# Rare words **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 5, 2023, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623 "2023-09-05T00:09:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jagraze1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jagraze1/32/14870_2.png) [@Jagraze1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jagraze1)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/1 "2023-09-05T00:09:54Z")
So what happens to the words that are rare in English or any language? Do they get used infrequently or what? Examples of rare words in English? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/2 "2023-09-05T00:12:13Z")
Huh?? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/3 "2023-09-05T00:15:46Z")
This is what happens: > **[Zipf's law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipf%27s_law)** > > Zipf's law (/zɪf/, German: \[ts͡ɪpf\]) is an empirical law that often holds, approximately, when a list of measured values is sorted in decreasing order. It states that the value of the nth entry is inversely proportional to n. > The best known instance of Zipf's law applies to the frequency table of words in a text or corpus of natural language: This "law" is named after the American linguist George Kingsley Zipf, and is still an important concept in quantitative linguistics. It has been found to ... ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/4 "2023-09-05T00:16:28Z")
Buy this and knock yourself out. [Mrs Byrne’s Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure, and Preposterous Words by Josefa Heifetz Byrne](https://www.amazon.com/Byrnes-Dictionary-Unusual-Obscure-Preposterous/dp/0806504986/ref=sr_1_1?crid=GJ416EDZN0X3&keywords=mrs.+byrne%27s+dictionary+of+unusual%2C+obscure%2C+and+preposterous+words&qid=1693872884&sprefix=mrs.+byrne%27s+dictionary%2Caps%2C1901&sr=8-1&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.18ed3cb5-28d5-4975-8bc7-93deae8f9840) ---
**Author:** ![Jagraze1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jagraze1/32/14870_2.png) [@Jagraze1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jagraze1)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/5 "2023-09-05T00:16:50Z")
What? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/6 "2023-09-05T00:19:57Z")
Actually, that is a misconception. While some rare words are rarely used, other rare words are used almost constantly by almost everyone. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/7 "2023-09-05T00:22:14Z")
Are we still talking about Zipf’s Law? It’s not exact, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/8 "2023-09-05T00:24:46Z")
No, I was replying to this: > So what happens to the words that are rare in English or any language? Do they get used infrequently or what? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/9 "2023-09-05T00:27:21Z")
As for the other question: > Examples of rare words in English? Zoofpoople has only ever been used once. ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/10 "2023-09-05T00:32:12Z")
They go to Scrabble games to die. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/11 "2023-09-05T00:34:38Z")
Here’s one: Pleonasm. Bet you’ll never hear _that_ one in conversation… (Unless it’s with me). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/12 "2023-09-05T00:39:32Z")
They were a really great poster. Haven’t seen them in years. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/13 "2023-09-05T00:42:43Z")
_Sesquicentennial_ Once every 150 years ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/14 "2023-09-05T00:47:18Z")
You really want some random rare words? Drabbery, tralineate, subfuscous. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/15 "2023-09-05T00:57:12Z")
I like “scrofulous”. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/16 "2023-09-05T01:04:11Z")
Hyperparallelopiped Plectrum Syzygy ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/17 "2023-09-05T01:04:36Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > _Sesquicentennial_ > > Once every 150 years Some rare words are sesquipedalian. Did you know that the word paradimethylaminobenzaldehyde can be sung to the tune of the Irish Washerwoman? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/18 "2023-09-05T01:05:32Z")
Rare words, if authenticated and properly preserved, get auctioned off at the semi annual Funk-Webster International Verbage Auction in Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/19 "2023-09-05T01:06:26Z")
An essential work in the PT reference library: [The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Words](https://www.babelbooks.com.au/products/the-penguin-dictionary-of-curious-and-interesting-words) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/20 "2023-09-05T01:08:36Z")
@Czarcasm: I see what you did there. Well played Good Sir. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623.md?page=2)