What's an obsolete or incredibly obscure word you think people should know?
Overmorrow refers to the day after tomorrow and I feel like it comes in quite handy for example.
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Overmorrow refers to the day after tomorrow and I feel like it comes in quite handy for example.
perambulation is a good one. My morning walk isn't quite grand enough to be called a 'constitutional'; nor scenic and leisurely enough to be called a 'stroll'; nor yet social enough to be called a 'promenade'; 'perambulation' is just the ticket.
I thought the morning constitutional was taking a shit.
And what a lovely paragraph about it. Thank you.
Oh I love to perambulate, sitting still is what I really hate
And a "perambulator" is a kid stroller. It was an enlightening moment when I first came across that word in Neil Stephenson's "Seveneves", delved into its etymology and then realised why my British friend called the stroller a "pram". This is just a contracted form of perambulator.
It did not occur to me that there's actually also a verb for it, so thank you for pointing that out! I love it, and I will use it henceforth!
Interrobang.
It's this thing: ‽
More people should use the symbol because it looks cool and has a badass name, so for that you need to know what it's called.
Who's with me‽
Interrobang sounds like something from a porno about police work.
“Did you question the suspect?”
“Yeah, Chief, we interrobanged him and got the info.”
Hey, it's me, your suspect. I've got more info, step it up with the interrobanging, will ya?
Questioning a bang.
My quick and dirty interrobang with her revealed to me how empty inside I was, unlike the outhouse we were in.
Or a fully themed, punctuation inspire flick. Named "character" to let you fill in the blanks.
Char 1: Well what do you think Mark?
Char 2: Are you sure she can handle it, Point?
Char 1: Its time we've shown
Char 2: our true power...
Together: As Interrobang!
Char 3: No wait, I've got my per....
.... OK it needs to be reworked, but you get the idea.
Is it still pornographic? "Detective, dash over here and interpunct my colon", "don't full stop, I'm about to comma", etc, etc.
Well yeah, that's half the fun
While I like the concept, I can't help but prefer '!?' or '?!'. There's more granularity of meaning, and I think it just looks nicer having two or more separate characters.
Yeah, but you aren't proper if you're using more than one piece of punctuation at the end of your sentence. Them's the rules.
Unless...
Eh the context determines the need for proper grammar. Throwaway comments on Lemmy- fuck the grammar
Only if you agree to stop calling them Hashtags and use their more-correct name of Octothorpes
"Press 1 to continue followed by the Octothorpes"
Lol I love it
The singular is octothorpe.
You mean pound?
I made
AltGr + /type an interrobang so I'd always have access to itHow do I start?
I set up an auto replace on my phone so when I type ?! It’ll switch it to ‽ for me.
Petrichor: The smell of rain on dry ground. One of those things everybody knows about but lacks a word for.
Apparently Streptomyces are the cause.
I learned about this in Amsterdam’s Groote Museum today, huh
It's funny, literally every Doctor Who fan knows this word and what it means thanks to Neil Gaiman.
Figured the other way around might be as obscure...
nudiustertian: relating to the day before yesterday
Yikes
To add to that, "ereyesterday" is the noun version for the day before yesterday.
Never saw this one before and not sure how to pronounce it while the German Vorgestern is as commen as Übermorgen.
English on the other hand has fortnight which I think is very cool as we don't have a special word for 14 days
A little off topic but I find these words extremely interesting that have no direct translation as they often give a new perspective on things or concepts.
the german version "Übermorgen" is widely used in germany.
Yes, I learned English here in Austria and I remember classmates asking the teacher how to say "vorgestern" and "übermorgen" in English.
We didn't learn the words "ereyesterday" and "overmorrow" that day, only "the day before yesterday" and "the day after tomorrow". :(
Overimorgen is widely used in Norwegian.
I actually dislike that term a lot.
It's like spunkgargleweewee. It seems immature and makes me feel more dismissive towards the argument. Maybe that also has to do with it being a catch all term and people seem less willing to give specific examples of how things are declining in quality.
You're claiming that is a term people use?
Skibidi Ohio rizz bro.
Omg no
C'mon. They need to invent words for the clique-signalling .
It's very fetch.
