# English Words That Nobody Uses **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 26, 2005, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983 "2005-02-26T06:34:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Terrorcotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@Terrorcotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrorcotta)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983/61 "2005-03-07T16:41:03Z")
‘Vicissitude’ amd ‘montebank’ are delicious but I like ‘vituperative’. Rolls off the tongue and sounds like it means. But I also sprinkle my daily comments with ‘delightful’ to some people’s obvious delight! ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983/62 "2005-03-07T17:26:48Z")
In James Kilpatrick’s column, he mentioned “kerfuffle” (an argument,) and “pungle up” (to pay for, often reluctantly.) A few years back, when Dad had season tickets to Purdue U.'s football season, there were a couple of guys who sat behind him. By the middle of the second quarter, one guy would ask the other if he’d care for a “beverage.” It was pronounced “with quotation marks.” He meant he was getting out the pint of whiskey. ---
**Author:** ![Ragiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ragiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ragiel)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983/63 "2005-03-07T17:52:04Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > Nobody uses “repetoire” anymore. I mentioned this to my _music_ teacher once and she gave me the oddest look. > > I use odd words more often than your average duck 🙂 Maybe she’s one of the people who say “repertoire”? I know I use the word for any context too formal for “bag-o’-tricks.” ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983/64 "2005-03-07T18:10:27Z")
I don’t know how to pronounce “paean” because I’ve never heard it spoken aloud. Dictionaries use funny little symbols that are no help at all. Can anyone help? Is it two syllables? Is the first syllable “pay” / “pee” / “peh” ? Is the second syllable “ehn” (as is “end”) / “on” / “an” ? Thanks. I offer a paean for your help. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983/65 "2005-03-07T18:20:12Z")
> [@laina\_f](#): > > I don’t know how to pronounce “paean” because I’ve never heard it spoken aloud. Hymn. But really, it is pronounced PE-en, unless you are british, in which case it is pronounced Throat Warbler Mangrove. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983/66 "2005-03-07T18:41:20Z")
> [@Scott\_plaid](#): > > Hymn. > > But really, it is pronounced PE-en . . . . That helps not at all. How is “PE” pronounced (like pea or like peh as in pen)? How is “en” pronounced – like “end”? ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983/67 "2005-03-07T18:50:20Z")
> [@laina\_f](#): > > How is “PE” pronounced (like pe How is “en” pronounced – like “end”? Yes, your first guess is right. pea -en, like end without the d See, the emphasis is on the letter in ALL CAPS. That is how ALL CAPS work. You know, I should have just said to google it. If you had, you would have found this:[http://img.tfd.com/hm/prons/P0010300.wav](http://img.tfd.com/hm/prons/P0010300.wav) By, the way, it would be nice to be thanked. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983/68 "2005-03-07T20:20:13Z")
“Beverage” is common here in australia, but common in the sense that “vehicle” might be common enough to go unnoticed, but most people say “car”. Most people say “drink” too. “Beverage” tends, therefore, to be used when somebody is being semi-formal and dry. Policemen like it: “I apprehended two intoxicated adult male persons after noticing the vehicle being driven in an unsafe manner. Both persons were consuming alcohilic beverages within said vehicle.” That sort of thing. So unless you’re a policeman, legislator, wowser, or dietician, you can safely forget “beverage”, and say “d’ja wanna 'nother drink?” ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983/69 "2005-03-07T22:24:38Z")
> [@Iceland\_Blue](#): > > Then there are those words that should exist,but no-one ever uses them just their opposite.All those things that are shevelled or wieldy or ert… You are so gormful. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983/70 "2005-03-07T23:12:06Z")
Withal. Incontinently. Germ-plasm. Octoroon. Kine (older word for “beeves” 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983/71 "2005-03-07T23:30:32Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > (BTW: the old myth about shall and will - I can never remember which one you use with the first person, and which you use with the second and third - is not a rule that ever existed in any dialect of English. It’s a fiction like the whole splitting infinitives thing.) Note the usage in _A More Humane Mikado_, lyrics by W.S. Gilbert, of course. > [@](#): > > **Mikado:** > My object all sublime > I \*shall \*achieve in time > To let the punishment fit the crime > The punishment fit the crime… > > **Chorus:** > His object all sublime > He \*will \*achieve in time > To let the punishment fit the crime > The punishment fit the crime… Should one wish to sound needlessly pedantic, the auxiliary verb “shall” ought to be used only in the first person. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983/72 "2005-03-07T23:32:24Z")
