# Gimme your great words **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 1, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991 "2015-07-01T21:14:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991/21 "2015-07-02T16:05:58Z")
Disbudding- The act of dehorning a goat. Probably means something else now in Colorado. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991/22 "2015-07-02T16:40:53Z")
Abecedarian : one learning the rudiments of something (as the alphabet) ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991/23 "2015-07-02T18:23:56Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Pusillanimous, meaning: timid or weak. > > Which is why we call someone a ‘pussy’! Uh huh. That’s what your mom wants you to think… One of my favorites that is not heard often anymore is “morass” - muddy and boggy or complicated and confused. Always gets a doubletake from the hearer(s). ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991/24 "2015-07-02T18:37:54Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I love “methinks.” So much better than “In My Humble Opinion.,” or even “Well, I think…” So… the SDMB IMHO forum should be renamed “Methinks”? I like it. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991/25 "2015-07-02T18:55:17Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > One of my favorites that is not heard often anymore is “morass” - muddy and boggy or complicated and confused. Always gets a doubletake from the hearer(s). Love it too. Used it in my most recent novel. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991/26 "2015-07-02T19:43:52Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > So… the SDMB IMHO forum should be renamed “Methinks”? I like it. I use this word at least once a week. Here’s my dad’s favorite: Cogitate. He’d always say “Let me cogitate that for a bit.” ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991/27 "2015-07-02T19:52:35Z")
My favorite is yardang, which is a sharp irregular ridge of compact sand lying in the direction of the prevailing wind in exposed desert regions, formed by the wind erosion of adjacent material that is less resistant. Or something a redneck pirate might say. ---
**Author:** ![davida03801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@davida03801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davida03801)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991/28 "2015-07-02T19:59:20Z")
Defenestration = To throw a person out a window Always liked that word. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991/29 "2015-07-02T20:16:03Z")
> [@davida03801](#): > > Defenestration = To throw a person out a window > > Always liked that word. When I was a boating instructor at Scout camp, I put up a sign that read, “Absolutely no defenestrating allowed.” No one had a dictionary so I got a lot of questions about it. It’s a good word next time you’re in Prague: [Defenestrations of Prague - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defenestrations_of_Prague) ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991/30 "2015-07-02T20:19:13Z")
I like: scimitar braggadocio presbytery hirsute sphagnum ---
**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:** [July 2, 2015, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991/31 "2015-07-02T21:20:50Z")
Hornswoggle - to deceive or cheat. Pluperfect - beyond perfect. Recalcitrant - uncooperative. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991/32 "2015-07-03T03:14:00Z")
obstinate lissome willowy prothonotary verdant lucullan magisterial peevish ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991/33 "2015-07-03T03:21:36Z")
Lissome, ooh, that’s a good one. Gonna bring that into my active writing vocabulary. Here’s a similar one: eyesome. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991/34 "2015-07-03T04:11:26Z")
[Bulbous Bouffant](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uuCNAwXGaQ) ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991/35 "2015-07-03T04:12:55Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I always liked the Southern word ‘tump’ because there is no perfect equivalent in other versions of American English. I learned “futz” when I moved up here. I liked it better than “fart around with”. Also, bumbershoot. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991/36 "2015-07-03T04:16:15Z")
Corpulent. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991/37 "2015-07-03T04:45:20Z")
Sussurance - the sound \*is \*the meaning. Syzygy. Zymurgy. Frustum. Lustrum. Kefalograviera. Interstices. Trilemma. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991/38 "2015-07-03T11:19:40Z")
One bored day at work, I came across [persiflage](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/persiflage). I don’t work it into conversation nearly as often as I should. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991/39 "2015-07-03T11:42:40Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Callipygian - having shapely buttocks Not to be confused with “steatopygian”, meaning having **fat** buttocks. It hasn’t made it into official dictionaries but I find this an incredibly useful and descriptive word in this day and age: **[Wharrgarbl](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=WHARRGARBL)**. > [@Urban Dictionary](#): > > A one-word stand-in for any angry, incoherent, pointless reaction, comment, or attack. > [@](#): > > Note that incoherence or pointlessness is required for a proper WHARRGARBL reference. An angry, but otherwise logical, argument is not a WHARRGARBL. An argument that takes a reasonable (or at least arguable) position, but does so with an incoherent rant IS a valid WHARRGARBL. I particularly love the etymology: > [@](#): > > The caption of a popular “loldog” (dog version of lolcat) showing a dog attempting to drink from a lawn sprinkler. Word refers to the sound the dog presumably is making as it angrily (and pointlessly) attempts to subdue the water stream. [Relevant picture](http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/fark/images/7/7c/Wharrgarbl.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20081110024602). The comparison of some internet ranter in full incoherent flow with an angry dog trying to bite a stream of water spraying it in the face is wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991/40 "2015-07-03T11:51:07Z")
one from the dialect of my place of birth. Clemmy, meaning stone. as in “oh na! divven’t hoy a clemmy arrus, it’ll git nack!” Translation. “please do not project a stone in my direction, I am certain it will cause great. pain” Or how about “spuggy” meaning “sparrow” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-your-great-words/723991.md?page=3)