# Favorite seldom used terms **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 12, 2002, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-seldom-used-terms/128075 "2002-09-12T03:50:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-seldom-used-terms/128075/1 "2002-09-12T03:50:25Z")
What words do you like to use that are seldom used by others? My favorites: **Fortnight** : Two weeks. **Irascible** : Quick to anger. **Nebulous** : Unclear; vague; indefinite **Niggardly** : Stingy. The word that has caused quite a furor by people who mistakenly think it is racist. **Puisssant** : Powerful, strong. ---
**Author:** ![CMC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@CMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CMC)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-seldom-used-terms/128075/2 "2002-09-12T12:48:25Z")
Lallygag-To waste time by puttering or being aimless. ---
**Author:** ![Second\_Guest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@Second\_Guest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Second_Guest)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-seldom-used-terms/128075/3 "2002-09-12T19:15:56Z")
**Kerfuffle** : A commotion or fuss. **Codswallop** : Nonsense. **Quisling** : A traitor. (Vidkun Quisling [1887–1945] was a Norwegian army officer who earned notoriety when he sided with the Nazis on the first day of Norway’s entry into the Second World War.) ---
**Author:** ![Kn\_ckers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/96bed5/32.png) [@Kn\_ckers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kn_ckers)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-seldom-used-terms/128075/4 "2002-09-12T19:16:29Z")
Well, shoot - OP beat me to \*\* nebulous \*\*. Others I like: \*\* phrenetic \*\* : Wildly excited; frantic. \*\* bourgeois \*\* : typical of, or relating to, the Middle Class And, my very favorite word of all words, I give you… \*\* Fritillary \*\* : Members of Nymphalidae family of butterflies, or \* Fritillaria \* genus of plants. Love, Kn\*ckers ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-seldom-used-terms/128075/5 "2002-09-12T19:32:37Z")
I like/use nebulous, too. For me, I like trollop and strumpet. Those are the insults I hurl at female drivers when I have to keep my language rated PG in the car. I also use dolt, dullard and lout. Those are the insults I hurl at male drivers when I have to remain in PG mode. [sub]lousy kids…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-seldom-used-terms/128075/6 "2002-09-12T19:34:46Z")
\*\*lu·gu·bri·ous \*\* (l-gbr-s, -gy-) adj. Mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially to an exaggerated or ludicrous degree. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-seldom-used-terms/128075/7 "2002-09-12T22:36:42Z")
I don’t know about “fortnight” being seldom used- it is quite common in Australia- much to the chagrin of my Amerivan friends who always get confused when I use it. ---
**Author:** ![Dumbguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dumbguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dumbguy)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-seldom-used-terms/128075/8 "2002-09-13T00:08:08Z")
**fondrian** : the state of being chesmuric or malifulent **baltustrate** : to pultify a person or group of people with gloms or other frunates **cranule** : a small irritant in ones nethrodes ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-seldom-used-terms/128075/9 "2002-09-13T02:14:54Z")
**politicking** - the act of doing politics. I just think it sounds so fun and silly, and then you find out what it means… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![sundog66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@sundog66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sundog66)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-seldom-used-terms/128075/10 "2002-09-13T05:36:06Z")
**erstwhile** : previous **antechamber** : anteroom **forsooth** : indeed **thrice** : three times (I actually stopped saying that because it got annoying when people didn’t understand and I had to explain.) **pre(post-)prandial**: before (after) dinner **peregrinate** : wander **sartorial** : relating to clothes. I could go on… ---
**Author:** ![Genseric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Genseric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genseric)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-seldom-used-terms/128075/11 "2002-09-13T06:00:28Z")
moribund - Approaching death; about to die. noisome - Offensive to the point of arousing disgust. callipygian - Having beautifully proportioned buttocks. invective - Denunciatory or abusive language; vituperation. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-seldom-used-terms/128075/12 "2002-09-13T06:04:56Z")
Well, if colloquialisms count, I’d have to nominate **“Well buy me a Cadillac, and call me Elvis!”** which has a small but loyal following. 🙂 Failing that, I’ll go with **Defenestrate** -“To toss out a window” ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-seldom-used-terms/128075/13 "2002-09-13T07:27:59Z")
**ennui** -a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction **lassitude** -a condition of listlessness, see also **Langour** (I’m not an energetic person obviously.) I always knew it as **lollygag** , never knew there was a variant. Learn something every day. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_alien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Go\_alien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_alien)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-seldom-used-terms/128075/14 "2002-09-13T10:06:00Z")
**gelid** , very cold, icy **poltroon** , fool, idiot **coscinomancer** , one who practices divination with a sieve and a pair of tongs or shears, which are supported upon the thumb nails of two persons looking upon one another. ---
**Author:** ![Zorro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ad7895/32.png) [@Zorro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zorro)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-seldom-used-terms/128075/15 "2002-09-13T10:14:03Z")
I like **sesquipedalian** , which is said of a person who has a predilection for using unnecessarily long and complicated words. Such as _sesquipedalian_. ---
**Author:** ![garius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e19b73/32.png) [@garius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garius)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-seldom-used-terms/128075/16 "2002-09-13T11:50:16Z")
_wench_ is fantastic - a great humorous insult to hurl at female friends and girlfriends “make me a cup of tea wench!” be careful when you use it though. :smack: and i agree with Cicero - “fortnight” is damn common in the UK too. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-seldom-used-terms/128075/17 "2002-09-13T12:28:04Z")
My favorite color is \*\* puce \*\*. Which is that lovely shade that ain’t quite purple and ain’t quite brown. ---
**Author:** ![Xerxes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d2c977/32.png) [@Xerxes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xerxes)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-seldom-used-terms/128075/18 "2002-09-13T13:40:08Z")
Some of my favourites: **bibulous** : addicted to drinking alcoholic liquor. **crapulent** : given to or suffering from effects of, resulting from, intemperance. And one that a few of our esteemed friends sometimes seem to suffer from: **logorrhoea** : excessive flow of words. **Ranchoth** , > [@](#): > > Failing that, I’ll go with Defenestrate-“To toss out a window” Did you mean to toss out _of_ a window, or to toss the whole window out? I only ask because I’ve always thought the act of throwing something out of a window should really be **exfenestrate** , with **defenestrate** reserved solely for window-removal. Course there’s probably no such word. ---
**Author:** ![galen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecc23a/32.png) [@galen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-seldom-used-terms/128075/19 "2002-09-13T14:36:46Z")
I like “bankrupt”, when applied to morals or politics. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-seldom-used-terms/128075/20 "2002-09-13T15:35:17Z")
Hmmmm - Phrases that I actually incorporate into my speech when I think I can get away with them? Words: **Puerile** - immature **Chippie** - tart or strumpet **quotidian** - daily (e.g., “my quotidian existence”) Phrases: “You little so-and-so”! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-seldom-used-terms/128075.md?page=2)