Stop trying to make fetch happen
Fetch never took off though.
Straight fax no printer no cap
You better be standin on bidness
On god sigma gyatt
I believe the term originated with Yahtzee during the military and tactical shooter crazy in the 2010s. It referred to games that paraded players through various spectacles and rooms full of chest high walls, until enough time had passed to call it a campaign.
Not commonly but every so often YouTubers I watch will start using it and it sticks for a prolonged period of time.
It was just the first thing that came to mind. I imagine there are other equally silly internet words out there.
Ah, an individual of culture.
Wait did you just coin that? That's fucking brilliant /s
Edit: apparently I needed a /s because Lemmy doesn't use this term constantly or anything?
Since we're talking about it, and I really like the guy's work, I figured I should say who coined it! Author, Cory Doctorow! He has a blog where he (among all the other stuff he writes about) defined the word, and wrote several articles about it.
pluralistic.net
lol I didn't think I needed the
/sbecause it was dripping with sarcasm.The issue with pretending to be stupid on the internet to make a point is that there are so many people doing the same thing with no point in mind.
Sarcasm isn't "pretending to be stupid" imo
This particular instance was certainly pretending to be ill-informed, so
Well ignorance isn't stupidity, but also it was just SO obvious. Enshittification is one of the most used new words I've ever seen.
It was coined by Cory Doctorow.
Cory Doctorow coined it: https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification
Sonder (noun): the feeling one has on realizing that every other individual one sees has a life as full and real as one’s own, in which they are the central character and others, including oneself, have secondary or insignificant roles: In a state of sonder, each of us is at once a hero, a supporting cast member, and an extra in overlapping stories.
dictionary.com
This one always makes me smile, because it's from the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. It's just some guy's blog in which he comes up with new words to express experiences and emotions that are difficult to describe, and that specific one has thoroughly broken containment
Bought the book. It's the only dictionary I've enjoyed reading.
Literally means "special" in German
That was lovely, thank you for that.
callipygous : having shapely buttocks
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/callipygous
and zaftig
of a woman : having a full rounded figure : pleasingly plump
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zaftig
I prefer callipygian
Also: gyatt.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widdershins
Just because it sounds cool.
Sounds useful in Minecraft. Like you put a sign in a cave "exit widdershins" to tell people to follow the left wall.
In an emergency, you can also exit widdoutershins.
Yesss. I love this word and use it whenever I can
And don't forget turnwise! (which is the opposite rotational direction defined by the direction the disc turns)
Widdershins start my hair, your Spooktober decorations are so spooky!!!!
Sounds like a creature that would have a lot of creepypasta written about it.
"Thrice" is a somewhat obscure word that otherwise fits.
"Adventitious" is a good one. It means "non-inherent" or "acquired" (as opposed to inherent.)
measure thrice, cut twice.
Avuncular - of or having the qualities of an uncle.
“His avuncular joke was both lazy and sexist”
That's the definition but not how it's ever used.
Proof /s
Yeah, that word means uncle-like, but it's very much a word for a fun or chill uncle vibe.
Don't you slander uncledom like that, you unavuncluar tranch!
Gormless - Lacking initiative, foolish
Copacetic - correct, orderly, good
Relevant song
Gormless is one of my favorites too. Shame it's not used as much as it should be in general.
Widdershins. It means counter to the sun's direction , and was seen as inauspicious. Counter-clockwise, before clocks.
I only know the term from Disc World, is that a real world term or just one of the many whimsical terms Pratchett coined in the books
It's real! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widdershins
It sounds fancy, but means a casual lover. A fuck buddy. A friend with benefits. Though it can also carry the implication of being an out-of-wedlock lover, as it dates back to a time where having a fuck buddy was almost certainly a sign of married infidelity.
Means one's friends and other people they are close to that aren't family. Often paired with "kin". Kith and kin. Friends and family.
A paramour is an “other lover”. Para = beside, amour = love. It’s not a casual fuck buddy, it’s your cheating partner. I’m surprised to hear you say it’s unknown as a word these days? Seems like just a normal word to me, albeit one I’m happy to go without using as cheaters suck.
I use paramour, usually to describe an infidelity situation. No one under 35 knows what it is.
