Uncommon words you use commonly

The Enquirer

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So everyone has there own quirks when it comes to talking to someone, complementing or insulting one another. So Escapists, what are some of the more unique words that have made their way into your vocabulary?

Lately I've been using:
curmudgeon- A bad tempered or unfriendly person
dichotomy- Something that is very divisive
pompous-Someone who's irritatingly self important
dulcet- It's usually used ironically or sarcastically as an insult, but it means sweet or soothing. It's usually how we'd describe a friend of mine's singing voice.
 

Elfgore

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Not super uncommon, but no one other than me says it that I've meet IRL. "Nifty" is my thing. It all started years back when my cousin was doing a word of the month thing and nifty was the word when he visited it. Started using it almost daily since.
 

Dirty Hipsters

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Defenestrate - to forcefully remove by use of window.

It's pretty much my standard threat to both people and objects.

*spoken to computer* I swear to god if you crash on load one more time I will fucking defenstrate you. THINK I WON'T? TRY ME! *heavy breathing ensues*
 

DefunctTheory

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Bombast - high-sounding language with little meaning, used to impress people; speech or writing that is meant to sound important or impressive but is not sincere or meaningful.

I find it amusing that that word, which I do use a lot, actually relates to this thread pretty accurately, I imagine.

Oh, and my favorite word that's not super uncommon, but uncommon enough for me to be sad...


Indeed - used to emphasize a statement or response confirming something already suggested.
 

Marter

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One of my favorite words is "penultimate," which means second-to-last.

If there's an excuse to use it, I use it.
 

GundamSentinel

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Marter said:
One of my favorite words is "penultimate," which means second-to-last.

If there's an excuse to use it, I use it.
And of course lambaste everyone who uses it incorrectly. That said: 'lambaste'.

Plus, I live in a foreign country with a different language, so I use a lot of uncommon words.
 

FPLOON

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Rapscallion: After having it as a actual vocabulary word in Elementary school on top of hearing Edd say it not long afterwards, I tend to use this word a lot more than I probably should around the people I hang out with the most...

Groovy: At this point, people just think I'm quoting Ash whenever I say this word... even if I'm using the "hippy" definition of the word...

Yo: ...No comment?

Shusha: This one's self-explanatory...

Other than that, while not a single word per se, I seem to say "other than that" a lot more than I seem to realize at this point...
 

Extra-Ordinary

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Huh, it's kinda hard to remember; I talk fast, often, and A LOT, it's hard for me to remember when I'm trying to sound clever or using words instinctively.

FPLOON said:
Yo: ...No comment?
I know that's one of 'em. I use "yo" all the time after a certain moment in my life. See, I have a bad habit of trying to emulate people I like from pop culture and fiction; TheSw1tcher were playing Mortal Kombat X and, well,

It was all over after that.

Other than that...

Lest in place of "or else". I've been saying it a long time, I can't remember why, I was probably trying to sound clever one day and it just stuck.

"Rhetoric" I often use to make a point that "the words/language matters", "the 'rhetoric' matters". When I use it, I'm trying to say "choose your words carefully" or if someone's on the receiving end of a message "pay attention real close to the words." I thought I sounded clever but a quick google of it's meaning to confirm what I thought it meant turned up different results than I was expecting, I may have been using it wrong.
Uh-oh, few things more embarrassing than trying to sound clever and learning you're TOTALLY WRONG, mm?

Anyway

Maybe I'll come back and edit some more in if I remember.
 

infohippie

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"Cyclopean". Okay, I don't use it SUPER commonly because how often do you really have a chance in everyday conversation to mention that something is really, really big, but when I get a chance to use it you bet I take it. It's interesting how few people realise that, apart from having one eye, the other major attribute of the mythical Cyclops was that he was a giant.
 

The Enquirer

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AccursedTheory said:
Bombast - high-sounding language with little meaning, used to impress people; speech or writing that is meant to sound important or impressive but is not sincere or meaningful.
Well you've just won all the irony points I've got to offer. And a cookie! I actually use indeed myself. Though after hearing you mention it, indeed isn't actually a word I hear too often.

I suppose I should go back and edit my post to include definitions as the rest of you seem to have thought of that.
 

Dimitriov

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I think much of my everyday speech would qualify. Particularly when I am tired, or nervous, I tend to speak with both more careful enunciation and, for whatever reason, an expanded diction; I become quite verbose. I ought to add that, while it's legitimately unintentional initially, I do play it up.

I have a pretty expansive vocabulary and I do enjoy using rather unconventional words whenever I can. Why use a monosyllabic when a sesquipedalian is available? Of course this is the tragic result of taking Latin and medieval studies courses at university. Recently I had to read an academic article where the author actually chose to use the phrase 'sedulous Quellenforschung', and I have to admit that I had to look up the definition for that! And now I am just dying for a chance to use that on someone.

