# Great words you just learned (and can't believe you hadn't known before) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 12, 2015, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-words-you-just-learned-and-cant-believe-you-hadnt-known-before/730937 "2015-09-12T21:20:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2015, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-words-you-just-learned-and-cant-believe-you-hadnt-known-before/730937/1 "2015-09-12T21:20:28Z")
I used to think I had a pretty good vocabulary. But, maybe as a result of people having ready access to online thesauruses (okay, thesauri), I seem to be encountering more and more words I’ve never heard before (or, at least, words that I can’t recall ever hearing or reading before). And not just pedantic or esoteric stuff, but good, useful words. Just a few minutes ago, and in fact motivating this OP, I came across the phrase, “struck by _noetic_ lightning”. It was being used to describe the effect of taking [DMT](http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/dmt-you-cannot-imagine-a-stranger-drug-or-a-stranger-experience-365). I had no clue what noetic meant. Looking it up, I learned that noetic means: of, relating to, or based on the intellect Good word! Here’s another example of what I think is a good word that was totally new to me: manqué (pronounced mawn-kay) Here’s the definition from [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) manqué adjective - having failed, missed, or fallen short: _a poet manqué who never produced a single book of verse_. The definition of manqué given by Oxford online is even more specific: - having failed to become what one might have been: _he was a creature of suppressed passions, an artist manqué_ Another great word that I was surprised I hadn’t heard/read before! Now it’s your turn. What great word\* did you just learn and were surprised you hadn’t encountered before? \*defined as useful and a bit out of the ordinary, and not simply esoteric or archaic And, please, no one wants to hear someone else exclaim, “Noetic? I knew that when I was in grade 5! You’re just learning it now?” ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-words-you-just-learned-and-cant-believe-you-hadnt-known-before/730937/2 "2015-09-12T22:38:17Z")
This one; fremdschamen Definition: [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fremdschämen](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fremdsch%C3%A4men) It was in reference to a photo of Hucksterbee and Kim Davis. It does remind me of something from **The Stand**. When the musician gets his wake-up call from another musician-\ “It’s like watching someone who’s shit himself and is walking around, and doesn’t even know it.” It’s up there with schadenfreude, and I love that word. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-words-you-just-learned-and-cant-believe-you-hadnt-known-before/730937/3 "2015-09-13T00:37:58Z")
[Tardyon](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18673319&postcount=9). I apparently learned that 3 days ago. I can’t believe I lived 53 years without knowing that word. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-words-you-just-learned-and-cant-believe-you-hadnt-known-before/730937/4 "2015-09-13T01:05:35Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > [Tardyon](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18673319&postcount=9). I apparently learned that 3 days ago. I can’t believe I lived 53 years without knowing that word. That’s a good one! ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-words-you-just-learned-and-cant-believe-you-hadnt-known-before/730937/5 "2015-09-13T01:07:19Z")
[Damaskeening.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damaskeening) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-words-you-just-learned-and-cant-believe-you-hadnt-known-before/730937/6 "2015-09-13T01:57:30Z")
The most recent word I’ve learned is “temerarious” (rashly or presumptuously daring). I always figured “The Fighting Temeraire” was named after some person, but perhaps not. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-words-you-just-learned-and-cant-believe-you-hadnt-known-before/730937/7 "2015-09-13T13:32:35Z")
> [@campp](#): > > [Damaskeening.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damaskeening) Know it. My dad collected pocket watches. What is cool is that is appears to be realted to Damascus steel, a smithing technique where alternating layers of soft and hard irons are blended to yield a strong, flexible blade that can hold an edge. Damascus steel has a wood-grain look to it, which they are kinda replicating here. My word is **synecdoche** - using a component to name the whole. “This old iron” to describe a sword, for instance. A gumshoe for a detective or a blonde for a woman. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-words-you-just-learned-and-cant-believe-you-hadnt-known-before/730937/8 "2015-09-13T14:34:33Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > My word is **synecdoche** - using a component to name the whole. “This old iron” to describe a sword, for instance. A gumshoe for a detective or a blonde for a woman. Or “Get your ass in here!” ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-words-you-just-learned-and-cant-believe-you-hadnt-known-before/730937/9 "2015-09-13T14:49:03Z")
> [@BrassyPhrase](#): > > This one; > fremdschamen > > . . . “It’s like watching someone who’s shit himself and is walking around, and doesn’t even know it.” I will definitely try to remember this wonderful word when commenting on certain OPs by certain posters! ETA: Coincidentally, just the other day I came across another borrowed German word - [Künstlerroman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%BCnstlerroman) - I had not heard before. It describes an artist’s, and especially a writer’s, story about his/her growth to (artistic) maturity.