# Can We Get a New Word? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 17, 2009, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702 "2009-08-17T05:47:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/1 "2009-08-17T05:47:08Z")
This might say more about my crappy English than anything else but since when has “angsty” not been an actual word? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Future\_Londonite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9dc877/32.png) [@Future\_Londonite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Future_Londonite)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/2 "2009-08-17T08:56:22Z")
As far as I know ‘angsty’ has never been an actual word ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/3 "2009-08-17T09:18:45Z")
‘Angst-ridden’ should serve much the same purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/4 "2009-08-17T09:22:23Z")
Don’t listen to the naysayers. It may be newish, but “angsty” is still a perfectly cromulent word. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/5 "2009-08-17T09:39:45Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > Don’t listen to the naysayers. It may be newish, but “angsty” is still a perfectly cromulent word. It doesn’t _look_ newish… ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/6 "2009-08-17T14:36:38Z")
It’s in the Oxford English Dictionary. It was added in January 2005, but the first citation is from 1956. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/7 "2009-08-17T15:14:06Z")
Now that that’s solved, can we get a word for the \*aunt \*equivalent of “avuncular”? Somehow “auntuncular” doesn’t sound quite right…TRM ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/8 "2009-08-17T15:24:09Z")
[Wordsmith.org](http://wordsmith.org/awad/archives/0504) says _materteral_ means aunt-like. (It was word of the day on 5/20/04, about halfway down the page.) I don’t care for it. It sounds vaguely ick, like it has to do with breastfeeding, or sleep cycles, or maybe reptiles. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/9 "2009-08-17T15:33:11Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > [Wordsmith.org](http://wordsmith.org/awad/archives/0504) says _materteral_ means aunt-like. (It was word of the day on 5/20/04, about halfway down the page.) > > I don’t care for it. It sounds vaguely ick, like it has to do with breastfeeding, or sleep cycles, or maybe reptiles. Thanks! It is kind of awkward sounding, but fits the bill. I’ll pass it along to my niece, who wanted to know in the first place…TRM ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/10 "2009-08-17T20:41:25Z")
Back to “angsty”. Whether it’s in a particular dictionary or not, it’s a word because I know what it means and so do you. Cecil used the word “Chernobylesque” in a recent column. Without looking, I’ll guess that no such word appears in OED. I plan on using it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![liberty3701](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@liberty3701](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liberty3701)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/11 "2009-08-17T22:03:01Z")
* * * ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/12 "2009-08-17T22:04:56Z")
> [@palindromemordnilap](#): > > Back to “angsty”. Whether it’s in a particular dictionary or not, it’s a word because I know what it means and so do you. > > Cecil used the word “Chernobylesque” in a recent column. Without looking, I’ll guess that no such word appears in OED. I plan on using it anyway. While there are words not in the OED, I think we can agree that 99.99% of the time, if it is in the OED, then it is a word. Certainly that’s not _why_ it’s a word, but is does imply as much. That aside, you do make an important point. [I accidentally posted as my wife above.] ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/13 "2009-08-17T22:33:51Z")
Yeah but if it isn’t in a dictionary can I use it while doing a paper? Is the professor going to grade me down for it? I ended up using it anyway but I shouldn’t have to worry about using a word that most people know the meaning of, even if it isn’t in the dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/14 "2009-08-17T22:56:36Z")
> [@palindromemordnilap](#): > > Cecil used the word “Chernobylesque” in a recent column. Without looking, I’ll guess that no such word appears in OED. I plan on using it anyway. “-esque” is a recognised suffix that means “in the manner of, or reminiscent of”. I’d say you could add it to just about any proper noun, under the right circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/15 "2009-08-17T23:25:50Z")
There’s a similar thing going on with “-y”, albeit perhaps with a less formal tone. > [@tr0psn4j](#): > > Yeah but if it isn’t in a dictionary can I use it while doing a paper? Is the professor going to grade me down for it? I ended up using it anyway but I shouldn’t have to worry about using a word that most people know the meaning of, even if it isn’t in the dictionary. Your professor’s response is highly dependent upon your professor, I’m afraid. (To be graded down for a single idiosyncratically vexing word choice is ridiculous, but, I know, it happens… But if your professor’s the sort who would do that, then there’s really no telling what would provoke them, and not much you can do to guard against it) ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/16 "2009-08-17T23:53:58Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > “-esque” is a recognised suffix that means “in the manner of, or reminiscent of”. I’d say you could add it to just about any proper noun, under the right circumstances. So words in the manner of “Chernobylesque” are Chernobylesquesque? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/17 "2009-08-18T00:00:01Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > Your professor’s response is highly dependent upon your professor, I’m afraid. (To be graded down for a single idiosyncratically vexing word choice is ridiculous, but, I know, it happens… But if your professor’s the sort who would do that, then there’s really no telling what would provoke them, and not much you can do to guard against it) Concur. A professor in college gave me grief once over the word [vocalise](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocalise) because it did not appear in the then-current _M-W Ninth New Collegiate_. As a matter of fact, [M-W still does not seem to recognize that word](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vocalise). ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/18 "2009-08-18T00:02:29Z")
Just to clarify for everyone, this is in reference to a particular noun “vocalise”, and not the verb whose British-style spelling happens to match it. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/19 "2009-08-18T00:10:27Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > Just to clarify for everyone, this is in reference to a particular noun “vocalise”, and not the verb whose British-style spelling happens to match it. Sorry, I thought the Wikipedia link would have made that instantly clear. Thanks for helping! ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702/20 "2009-08-18T00:42:09Z")
It did make it instantly clear once I bothered to follow it, but at first I was all “What, like I need a Wikipedia link to tell me what ‘vocalize’ means? Pshaw…”. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-a-new-word/506702.md?page=2)