Interesting. The only two references I've ever heard to Paramour are the band and the achievement in Mass Effect. I'm now wondering if the devs of that series knew exactly what it meant (infidelity) because you get the achievement for having any relationship. Maybe it's because you can't remain loyal to your original partner to get it in all three games with one playthrough.
Right, I think that achievement only happens in the sequals.
I don't remember for sure about the old games, but the Legendary Edition has one for each game.
Borborygmus I use often enough, but it's not widely known. It's the gurgling sound produced by the movement of gas through your intestines.
Limaceous I almost never use, but I enjoy it anyway. It means characteristic of or pertaining to slugs.
And lastly, tawdry is one of my favorites meaning showy but cheap and poor quality.
The are all great, but tawdry is fantastic!
Rolls of the tongue, and we all come across several tawdry things/people in a given day.
I don't think tawdry is archaic. A little uncommon, but still in use.
Not a word, but there's a specific phrase uttered when you casually pass by someone working, stop for a chat, and then genuinely wish them well with their work as you leave.
This phrase does not exist in English:
Nor does it exist in German:
In Turkish, you just say "Kolay Gelsin", meaning "May the work come easy so that you finish sooner".
Its such a useful unjudgemental phrase, easily uttered, that I've seen nowhere else. Maybe other languages have it too.
Would "Have a good one" maybe serve that purpose? It's not exactly the same, but similar sentiment.
Very true! At the same time, I feel like you would only say that to something that will happen and not something that is currently happening. Is that right?
Yeah, I'd say so. Maybe something like "Take it easy" would fit better.
"... and if that don't work, take it sleazy."
"I would say 'don;t do anything I wouldn't do', but that doesn't rule out much"
"May the odds be ever in your favor" works in almost any situation!
Reminds me of a much abbreviated version of this Irish prayer:
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Exactly this kind of sentiment. Beautiful poem.
Doesn't exist in German? What about "Frohes Schaffen"?
(I've literally never heard that said once, but it qualifies, so I'll add it)
"Good luck with/have fun with that!" In a pleasant tone while gesturing towards the act being done is enough, I've found
Unless it's clearly like, WORK, work, then something like "don't work too hard, there!" Is common
The tone of it is the same, but there's also a sarcastic interpretation of it though, and it can be applied liberally to lots of non-work situations
Dutch: 'Werk ze'
I use "have fun" completely unironically all the time. One time my partner's (Pakistani) carer thought I spoke Arabic because Afwan is apparently an Arabic salutation meaning approximately the same as "cheerio", "goodbye", or "you're welcome" in English. He also turns up around half one every day for added amusement
I will steal that one!
I say "good luck" in a non-sarcastic tone to people whenever they head off on some banal errand. It gets some confused looks sometimes, laughs others.
So in Estonian we have a bunch of those I don't remember because nobody uses them anymore. But the main one everyone knows is "Kivi kotti" (literally, stone/rock in your bag, but much like with "break a leg", you actually wish them well). It's still basically "good luck" but not so much for grand performances, it could just be for your first day of work, or going fishing (the real origin I guess). There's also "Nael kummi" which is "nail in your tire", which is reserved for people driving somewhere.
Shemomedjamo - Georgian word meaning to eat past the point of fullness because it tastes so good or as I heard it, "I accidentally ate the whole thing."
I was sure Harry Potter said it one time when he cast a spell.
SHEMOMEDJAMO!
Grok
It means to know or understand, like "yeah man I can grok that."
Specifically, it refers to a deep understanding.
Being pedantic, but it's beyond that.
To grok is to know or understand so completely, it becomes a part of yourself. To know something fully. You can understand the concepts of astrophysics, but you might not grok the concept.
I guess I didn't grok the true meaning of the word. Thank you!
The literal meaning was defined "to drink". If you drink something, it becomes a part of you.
For those who aren't familiar with the word, it comes from the 1961 scifi novel "Stranger in a Strange Land".
Author Robert A Heinlein ?
Yeah that's right, seems my link didn't populate right.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grok
Indubitably!
It means most certainly, beyond questioning.
And it's fun to say!
