# Cool new words you've learned **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 14, 2019, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-new-words-youve-learned/827722 "2019-01-14T08:38:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-new-words-youve-learned/827722/1 "2019-01-14T08:38:05Z")
Today I learned the word “[yedasentience](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1199578/)” It refers to “an internally generated feeling of knowing which provides a phenomenological sign of goal-attainment”. It was coined by researchers into OCD, who hypothesise that OCD patients lack this, and therefore must keep coming back to their compulsion in a vain attempt to gain the psychological check-mark that their brain is expecting as a signal of “done that” Not in the dictionary yet, but Google Scholar is all over it, so I’m calling it a Real Word ™ What’s the coolest word you’ve learned recently? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-new-words-youve-learned/827722/2 "2019-01-15T00:29:03Z")
I’m afraid I misread the word as “Yadasentience”, and thought it meant a deep familiarity with Seinfeld. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-new-words-youve-learned/827722/3 "2019-01-15T06:37:34Z")
Crepuscular. Animals that are most active at dawn and dusk are not diurnal or nocturnal, they are crepuscular. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-new-words-youve-learned/827722/4 "2019-01-15T06:59:39Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I’m afraid I misread the word as “Yadasentience”, and thought it meant a deep familiarity with Seinfeld. Not to be confused with Yodasentience, deep knowledge of something else which is… ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-new-words-youve-learned/827722/5 "2019-01-15T16:12:50Z")
Demisexual, has nothing to do with Demi Moore, means your prospective partner has to journey all the way through the friendzone before sexy times can happen. It’s categorized as a variety of asexuality. Learned that word s couple weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-new-words-youve-learned/827722/6 "2019-01-15T17:11:44Z")
A phrase, not a word:\* Brexit wound. \* Usually in the plural, for obvious reasons. The meaning is also obvious. Not sure why I saw it for the first time just a few days ago. It’s a fairly obvious neologisim (one I should have thought of myself, really), so you would have thought it would have been in circulation for quite a while. j ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-new-words-youve-learned/827722/7 "2019-01-15T18:55:17Z")
It’s not new but I like the fact that someone felt it was worthwhile to coin a word for it: apricity: The sun’s warmth in winter. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-new-words-youve-learned/827722/8 "2019-01-15T19:25:20Z")
My father was reading a book the other day on Greek mythology, and he called me over to try to figure out what “autochthonous” meant. I thought it could be about burying yourself, or maybe digging yourself up. Turns out it just means “indigenous”. Normally I’m all for expanding one’s vocabulary, but I think the writer was just being pretentious here. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-new-words-youve-learned/827722/9 "2019-01-15T19:56:30Z")
> [@guestchaz](#): > > Demisexual, has nothing to do with Demi Moore, means your prospective partner has to journey all the way through the friendzone before sexy times can happen. It’s categorized as a variety of asexuality. \*That’s \*a thing now? I haven’t been keeping up with the various varieties of -sexual that are around these days, but I would have thought that “ordinary human being” would have covered that one. > [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > It’s not new but I like the fact that someone felt it was worthwhile to coin a word for it: > > apricity: The sun’s warmth in winter. I like this one, and am stealing 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-new-words-youve-learned/827722/10 "2019-01-15T20:05:14Z")
> [@Capn\_Carl](#): > > Crepuscular. Animals that are most active at dawn and dusk are not diurnal or nocturnal, they are crepuscular. And the _Twilight_ series is crapuscular. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-new-words-youve-learned/827722/11 "2019-01-15T21:30:30Z")
[Tattoo](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionar). I’m familiar with the skin art, but not with the other definition until I re-read “The Tell-Tale Heart” (and had to look it up, since the word made no sense in the context) where I came upon the alliterative meaning of ‘rapid rhythmic rapping.’ ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-new-words-youve-learned/827722/12 "2019-01-15T23:05:31Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > \*That’s \*a thing now? I haven’t been keeping up with the various varieties of -sexual that are around these days, but I would have thought that “ordinary human being” would have covered that one. From what I understand, demisexual means you literally are incapable of feeling sexual attraction for someone you don’t know. Something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-new-words-youve-learned/827722/13 "2019-01-16T00:21:23Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > My father was reading a book the other day on Greek mythology, and he called me over to try to figure out what “autochthonous” meant. I thought it could be about burying yourself, or maybe digging yourself up. > > Turns out it just means “indigenous”. Normally I’m all for expanding one’s vocabulary, but I think the writer was just being pretentious here. It’s the French word for “aboriginal people”. We use it in the Constitution of Canada. Bugger of a word for an anglo to say. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-new-words-youve-learned/827722/14 "2019-01-16T00:25:07Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > [Tattoo](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionar). I’m familiar with the skin art, but not with the other definition until I re-read “The Tell-Tale Heart” (and had to look it up, since the word made no sense in the context) where I came upon the alliterative meaning of ‘rapid rhythmic rapping.’ It also means a bagpipe-fest in the evening. Reputedly from a Dutch phrase for “turn off the taps”, i.e. the pubs are close and time to get back to base. See the wiki entry for the Edinburgh Tattoo: > **[Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Edinburgh_Military_Tattoo)** > > The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is an annual series of military tattoos performed by British Armed Forces, Commonwealth and international military bands, and artistic performance teams on the Esplanade of Edinburgh Castle in the capital of Scotland. The event is held each August as one of the Edinburgh Festivals. > The term tattoo derives from a 17th-century Dutch phrase doe den tap toe ("turn off the tap") a signal to tavern owners each night, played by a regiment's Corps of Drums, to turn ... ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-new-words-youve-learned/827722/15 "2019-01-16T01:12:39Z")
Sesquipedalian - a foot and a half long. Also words that are unnecessarily long and obscure. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-new-words-youve-learned/827722/16 "2019-01-16T02:25:34Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > From what I understand, demisexual means you literally are incapable of feeling sexual attraction for someone you don’t know. Something like that. Yes, this, my explanation was not the textbook definition. Aspidistra, I wouldn’t worry about it. It’s something that is easily obscured by other things like anxieties, ease of physical stimulation into arousal, for males anyway, things like that. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-new-words-youve-learned/827722/17 "2019-01-16T02:36:42Z")
I’m currently writing a novel set in 1830 and thus and looking up slang from the era. What’s amazing his how imaginative some of the terms are, especially for people being hanged and, of course, for drinking. Today, it was lobcock. It means a lazy and idle man. Also a limp penis after sex. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-new-words-youve-learned/827722/18 "2019-01-16T02:49:43Z")
Pettifogging. Learned it on this board. I would try to describe it’s meaning, but I know a number of you will be nit-picky of anything I write. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-new-words-youve-learned/827722/19 "2019-01-16T03:50:01Z")
[apocolocyntosis](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=apocolocyntosis) I heard this on an old episode of [Good Job, Brain](http://www.goodjobbrain.com/). ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-new-words-youve-learned/827722/20 "2019-01-16T04:32:12Z")
Not one I’ve learned recently but one that often pops up in lists like this: Defenestration [Defenestration is the act of throwing someone or something out of a window.[1] The term was coined around the time of an incident in Prague Castle in the year 1618, which became the spark that started the Thirty Years’ War.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defenestration) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-new-words-youve-learned/827722.md?page=2)