# Coolest word you've learned recently **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 14, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724 "2010-09-14T14:20:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724/21 "2010-09-16T08:35:32Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > > [@Wallenstein](#): > > > > [Flaunching](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/flaunching) - the “sloped fillet around the base of a chimney pot, which serves to hold the pot in position and allow rainwater to run off”. > > > > As in “failure to maintain one’s flaunching can cause water ingress around the chimney stack” > > > > Hence the water dripping from the kitchen celing by the old stove flue whenever it rains heavily. > > > > This word cost me £140 ($220) this morning when I wrote a cheque to the guy who came to repair it! > > Pardon the hijack, but, whom does one call for this repair? My brother may need this repair. > > Thanks,’ > hh Roofing contracter - I used a recommendation from a friend. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724/22 "2010-09-16T10:38:23Z")
soupcon One of those words you read but never use because you don’t know how to pronounce them. Well, I finally found out how to pronounce soup-sawn and I’m dying for a chance to use it. It sounds so Continental! Ooh la la! ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724/23 "2010-09-16T11:01:04Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > soupcon > > One of those words you read but never use because you don’t know how to pronounce them. Well, I finally found out how to pronounce soup-sawn and I’m dying for a chance to use it. It sounds so Continental! Ooh la la! Nitpick : that’s soupçon, with a cedilla. Or an ALT+135 if you don’t have it on your keyboard. Otherwise it’d be pronounced “soup-kawn”. (in case you’re dying to know, in French c is pronounced /s/ in front of an e, i, or y and /k/ in front of o, u and a. Unless it has a cedilla, in which case it’s back to /s/) ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724/24 "2010-09-16T12:03:17Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > soupcon > > One of those words you read but never use because you don’t know how to pronounce them. Well, I finally found out how to pronounce soup-sawn and I’m dying for a chance to use it. It sounds so Continental! Ooh la la! All of the major online dictionaries have pronunciation buttons. I use them to attack some of the familial artifacts inherit in my ethnic group. ---
**Author:** ![threeorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@threeorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threeorange)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724/25 "2010-09-17T01:51:03Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > > [@Peanuthead](#): > > > > soupcon > > > > One of those words you read but never use because you don’t know how to pronounce them. Well, I finally found out how to pronounce soup-sawn and I’m dying for a chance to use it. It sounds so Continental! Ooh la la! > > Nitpick : that’s soupçon, with a cedilla. Or an ALT+135 if you don’t have it on your keyboard. Otherwise it’d be pronounced “soup-kawn”. > > (in case you’re dying to know, in French c is pronounced /s/ in front of an e, i, or y and /k/ in front of o, u and a. Unless it has a cedilla, in which case it’s back to /s/) I always thought the “p” was silent. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724/26 "2010-09-18T03:28:10Z")
> [@Wallenstein](#): > > > [@handsomeharry](#): > > > > Pardon the hijack, but, whom does one call for this repair? My brother may need this repair. > > > > Thanks,’ > > hh > > Roofing contracter - I used a recommendation from a friend. Thank 'ee! Best wishes, hh ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724/27 "2010-09-18T06:36:38Z")
The only new word I learned this week was [bustle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bustle), which I had to look up while reading “Venus plus X”. A character travels to the future and tries to figure out the wardrobe options. He ends up putting on a hat that is later revealed to be intended to be a bustle (something that makes the butt area of clothing look fuller). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724/28 "2010-09-18T06:52:21Z")
Cromulent. Consistent in a positive matter. This thread embiggens me. ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724/29 "2010-09-18T07:13:34Z")
Pareidolia. It is the psychological phenomenon where vague and random stimuli are perceived as meaningful, like seeing faces in the clouds, or the man in the moon, or hearing words in reversed records. And Mumpsimus - a view stubbornly held even when shown to be wrong (or in some contexts a person holding such a view.) ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724/30 "2010-09-19T15:53:01Z")
Paraprosdokian. Everyday I stumble across a few new words, but today it was a paraprosdokian that caught my eye. ---
**Author:** ![HardlySanguine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HardlySanguine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HardlySanguine)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724/31 "2010-09-25T05:07:53Z")
> [@FuzzyOgre](#): > > Paraprosdokian. > > Everyday I stumble across a few new words, but today it was a paraprosdokian that caught my eye. Good word! And, of course, now I keep noticing them. A brilliant example I just saw was one of [Czarcasm’s posts](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12948592&postcount=13). ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724/32 "2010-09-25T10:42:15Z")
Tumbarumba: Form of a word made by inserting an intensifier in between syllables of a word. eg. abso-f\*cking-lutely. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724/33 "2010-09-25T10:44:47Z")
I try to visit [http://worldwidewords.org/](http://worldwidewords.org/) on a weekly basis. It’s a good source of words, but slanted toward British usage. ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724/34 "2010-09-25T11:06:19Z")
> [@HardlySanguine](#): > > > [@FuzzyOgre](#): > > > > Paraprosdokian. > > > > Everyday I stumble across a few new words, but today it was a paraprosdokian that caught my eye. > > Good word! And, of course, now I keep noticing them. A brilliant example I just saw was one of [Czarcasm’s posts](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12948592&postcount=13). Thanks. I wonder what else is in the biz-czarcasms of his mind? ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724/35 "2010-09-25T22:12:25Z")
[Sciolist](http://www.onelook.com/?w=sciolist&ls=a) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724/36 "2010-09-25T22:23:25Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > The only new word I learned this week was [bustle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bustle), which I had to look up while reading “Venus plus X”. A character travels to the future and tries to figure out the wardrobe options. He ends up putting on a hat that is later revealed to be intended to be a bustle (something that makes the butt area of clothing look fuller). What if ya got one of them bustles in yer hedgerow? Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724/37 "2010-09-25T22:27:44Z")
Just this week I learned that _pneumonoultramicrospopicsilicovolcanoconiosis_ is the longest word in an English dictionary. I haven’t learned how to spell it yet, and probably never will be able, but as I looked it up I also learned that it is not necessarily our longest word. It depends on what definition of _word_ one is using. They all appear to be medical words. Whatsa matter with those guys anyway.? ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724/38 "2010-09-26T00:33:40Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > > [@jackdavinci](#): > > > > The only new word I learned this week was [bustle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bustle), which I had to look up while reading “Venus plus X”. A character travels to the future and tries to figure out the wardrobe options. He ends up putting on a hat that is later revealed to be intended to be a bustle (something that makes the butt area of clothing look fuller). > > What if ya got one of them bustles in yer hedgerow? Huh? Then you know your stairway lies on the whispering wind. Duh. ---
**Author:** ![sleeping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724/39 "2010-09-26T03:33:39Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > Just this week I learned that _pneumonoultramicrospopicsilicovolcanoconiosis_ is the longest word in an English dictionary. > > I haven’t learned how to spell it yet, and probably never will be able, but as I looked it up I also learned that it is not necessarily our longest word. It depends on what definition of _word_ one is using. They all appear to be medical words. > > Whatsa matter with those guys anyway.? I don’t think medical or chemical words should count, since their length is potentially indefinite. For instance, given the agglutinative structure of organic chemical nomenclature, morphemes would continuously be added to a word as groups were added to the compound. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724/40 "2010-09-26T05:51:39Z")
Yeah. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coolest-word-youve-learned-recently/553724.md?page=3)