Ah, I grew up listening to Adventures In Odyssey and one character said that all the time. Beautiful word.
I like that it's root is fairly plain to see.
That's un-doubt-able - indubitable.
I love that word. I don't know where I even learned it first, but I sometimes throw it back out there. It's so fun!
Sesquipedalian: A user of big words
I like that saying sesquipedalian makes you sesquipedalian.
This is my favourite too. I have a very sesquipedalian friend, and I had the honour of introducing him to the word.
I've got six of them:
Feel like tenebrous being on a list of obscure words is tenuous, but maybe I just have esoteric interests.
Unlike many of these I'd heard it before but didn't know its true meaning. It fits.
Darth Tenebrous
I'm a master in Cacography!
"Pardon my cacography" sure has a better ring to it than, "can you read this?"
That list is going to send me down a rabbit hole looking for the etymology of words
Oh, I also really like Mammonism: "the greedy pursuit of riches", from the Biblical "Mammon".
‘Tenebroso’ is commonly used in Spanish, at least in Spain. This whole thread is very interesting.
Voldemort is Señor Tenebroso.
A lot of words in English have a Germanic and Latin version. The Germanic one tends to be more common in everyday use, while the Latin one tends to be more formal, a consequence of French being the language of the aristocracy back in the day. Spanish is all Latin-derived, so they would of course be the everyday words.
Confusing and confused comment.
English indeed belongs to the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family i.e. has german it its core structure and basic vocabulary (pronouns, basic verbs, nouns). Also some idiomatic expressions are also rooted in its Germanic heritage.
Latin influence primarily came through old English (Latin via christianity) and middle English when the Normans invaded England. This Latin is mainly in areas like law, governance, religion and literature. It’s estimated that over 60% of modern English vocabulary is derived from Latin, often via French.
Greek is everywhere in the fields of science, medicine, philosophy, and the arts. It makes up a smaller percentage compared to Latin—perhaps around 10% of the English vocabulary, though it forms the basis of many complex and specialized terms.
A modern German speaker might recognize some English words with Germanic roots, but the recognition is often less obvious due to centuries of language evolution.
For Greek speakers, recognizing Greek-derived words in English is significantly easier and straightforward. This is because the words have been adopted verbatim, with barely any transformation. And these words usually fall in the category of more academic, high-level English.
In the parent comment for example, 4 out of 6 words are purely Greek (Cacography, Epeolatry, Kakistocracy, Oikophilia).
See also kleptocracy: rule by thieves. I not infrequently refer to our government as a kleptocratic kakistocracy
I'd settle for not seeing "should/could/would of" typed out anymore.
Wud u tho?
"Could care less" is mine
When it comes to that saying, i honestly couldn't care more.
What an odd thing to be obsessed about.
Oh, I barely care about it at all.
Shoulda hoped for something better.
I once knew a guy from the deep south who'd say stuff like yoostacud. I yoostacud run a marathon. I thought that was marvellous! Another one was fixina. I'm fixina get tickets to the game tonight. You in?
I've heard the former before, and the latter would become the modern "finna".
Brobdingnagian.
It's a very big word that means very big.
It comes from Gulliver's travels. The Brobdingnagians are giants, 12 times the height of humans. The word isn't limited to that scale, but it's definitely for things that are unusually large compared to us.
It's the literal opposite of Lilliputian, which is from the better known race from "Travels" that are 1/12 our size.
It's my absolute favorite word. Not just because it's a literary reference but it's fun to say. Brob ding nag ian. It just burbles off the tongue like a drunken stream stumbling among the rocks of its bed. And, it's a big word that means big, which is just fun wordplay. Like the phobia of big words, hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia, which was inevitable as soon as the idea of a phobia of big words was conceived.
It's German but 'Rucksackriemenquerverbindungsträger', the thing between the straps of a backpack that you can connect to lighten the load on your shoulders.
I made the word up but I use it pretty often.
Well .... I knew exactly what you meant, as you know what I mean when I say: "Rucksackriemenquerverbindsungsträgerersatzschnalle" and I think it's beautiful.
Also: "Getriebeschmiernippel"
The chest strap?
