# 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:** 1\ **Showing post:** 59
**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”. 😉 --- _[View the full topic](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)._