No, but seriously I try not to be quite so pedantic a bore as that. I do, however, undoubtedly use many uncommon words. And I have actually taken a course that specifically looked at the Greek and Latin roots of modern English, in which I learned many fascinating words and their origins.

Some of the weirder ones that I tend to use in in normal speech are:

Irrespective: meaning without respect to, or regardless. The latter being what any normal person would use.
Extemporaneous: meaning something out of the moment, without planning, and usually used of speech.
Stentorian: meaning exceptionally loud, and coming from the name of Stentor, the herald off the Greek army during the Trojan war.

Post Script: and obviously this post is an example of a number of words which are not so common, but which sadly I am given to using in everyday speech. And I am being intentionally loquacious and pedantic as I pontificate on etymology.

PPS: Also I am proud to have been able to use several words which the Escapist doesn't recognize.

Edit:
Marter said:
One of my favorite words is "penultimate," which means second-to-last.

If there's an excuse to use it, I use it.
Here's a fun one for you based on that, and which you are unlikely to ever need to use: antepenultimate, meaning third-to-last. Which I fear is actually a word. Also, antepenult which is the third-to-last syllable in a word. Which is only ever likely to be relevant in the scansion of Latin, or maybe Greek, poetry.
 

Seraj33

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Faebless - French loanword in the Swedish language. Means to have a weakness or biased preference towards something.

"I always did have a faebless for purple shoes."

EDIT: Apparently the escapist is not international enough to support 'a', so I will replace them with ae.
 

Dimitriov

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Seraj33 said:
Faebless - French loanword in the Swedish language. Means to have a weakness or biased preference towards something.

"I always did have a faebless for purple shoes."

EDIT: Apparently the escapist is not international enough to support 'a', so I will replace them with ae.
Which character were you trying to do? This ?,

Edit: Never mind, apparently the answer is yes. And that's quite irritating. It showed up fine in the preview.
 

Seraj33

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Dimitriov said:
Seraj33 said:
Faebless - French loanword in the Swedish language. Means to have a weakness or biased preference towards something.

"I always did have a faebless for purple shoes."

EDIT: Apparently the escapist is not international enough to support 'a', so I will replace them with ae.
Which character were you trying to do? This ?,

Edit: Never mind, apparently the answer is yes. And that's quite irritating. It showed up fine in the preview.
Yes, it is quite irritating, since diacritical marks such as ? are very common outside of the english language. Then again, I suppose this forum is not dedicated to language discussion, so what can you do?

EDIT: Oh come on, I can't even put the mark itself in? Well it is supposed to be two side-by-side dots, placed above the letter. (Ex: u a or o)
 

Thaluikhain

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infohippie said:
"Cyclopean". Okay, I don't use it SUPER commonly because how often do you really have a chance in everyday conversation to mention that something is really, really big, but when I get a chance to use it you bet I take it. It's interesting how few people realise that, apart from having one eye, the other major attribute of the mythical Cyclops was that he was a giant.
Hey? Really? I thought that was only slightly less known than having one eye, and slightly more known than eating people.

Though, think it should be "they", not "he".
 

infohippie

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Thaluikhain said:
infohippie said:
"Cyclopean". Okay, I don't use it SUPER commonly because how often do you really have a chance in everyday conversation to mention that something is really, really big, but when I get a chance to use it you bet I take it. It's interesting how few people realise that, apart from having one eye, the other major attribute of the mythical Cyclops was that he was a giant.
Hey? Really? I thought that was only slightly less known than having one eye, and slightly more known than eating people.

Though, think it should be "they", not "he".
Oh yes, you're right there. I mixed up the name of the race, cyclops, with the name of the individual, Polyphemus.
 

FirstNameLastName

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Seraj33 said:
Dimitriov said:
Seraj33 said:
Faebless - French loanword in the Swedish language. Means to have a weakness or biased preference towards something.

"I always did have a faebless for purple shoes."

EDIT: Apparently the escapist is not international enough to support 'a', so I will replace them with ae.
Which character were you trying to do? This ?,

Edit: Never mind, apparently the answer is yes. And that's quite irritating. It showed up fine in the preview.
Yes, it is quite irritating, since diacritical marks such as ? are very common outside of the english language. Then again, I suppose this forum is not dedicated to language discussion, so what can you do?

EDIT: Oh come on, I can't even put the mark itself in? Well it is supposed to be two side-by-side dots, placed above the letter. (Ex: u a or o)
I'm not sure why this site seems to be limited to ASCII, rather than allowing unicode like seemingly every other modern comment section on the internet. Perhaps someone can weigh in on the reasoning.

edit: Perhaps it's to keep out all the foreigners, or force them to use the normal, god-fearing alphabet like us decent folk.
 

Sleepy Sol

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I've been using "perturbed" a lot recently. I even remember the first time I saw it so many years ago (Golden Sun: The Lost Age, if I remember right). It's just pretty fun to say for me for some reason.