Yes
fuck germany
That's a lot of people, I doubt you have the stamina
are you saying i won't do it
I mean, I guess you have the name for it
What did Germany ever do to you?
This is lemmy so they're probably angry Germany isn't bombing Israel like Iran
Gloam/gloaming
The onset of twilight/becoming gloomy
Spotted the Radiohead fan
I'm honestly not sure what you're referring to. Is that a word they use a lot in their lyrics?
They wrote “Roaming In The Gloaming”, I guess?
Albeit.
My favorite English word... I use it quite often because it fits the German Ductus.
Duodenum.
Doo-odd-in-umm.
The duodenum is the first section of the small intestine in most higher vertebrates, including mammals
I have a double whammy: Nonplussed.
Bewildered; unsure how to respond or act. Double whammy because it does not mean not-plussed like many people seem to think.
Nonplussed...that takes me back.
I was educated in a private school for British ex-pats run by a very old and very posh couple. This was the early eighties and they were already in their seventies, so definitely from a different era. Because of this and because of the size of our school (my entire year consisted of nine kids) we ended up quite odd. Up until highschool we had a mild but "poshy" London accent and words like vexing, nonplussed, providential, etc., peppered our vocabulary. Then my family moved to Louisiana followed by Texas and that shit went right out.
Also, the word is aluminium. It is NOT aluminum!
I very recently learned that Amour is not universal and I just grew up playing a singular RPG that was developed by a group of British brothers so that forever shaped my expectations for how Armour should be spelled
I was right there with you until you defended that silly word.
It's interesting, it is becoming a modern day contronym
https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/nonplussed
Interesting link! I didn't know the misuse went back so far.
overmorgen, in Dutch. I heard this 'overmorrow' word a couple times as a response in that they wish it did exist
And übermorgen in German
And övermorgon in Swedish
ereyesterday is the day before yesterday. as a german i am used to refer to two days in the past and future without useing weekdays.
They’ve fallen from grace. Probably because it’s been a few centuries since the saxons
The language could use a refresher eh
its actually a real rabit hole to see which cultures use however many days to refer into the future and past. Since the use of unified calenders its been declining. few centuries ago it wasnt unusual to have words for like "five days ago". and some languages actually perserved that!
Dont ask me for specifics tho. its been many moons since i did that deep dive ^^
Meant to say in my Nero Wolfe comment - there's a Lemmy community for interesting words at ![email protected] - it's not very busy, but still.
Obstreperous - noisy or difficult to control (as in "the boy is cocky and obstreperous")
Defenestration. Throwing someone out of a window. Example the defenestration of prague
And Russian oligarchs
I like to make the joke whenever someone mentions a Russian doctor falling out of a window or something:
There's defense and there's defenestration.
It's composed of de- an fenestra, the latter meaning window.
So literally de-windowing
Perchance!
You can't just say "perchance"!
Perchance?
"Where did you get that preposterous hypothesis? Did Steve tell you that, perchance? Steve."
To sleep, perchance to dream. And in that sleep of death, what dreams may come!
Hamlet (hopefully I didn't get it too wrong)
Ultracrepidarian
The word is derived from a longer Latin phrase and refers to a story from Pliny the Elder
Sorry
I see you've never been to Canada.
Sorry, I speak a little Canadian, eh?
"scruple" as a verb, meaning "hesitate due to conscience".
People probably know a word based on it, unscrupulous, meaning having or showing no moral principles
Yeah, and folks know "scruples" as a noun which some people have and some don't, but "scruple" as a verb is a nice archaic version that I really like, which you don't encounter much outside of, say, a Jane Austen novel.
I like penultimate, next to last.
I see what you did there
Followed by antipenultimate
You mean antepenultimate?
Autodefenestration is one of my faves. The act of throwing yourself out of a window.
If you’re throwing someone or something out, then it’s just plain defenestration
Makes me want to find an excuse to use the term autoeroticdefenestration: to be sexually aroused by throwing yourself out of windows
Übermorgen, the german word for overmorrow, is in abundant use in Germany. It's far from obsolete or obscure over here.
Same for overmogen in the Netherlands. And eergisteren for the day before yesterday.
