# Have you ever used a word you didn't know you knew? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 23, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-a-word-you-didnt-know-you-knew/641935 "2012-11-23T20:54:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-a-word-you-didnt-know-you-knew/641935/1 "2012-11-23T20:54:00Z")
I was talking with a colleague about something and found myself saying, “Well, if that’s true it would **obviate** the work we did earlier.” While speaking the sentence I hesitated before using the word ‘obviate’. It seemed right for what I was trying to express, and my colleague seemed to understand. But as I walked away from the conversation I wondered… did I make that word up? Obviate? I’ve never used that word before and can’t remember ever hearing it. I looked it up and found I has used it correctly, but I can’t for the life of me remember being exposed to this word before. Has this happened to anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-a-word-you-didnt-know-you-knew/641935/2 "2012-11-23T21:13:31Z")
Yes, but I can’t remember the word now. All I remember is when we were going over back-formations in Modern English Grammar in undergrad, I had an example of a time I had back-formed a “new” word only to find out later that it was a perfectly cromulent word all the time. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-a-word-you-didnt-know-you-knew/641935/3 "2012-11-23T21:48:34Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > Has this happened to anyone else? This happens to every human being who speaks, with almost all language he or she acquires. How do you define “knowing” a word? On average we are exposed to lexicon seven to nine times in meaningful contexts (either as speech or in print) before we produce it accurately. Then we “know” the word, and just use it. That’s what happens with 97% of your lexicon, and _obviate_ was just one example that you were conscious of when it happened (though you don’t remember the exposure). What you are describing is just the basic process of virtually _all_ language acquisition. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-a-word-you-didnt-know-you-knew/641935/4 "2012-11-23T22:11:50Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > This happens to every human being who speaks, with almost all language he or she acquires. > > How do you define “knowing” a word? On average we are exposed to lexicon seven to nine times in meaningful contexts (either as speech or in print) before we produce it accurately. Then we “know” the word, and just use it. That’s what happens with 97% of your lexicon, and _obviate_ was just one example that you were conscious of when it happened (though you don’t remember the exposure). > > What you are describing is just the basic process of virtually _all_ language acquisition. Hmm, I guess it surprised me because I don’t recall it ever happening before. I’m a writer and have always had a strong vocabulary. This particular feeling of “losing” a word and then remembering it again was completely new to me. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-a-word-you-didnt-know-you-knew/641935/5 "2012-11-23T23:34:21Z")
It happens to toddlers, like, _all the time_! :sucks thumb: ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-a-word-you-didnt-know-you-knew/641935/6 "2012-11-23T23:44:31Z")
I pull a lot of words I learned back in med school out of my head after having not used them or even thought of them for decades. And usually correctly, too. I did once improperly use the word _scybalous_ instead of what I meant, which was _scabrous_. A red face on my part, and lotsa laffs all around resulted that day, let me tell you! ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-a-word-you-didnt-know-you-knew/641935/7 "2012-11-24T00:23:46Z")
Happens to me a lot, in the sense that I’ll use twenty-five-dollar words I have no memory of ever looking up. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-a-word-you-didnt-know-you-knew/641935/8 "2012-11-24T03:30:52Z")
I had a room-mate (mid-1970’s) who was fond of the word “humongous”, which I had never otherwise heard (at the time). Occasionally, though, I began to see and hear the word used by others. My room-mate mentioned that once too (that he had begun to see the word around), and expressed surprise at this. He said he thought he had made it up himself. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2012, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-a-word-you-didnt-know-you-knew/641935/9 "2012-11-24T03:47:29Z")
Sometimes I suddenly know the perfect word for a situation, but I don’t know how to pronounce it because I learned it from reading and have never actually heard it spoken. Once a friend loaned me a relaxation tape, and I told them I found it “twee” (I do know how to pronounce that). I’d never used the word before in my life and am not comfortable with it, but my friend seemed to know what I meant. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-a-word-you-didnt-know-you-knew/641935/10 "2012-11-24T03:58:15Z")
> [@laina\_f](#): > > Once a friend loaned me a relaxation tape, and I told them I found it “twee” (I do know how to pronounce that). Is there a trick to that word? 😕 I just assumed it pronounces like it spells. > **[Free Online English Pronunciation Dictionary | Howjsay | Learn to Pronounce...](https://howjsay.com/index?word=twee&submit=Submit)** > > Learn How to Pronounce English Words | Natural Recordings by Native Speakers ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-a-word-you-didnt-know-you-knew/641935/11 "2012-11-24T04:30:23Z")
I observed this type of word acquisition as a young thing trying to grasp what existentialism was all about. The concept seemed to be just out of reach until the day I described something as existential. I think we just don’t notice with most of the time with words that have easier meanings (or that we remember having heard before we use them). ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-a-word-you-didnt-know-you-knew/641935/12 "2012-11-24T04:38:50Z")
Every once in a great while, I do. I think it comes from my “reading vocabulary” which seems larger than my usual one. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-a-word-you-didnt-know-you-knew/641935/13 "2012-11-24T04:49:54Z")
> [@laina\_f](#): > > Sometimes I suddenly know the perfect word for a situation, but I don’t know how to pronounce it because I learned it from reading and have never actually heard it spoken. Um…when you encounter a new word in reading, you don’t look it up? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-a-word-you-didnt-know-you-knew/641935/14 "2012-11-24T05:14:01Z")
You look up even the words whose meanings are obvious from context? ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-a-word-you-didnt-know-you-knew/641935/15 "2012-11-24T16:57:20Z")
The president of the company I work for sent an email in which he mentioned the “erstwhile host” of an event that hadn’t even happened yet. “Erstwhile” sounds like a fancy compliment but it is nothing of the sort. I wonder how often he uses it in this manner. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-a-word-you-didnt-know-you-knew/641935/16 "2012-11-24T20:19:15Z")
> [@Gus\_Gusterson](#): > > The president of the company I work for sent an email in which he mentioned the “erstwhile host” of an event that hadn’t even happened yet. “Erstwhile” sounds like a fancy compliment but it is nothing of the sort. I wonder how often he uses it in this manner. Yesterday, one of my cousins mentioned her erstwhile ex-girlfriend. I thought about pointing out that an erstwhile ex-girlfriend would necessarily be her CURRENT girlfriend, but since she was explaining why she carries a handgun everywhere I opted to forbear. ---
**Author:** ![Weirofhermiston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e274bd/32.png) [@Weirofhermiston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirofhermiston)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-a-word-you-didnt-know-you-knew/641935/17 "2012-11-24T20:25:06Z")
I discover new words all the time and I’m always anxious to masturbate them into a sentence, sometimes even before I know what they mean! ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-a-word-you-didnt-know-you-knew/641935/18 "2012-11-27T02:17:41Z")
Brilliantly done, **Weirofhermiston**. I often feel like doing the same thing, but I’m afraid of committing a malapriapism. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-a-word-you-didnt-know-you-knew/641935/19 "2012-11-27T02:37:54Z")
This sounds like a form of “jamais vu”, which I remember learning from _Catch-22_. Too bad. It would be fun to have jamais vu for jamais vu. @Number: oog, but grudging respect.