by a judge but is not binding 2. an incidental remark or observation

How would one use this term in a sentence?

Cicero was the worst ancient exponent of obiter dicta. In his Verrine Orations he frequently says "Ex Quo Locum Digressum Sum" - from which place I digressed - and the reader has to flick back several pages to find where he had deviated from his speech. If he had ever presented his arguments in a court I think those present would have been lost too many times.

What Cicero was including was history lessons on the development of the apparently mis-ruled province, its flora and fauna, its ancient inhabitants etc, while accusing the defendant of running the place like a 1920s Chicago gangster boss.

 

[AllardChardon]

Thank you, Og and Handley, for giving me some examples on how to use obiter dictum, if I ever have the opportunity, that is.

obeisance - noun 1. a movement of the body made in token of respect or submission: BOW 2. DEFERRENCE, HOMAGE

 

[AllardChardon]

This is my last post, before heading East to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Gettysburg Address. I will be gone for over a month and am not sure I will have any access to Lit during that time. If not, I will revive this thread when I return, unless others keep it going in my absence. Bye for now.

obeah also obi - noun a system of belief among Negroes chiefly of the British West Indies, the Guianas, and the southeastern U.S. that is characterized by the use of sorcery and magic ritual

 

[CarlusMagnus]

Ouph

Ouph, modernized and corrupted into oaf, a sprite, or goblin, less elegant, gentle, and prepossessing in appearance than a fairy.

"Urchins, ouphes, and fairies green and white."
--Shakspeare, Merry Wives of Windsor.

 

[Weird Harold]

promptitude [ˈprɒmptɪˌtjuːd]
n
the quality of being prompt; punctuality

n.
promptness.
[1400–50; late Middle English < Late Latin]

"He acted with promptitude, intelligence and despatch." -- P.G. Wodehouse, A Damsel in Distress

 

[CarlusMagnus]

Orlings

Orlings, the teeth of a comb.

 

[Weird Harold]

benignantly (comparative more benignantly, superlative most benignantly)

In a benignant manner.  [quotations ▲]
1843, Thomas Carlyle}, Past and Present, book 2, ch. VIII, The Election

The Dominus Rex, benignantly receiving our Thirteen with their obeisance, and graciously declaring that he will strive to act for God’s honour, and the Church’s good, commands […]

benignant (comparative more benignant, superlative most benignant)

(now rare) Kind; gracious; favorable.  [quotations ▲]
1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society 1973, p. 417:

Here Nature appears in her richest attire, and Art, dressed with the modestest simplicity, attends her benignant mistress.

benign (comparative benigner or more benign, superlative benignest or most benign)

1: Kind; gentle; mild.
(of a climate or environment) mild and favorable
not harmful to the environment: [in combination] an ozone-benign refrigerant.
2: (medicine) Not posing any serious threat to health; not particularly aggressive or recurrent.