In Poland it's "pojutrze" - after tomorrow, and "przedwczoraj" - before yesterday (those are also literal translations just as i wrote). Also in common and constant usage.
Same for the Romanian "poimâine" (after tomorrow). We also have "alaltăieri" (the other yesterday). They are in use, quite common.
Internecine, meaning "destructive to both sides in a conflict".
Petty bickering like that divorce where they had a judge adjudicate the distribution of their beanie baby collection was internecine.
As soon as I read "destructive to both sides in a conflict" I immediately thought of that case. And then you referenced it 😂
I'm currently reading through all of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe mysteries, and one fun feature is that he almost always includes one or more very obscure words. It's a nice little thing to look out for.
In the one I'm currently reading it's, "peculate," meaning to embezzle or steal money. Others include:
I had a look to see if I could find a full list but sadly not. However most Wikipedia entries for the individual novels include a section called, "The unfamiliar word," if you want to find more.
Be the change you want to see in the world.
Yeah, I was thinking I might. I ly thing is, I haven't got all the books, nor do I have a website on which to host such a list. However I might still have a go 👍
If you start it, just put a tag that the list is incomplete and the wiki crowd will finish it.
It’s curious to see how things merge between languages. In Spain, both usufruct (usufructo) and eruction (eructo) are quite common words.
Oh really? That's cool, thanks for the info. Language is so fascinating 👍
There could be some wild confusion if a New Zealander were to say "I've got a massive eruction building up" 😆
Grandiloquent/sesquipedalian. It's what you get when you use everything in this thread ₍^ >ヮ<^₎ .ᐟ.ᐟ
/sVituperative. Means vicious.
Sometimes I feel like I'm still the only person who still uses it. I'm teaching my daughter the proper way to use it because the schools aren't.
I am now adding overmorrow to my vocabulary. I can't wait to confuse the shit out of people I hate.
übermorgen
I can't wait to use it tomorrow.
And overmorrow.
You know that episode of Seinfeld where someone eats a candy bar with a knife and fork and it just spreads into the wild because people don't really question it?
That's what I'm hoping happens with overmorrow
It also means path dependency.
https://www.magtrol.com/product/hysteresis-brakes/
I use hysteresis daily... Refrigeration.
I think you meant lag. But this is a good one. One of my favorite words. It seems to be used in technical settings a lot, especially for electricity. I read an article a while back that applied it to social situations I.e. social hysteresis. It applies to so many things its ridiculous.
Two of my favorite:
Why do people still think vaccines cause autism despite the overwhelming evidence against? Social hysteresis.
Why do people think inflation is out of control in the US despite the fact that its been less than 3% for over a year? Social hysteresis. (Also because people want deflation)
On thermostats it's the difference between the off and on temperatures - like if you set it to 24 degrees, you could have a hysteresis of 1 degree, meaning it'll turn on again at 23 degrees. (Or something like that.)
"Philomot" was always pretty charming. "The color of a dead leaf."
Vulgar Argot - a word or phrase that is obsolete or incredibly obscure.
I agree that we should use overmorrow more. Japanese has a similar word and it gets frequent use.
Many languages have it. English for some reason does not use it
In my country we also have a word for that and it's always used when referring to overmorrow.
Defenestrate means to throw out of a window.
For example, "Someone should defenestrate Putin."
My contribution is katzenjammer, which is a word describing a really bad hangover (in the English language). I believe it is used a bit differently in the German language, but don't take my word for it.
It’s funny that a hangover in Dutch is a kater, or, (male) Katze
I learned that word from an old comic from the late 19th century called The Katzenjammer Kids, which apparently is the oldest strip still in syndication.
Twaddle: something insignificant or worthless or another word Nonsense.
Discovered this word while reading the dictionary during silent reading in English and they wouldn’t let me play games.
There used to be a Scottish football ⚽ player called Kevin Twaddle. Always amused me.
Codswallop
Wait overmorrow is correct English? We have "morgen" and "overmorgen" in Dutch which is tomorrow and overmorrow respectively, so I always missed an overmorrow in English. Is it actually commonly understood or will people look at me like I'm a weird foreigner when I use it?
