# Compound words that make you say "What?!" including ones that make you wince \[ spun off from What Were You THINKING Pit thread \] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 26, 2026, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104 "2026-01-26T16:11:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/41 "2026-01-27T22:37:16Z")
No offense taken, most people using the term “Hottentots” don’t know the racist background or who is even talked about. But once you’ve learned it, as I did on this very board many years ago, you should avoid it. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/42 "2026-01-27T23:30:44Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > “Hier sieht’s ja aus wie bei den Hottentotten!” Donnerwetter noch mal! that phrase could be straight out of an old Heinz Rühmann movie … > [@Drsunflower1](#): > > Yep. It’s very old and very racist I think ( I am, however, not inclined to die on that hill, pit and all … ), more than racist it is an ignorant and intelectually lazy way to refer to people from far away. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/43 "2026-01-27T23:46:18Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > Donnerwetter noch mal! > > that phrase could be straight out of an old Heinz Rühmann movie … Yeah, probably from “Quax in Afrika”… > **[Quax in Africa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quax_in_Africa)** > > Quax in Africa (German: Quax in Afrika) is a German comedy adventure film produced from 1943–1944 and released in 1947, directed by Helmut Weiss and starring Heinz Rühmann, Hertha Feiler, and Lothar Firmans. It is a sequel to the 1941 film Quax the Crash Pilot. > The year is circa 1932, and the initial setting is Bavaria, Germany. The novice aviator Otto Groschenbügel, nicknamed Quax (see the previous film Quax the Crash Pilot), has advanced to become a professional flying instructor at the Flyi... ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/44 "2026-01-28T00:10:06Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > > [@Drsunflower1](#): > > > > Yep. It’s very old and very racist > > I think ( I am, however, not inclined to die on that hill, pit and all … ), more than racist it is an ignorant and intelectually lazy way to refer to people from far away. The word “barbarian” is similar to “hottentot” in reference to stammering or incomprehensible speech. Of course, it’s not the etymology that makes a term racist, it’s the racist people using it that make its connotation racist. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/45 "2026-01-28T00:22:33Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Every one of those cuts has a “Do Not Pass” sign. All named after the famed Colonel DoNot who was an itinerant roads engineer in the late 1800s. And a raging egomaniac Many American controlled/limited access highways are named for a former Israeli Prime Minister. You see the signs everywhere, frequently by on-ramps, but also where the nature of the highway changes. “Begin Freeway”, the signs say. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/46 "2026-01-28T00:28:25Z")
I drive past this billboard on the way to work every day that says, “Nourish Community.” I don’t even know where the Nours come from. Middle East? Africa? ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/47 "2026-01-28T00:33:54Z")
One of the sponsors of the Australian Open tennis tournament is “Safety Culture”, which I assume is a carefully homogenized and pasteurized yoghurt. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/48 "2026-01-28T00:34:42Z")
They’re like the Amish, but with better food. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/49 "2026-01-28T03:19:45Z")
Shinier food also, made by the polish people. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/50 "2026-01-28T12:31:40Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I don’t even know where the Nours come from. Middle East? Africa? Maybe India [Nour Indian Restaurant](https://www.thenour.co/) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/51 "2026-01-28T12:42:19Z")
Decent bet. I’ve certainly seen other Indian eateries with that name. OTOH, decades ago I worked for an Egyptian man whose surname was “Nour”. So maybe the Nours hail from Egypt? ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/52 "2026-01-28T17:56:29Z")
What makes a King out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk, in the misty mist or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage! What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder? Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the “ape” in apricot? What have they got that I ain’t got? … Courage! You can say that again. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/53 "2026-01-28T17:59:05Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > OTOH, decades ago I worked for an Egyptian man whose surname was “Nour”. So maybe the Nours hail from Egypt? The Nours hail from North Africa and invaded Spain in the 8th Century ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/54 "2026-01-28T22:41:42Z")
And later played an almost-leading man role in _Macbeth_? ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/55 "2026-01-29T05:19:52Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > but I do know that the people who used to be called “Hottentotten” in Dutch and German speaking countries are a people in what is now South Africa. Now known (in general) as Khoi-San, but they prefer their actual tribal names. I worked with a guy who was Khoikhoi Gebab (to be honest I probably misspelled that) @MrDibble is probably better placed to answer as he is native South African, whereas I am an immigrant. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/56 "2026-01-29T05:45:37Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > I worked with a guy who was Khoikhoi Gebab (to be honest I probably misspelled that) Khoekhoegowab ? That’s [the name of the language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoekhoe_language), not any particular group of people. Depending on where your coworker was from, he could be from any one of a number of groups, although most Cape Town Khoekhoen are nominally _ǃUriǁʼaekua_ (Goringhaiqua). ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/57 "2026-01-29T06:02:48Z")
Ignorance fought, he was studying the language and I assumed - evidently wrongly - the name reflected his background. (as in, I come from an English ancestry, I speak English) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/58 "2026-01-29T07:13:25Z")
Not super wrong - a lot of people who speak Khoekhoegowab in Namaqualand and Namibia would say they speak Nama or Damara, and that would also be their group name. But they are larger groups who actually speak the language as a mother tongue, whereas , as far as I’m aware, almost all ǃUriǁʼaekua learn it as a heritage language and most likely are mother tongue Afrikaans or English speakers. Note that it’s not actually the language their ancestors would have spoken (that’s ǃOrakobab, or Khoemana) - it’s just the closest living language they can easily learn. And more power to them, that shit is _hard_. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104/59 "2026-01-29T10:32:02Z")
> [@What were you THINKING?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6283): > > > [@What were you THINKING?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6283): > > > > ambages > > And me. And it’s a good one; I sure do see a lot of that lately (mostly not here.) Although “ambages” is a valid English word, this is what I get as the preferred definition when I Google it: > Les **ambages** (nom féminin pluriel, du latin _ambages_ : détours) désignent des circonlocutions, des détours de langage ou des hésitations qui retardent l’expression directe d’une pensée. So there’s an identical word in French with the identical meaning, and it’s apparently much more common in French than in English. > [@MrDibble](#): > > It’s shorter to type than circumlocutions And besides, “circumlocutions” conjures up images of a mohel at a _brit milah_, as seen in the Seinfeld episode “The Bris”. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/compound-words-that-make-you-say-what-including-ones-that-make-you-wince-spun-off-from-what-were-you-thinking-pit-thread/1027104.md?page=2)