# 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:** 3
**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, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/41 "2023-09-05T14:30:25Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > I’m still looking for a place to mention a fulcrum. Go to the _Ahsoka_ thread in Cafe Society. > **[Fulcrum](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Fulcrum)** > > Fulcrum was a title used by former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano during the New Republic, and was used by agents and spies early in the Galactic Civil War, with the purpose was to gather and distribute intelligence, and recruit new members to the rebel... ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/42 "2023-09-05T14:44:34Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Enjoy the birthing of a new word! It may be gestating, but it hasn’t birthed yet, and if there is a God, it never will. It is a word that, as I said, doesn’t exist at all – note: “ **at   all** ”, not “atall”. Will we soon be hearing “atall”, too? These abominable solecisms don’t _ **always** _ happen. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/43 "2023-09-05T14:55:06Z")
It’s already in the dictionary. 🙂 [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/alot](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/alot) Don’t expect consistency from language construction. ---
**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, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/44 "2023-09-05T15:03:31Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > > [@Yllaria](#): > > > > _Supernatant_ is used in several fields, including wastewater treatment. > > No shit. Well, very little. It’s still best to provide tertiary treatment. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/45 "2023-09-05T15:12:02Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > It’s already in the dictionary. I know, but it’s always flagged as “nonstandard” and “proscribed”, which is linguists’ secret code for “wrong”. 😉 Incidentally, although “today” has appeared in both one-word, two-word, and hyphenated variants, the single word goes far back to the Old English _todæge_ which may have been in use as early as the 7th century. ---
**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, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/46 "2023-09-05T15:18:40Z")
Oh, god. Where have you been? ---
**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, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/47 "2023-09-05T15:22:17Z")
I like alot, alot! 😊 ---
**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, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/48 "2023-09-05T16:20:40Z")
Do not overuse your allotment of alots. The long wait for a fresh allotment of alots can be very frustrating. IOW, it sucks alot. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/49 "2023-09-05T16:25:37Z")
I like “defenestration.” I mean, most people know the word but who ever uses it? Sure you can Google the one million times it was used but really…when have you ever been able to use the word except in a conversation that it is a weird word to be in our lexicon? Pretty much anyone will say the person was tossed out a window and not “defenestrated.” ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/50 "2023-09-05T16:26:34Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Do not overuse your allotment of alots. The long wait for a fresh allotment of alots can be very frustrating. IOW, it sucks alot. Perhaps aliquot your allotted alot? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/51 "2023-09-05T16:27:31Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Perhaps aliquot your allotted alot? To an axolotl? ---
**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, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/52 "2023-09-05T16:33:06Z")
I caught myself saying this sentence the other day: “I like alot of these bushes, alot, altho’ I don’t have alot room for alot of them!” Gasp! ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/53 "2023-09-05T16:38:01Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > These abominable solecisms don’t _ **always** _ happen. What’s that again? Things don’t all ways happen? ---
**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, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/54 "2023-09-05T16:38:47Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > “I like alot of these bushes, alot, altho’ I don’t have alot room for alot of them!” You _are_ from Arkansas, aren’t cha? 🙂 ---
**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, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/55 "2023-09-05T16:40:17Z")
Why yes I am, y’all. ---
**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, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/56 "2023-09-05T16:40:55Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > What’s that again? Things don’t all ways happen? That which existed when I was born is eternal. That which happened after I turned 50 is abomination. It was ever thus, and shall be ever thus. Humans are lousy at this game. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/57 "2023-09-05T16:44:00Z")
Touché ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/58 "2023-09-05T16:45:53Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > when have you ever been able to use the word except in a conversation that it is a weird word to be in our lexicon? I’m a medievalist - it comes up [quite a bit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defenestration#Notable_cases). ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/59 "2023-09-05T16:48:01Z")
They simply fall into disuse, but you can find them on line if you query them. In the old days, they would be sentenced to the “Unabridged Dictionary”, which was a foot thick. [Unabridged Dictionary](https://mullenbooks.cdn.bibliopolis.com/pictures/178789_07.jpg?auto=webp&v=1604018268) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/60 "2023-09-05T17:04:16Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > > [@wolfpup](#): > > > > These abominable solecisms don’t _ **always** _ happen. > > What’s that again? Things don’t all ways happen? > **Always** : From Middle English alwayes, allwayes, allweyes, a variant of Middle English allwaye, alwey, alle wey (“always”), from Old English ealneġ, ealneweġ (“always, perpetually”) > [always | Etymology of always by etymonline](https://www.etymonline.com/word/always) Some form of “always” has existed as a single word since before the 13th century, and would have been familiar to Chaucer. There’s a difference between objecting to the teen-speak of 21st century texting and holding that all changes to the English language since the Norman Conquest are abominations that should be rolled back. I subscribe to the former objection, and not to the latter. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > That which existed when I was born is eternal. That which happened after I turned 50 is abomination. Are you impugning my character, sir, by implying that I am a cranky old fart? If so, you are correct, but I may challenge you to a duel anyway. After I have my nap. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623.md?page=4)