It's archaic english. So yes, I think people will think you're weird. But maybe if you start using it with your dutch friends/colleagues in english-speaking contexts, you can slowly introduce it into common usage in your community. Might be cool.
Also don't forget "ereyesterday" for the day before yesterday.
Today?
"Overmorrow" is actually not obscure or obsolete at all in german.
"Übermorgen" is quite often used (at least around me)
Übermorgen is the name of my heavy metal band
philalethist, A lover of truth.
Not to be confused with philatelist, a stamp collector. The word means to enjoy receiving something without the necessity of payment.
Scrofulous - a) having a diseased run-down appearance. b) morally contaminated
I learned this word when I heard someone being described as a 'scrofulous drinkist' lol
Uxorious: devoted to one's wife.
Uxor, Uxoris, f. (Latin) = wife
Salitter is my answer to this one every time.
The silence. The salitter drying from the earth. The mudstained shapes of flooded cities burned to the waterline. At a crossroads a ground set with dolmen stones where the spoken bones of oracles lay moldering. No sound but the wind.
Here, also.
Jocund: cheerful and lighthearted.
From Romeo and Juliet:
Lugubrious - because it means the opposite of how it sounds!
It's fun to say, but is defined as sadness, which the word can't evoke
Lugubre in Spanish. Well known word in this other language. I love this thread!
Something I learnt recently and which is rampant on gay social apps: sphallolalia - flirting that doesn't lead to meeting irl.
What a great word in today's dating scene. Is it an older word that has been modified to be more modern?
I think it's a modern word, as for example it doesn't figure in Merriam-Webster. But it was created in a classical way, i.e. from Greek words meaning "stumble" and "talking".
Seems like every time you use it you'll end up having to explain what it means unless you're playing D&D
Crepuscular. Related to twilight, dimness, the golden hour.
I got one that everyone thinks they know but they don't:
Bulimia.
Everybody commonly referse to purge type binge eating disorders as Bulimia, but that is actually Bulimia Nervosa, strongly correlated with Anorexia.
What Bulimia really means is constant strong cravings for food, and it can express itself in people of all sizes with a notably large number of heavily overweight victims in stark contrast to Anorexics.
The reason for the confusion is constant misuse by tabloids and clickbait articles.
Verantwortungsbewusstsein. Let's get back to our roots.
Is that obsolete or obscure (in German speaking areas)?
The concept might be, but the word itself is a compound of the words "verantwortung" and "bewusstsein". They mean responsibility and consciousness respectively, and are both perfectly common and simple words. The whole thing means what you think it does, nothing special.
German doesn't really have those hyper specific super obscure words, they're almost always compound words made up of common words.
Logoparalysis. https://lemmus.org/post/6454872
defenestrate.
Shannon Makes fan?
Smaragdin which means "green"
Euouae
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euouae
John Madden. Football.
?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv6RbEOlqRo
No, someone just dropped a pile of vowels on a page while carrying them to be cleaned or something, and the monks decided to stick with it
Two words technically, but "Nothing doing!"
Sort of an old fashioned way to say "no way"
Rob is a name in English. Rob means slave in Bosnian.
Coprophasia
coprophagia- the consumption of feces.
Serendipity, idk it sounds cool, "serendipitous" moments happen a lot irl (e.g. forgetting to bring ur wallet with u to the supermarket but minutes later, you end up finding a coin in a random pocket from your jacket to unlock a shopping cart), but it almost only sees its use in fiction, like.....
Serendipity, a stroke of fortune! Great word.
As long as it's not "used car salesmen" words:
It's as discordant as "the above paragraph" or "see the below steps" except with wrong words instead of broken ordering.
Lemmy
No one mentioned "niggardly" yet? What's going on?
I don't understand, why is that your word?
It's an obsolete and relatively obscure word that I think a lot of people don't know - because if most people did know it, no one would ever have gotten into trouble for using it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversies_about_the_word_niggardly
Yeah, I know the word, just I've only ever heard it used by smug assholes with "guess what I almost said" expressions on their faces.
It needs to be retired honestly. Like you said, more often than not it's used by smug racists. There are other, better words that mean the same thing like avaricious, miserly, parsimonious, or to keep it simple - cheap.
For those that can't believe it's not a racial slur.