> [@Tentacle Monster](#): > > Words I Think Should Be Used More Often: > > Whence We should use all of those wonderful “place words” again. I remember studying them in English at school: Here / hither/ hence: In / to / from this place There / thither / thence: In / to / from that place Where / whither / whence: In / to / from which place? ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983/73 "2005-03-07T23:42:16Z")
> [@Kizarvexius](#): > > Should one wish to sound needlessly pedantic, the auxiliary verb “shall” ought to be used only in the first person. And the meek shall inherit the earth 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983/74 "2005-03-07T23:50:24Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > And the meek shall inherit the earth 😉 Touché. If I understand correctly, though, many rules of English grammar were artificially imposed during the Enlightenment, which took place some years after the production of the KJV. Perhaps some of our grammar gurus can confirm or refute this. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983/75 "2005-03-07T23:51:53Z")
> [@Kizarvexius](#): > > Should one wish to sound needlessly pedantic, the auxiliary verb “shall” ought to be used only in the first person. The rules that I was taught were: (1) In normal circumstances, \*shall \* for first person and \*will \* for second and third persons. (2) For emphasis or commands, reverse the first rule and use \*will \* for first person and \*shall \* for second and third persons. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983/76 "2005-03-07T23:53:55Z")
It is my favorite words again, partway through this poem. The whole thing is too long to post. “Yarrow Unvisited” by W. Wordsworth [http://www.bartleby.com/106/257.html](http://www.bartleby.com/106/257.html) “Let beeves and home-bred kine partake The sweets of Burn-mill meadow; The swan on still Saint Mary’s Lake Float double, swan and shadow! We will not see them—will not go 45 To-day, nor yet to-morrow; Enough if in our hearts we know There’s such a place as Yarrow.” ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983/77 "2005-03-08T14:27:37Z")
> [@Scott\_plaid](#): > > You may find the following old timey Homestarrunner cartoons amusing. Then again you might wish thay went out with Boss Tweed. > > [Old-Timey - Homestar Runner Wiki](http://www.hrwiki.org/index.php/1936) Whenever I think of the word mountebank, I think of old time Strongbad. I love those cartoons. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983/78 "2005-03-08T21:31:56Z")
> [@Neidhart](#): > > Kine (older word for “beeves” 😃 ) I think that’s actually an older word for “cows”, not “beeves”. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983/79 "2005-03-08T21:58:55Z")
Here we go again. > **[Definition of kine | Dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/kine)** > > Definition of kine from Dictionary.com, the world’s leading online source for English definitions, pronunciations, word origins, idioms, Word of the Day, and more. > **[Definition of beeves | Dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/beeves)** > > Definition of beeves from Dictionary.com, the world’s leading online source for English definitions, pronunciations, word origins, idioms, Word of the Day, and more. They both refer to cows, of the kind that are eaten. I brought up beeves, as the usual answer to “What is the name of the species that include both cows and Bulls?” Hey, look: > [@Da Grandmaster](#): > > Dear Cecil: > > What is the name of the animal that chews its cud and says “moo”? There’s a plural form, “cattle,” but if we want to refer to just one, all we can say is which sex it is: “cow” or “bull.” We know Jumbo is a bull elephant, but what is Ferdinand–a bull “mooing animal”? Please address this grave injustice. --Sue and Jim, Baltimore > > Cecil replies: > > Hmm. Guess “bovine mammal” won’t cut it, will it? “Ox” might do, but usually suggests a castrated bull. Looks like we’re stuck with “neat” or “beef” (plural beeves). The former is archaic and the latter, in this sense, might as well be. But use it if you want. [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_097b.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_097b.html) ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983/80 "2005-03-09T01:17:46Z")
My company is going throught the painstaking task of getting “ISO” certified. “SHALL” is used commonly throughout the regulations. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-uses/291983.md?page=5)