# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/101 "2023-09-09T12:00:54Z")
and then again there is the whole group of words, where the negative is still a frequently used word, but the positive is hardly ever used or very rarely. sorry, as it has to be expected, no good examples come to mind … ahhh… **uncanny \< === \> canny?** **impertinent \< == \> pertinent?** **intransigent \< == \> transigent??** that kind of thing … ---
**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 9, 2023, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/102 "2023-09-09T13:20:17Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > > [@squeegee](#): > > > > Asimov fan, huh? > > Oh, yes. It’s amazing what one will remember when so much else is forgotten. Funny, because I was thinking of Asomov at the mention of sesquicentennial. ---
**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 9, 2023, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/103 "2023-09-09T13:30:30Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > and then again there is the whole group of words, where the negative is still a frequently used word, but the positive is hardly ever used or very rarely. > > sorry, as it has to be expected, no good examples come to mind … indubitably and dubitably unconscionable and conscionable underwhelmed and whelmed discombobulated and combobulated ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/104 "2023-09-09T14:02:56Z")
a few german words come to mind: **ungehobelt \<\> gehobelt** (ungehobelte Person) - literally transalted an unplaned person (as in unrefined) but there is no planed person **unwirsch \<\> wirsch** > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > underwhelmed and whelmed thats an interesting one … there’s underwhelmed and overwhelmed … but as you mention no whelmed (does whelmed even exist?) ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/105 "2023-09-09T14:22:58Z")
> **canny?** Entirely cromulent in the NE of England around Tyneside, canny lad. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/106 "2023-09-09T16:01:29Z")
antipathy (negative) → pathy (neutral) → sympathy (for the Devil) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/107 "2023-09-09T17:26:43Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > and then again there is the whole group of words, where the negative is still a frequently used word, but the positive is hardly ever used or very rarely. I’m not sure if all these actually had positives: disgruntled ruthless gormless inept ---
**Author:** ![superwombat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superwombat/32/16616_2.png) [@superwombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superwombat)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/108 "2023-09-09T17:33:46Z")
Inept → Adept Ruthful means “full of sorrow” (I sure haven’t seen it used with any regularity) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/109 "2023-09-09T17:42:26Z")
> [@superwombat](#): > > Ruthful means “full of sorrow” (I sure haven’t seen it used with any regularity) I have seen just _ruth_ used. Not sure if that was a backformation or not. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/110 "2023-09-09T17:59:19Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > (does whelmed even exist?) > [@dtilque](#): > > disgruntled > ruthless > gormless > inept The OED to the rescue! **whelm** : To cover completely with water or other fluid so as to ruin or destroy; to submerge, drown; occasionally to sink (a boat). [most recent citation 1888] **gruntle** : To grumble, murmur, complain. (The dis- prefix in “disgruntled” is an intensifier.) [most recent citation 1876] **ruth** : The quality of being compassionate; the feeling of sorrow for another; compassion, pity. [most recent citation 2005] **gome** : Sense, wit, tact. Alternate spelling “gom”, “gawm”. “Gormless” was originally spelled “gawmless”. [most recent citation 1877, although that was in a dictionary] **apt** : Natural tendency. Use as a noun was rare, derived from the adjective “apt”. [most recent citation c1400] ---
**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 9, 2023, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/111 "2023-09-09T18:02:21Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > **uncanny \< === \> canny?** > **impertinent \< == \> pertinent?** > **intransigent \< == \> transigent??** The non-negated forms are all perfectly valid words. To be fair, though, “transigent” is uncommon and is even omitted from some dictionaries. Google Ngram shows its usage hitting a peak in 1960 and again in 1998 for some strange reason, but its usage never exceeded 0.000000277%. ---
**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 10, 2023, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/112 "2023-09-10T01:49:25Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > > [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > > > Maybe it is common in the UK. Utterly new to me. > > Affray is a specific offence in the law: > > [Public Order Act 1986](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/64/section/3) Affray is also an offense in some US jurisdictions. Including mine: **[Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Title XLVI : Chapter 870](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0800-0899/0870/Sections/0870.01.html)** ---
**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 10, 2023, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/113 "2023-09-10T08:37:53Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The non-negated forms are all perfectly valid words. It’s interesting that those were the first examples. With the first two pairs, the non-negated form still exists as a common word, but they have diverged semantically - they are not semantic negations. A question can be impertinent but pertinent; it’s uncanny how canny she is. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/114 "2023-09-10T23:16:10Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > impertinent \< == \> pertinent? Huh? I hear “pertinent” more often than “impertinent.” (As in “how is that pertinent to the discussion?”) Google ngram seems to agree: [Link to chart](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=pertinent%2C+impertinent&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=en-2019&smoothing=3) And I think the term you’re looking for is “unpaired words”: > **[Unpaired word](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unpaired_word)** > > An unpaired word is one that, according to the usual rules of the language, would appear to have a related word but does not. Such words usually have a prefix or suffix that would imply that there is an antonym, with the prefix or suffix being absent or opposite. If the prefix or suffix is negative, such as 'dis-' or -'less', the word can be called an orphaned negative. > Unpaired words can be the result of one of the words falling out of popular usage, or can be created when only one word of a pa... ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/115 "2023-09-11T00:13:30Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > _Sesquicentennial_ > > Once every 150 years That actually got used quite a bit here in Ohio in the 1960-70s as all the cities settled right after the War of 1812 became 150 years old. It has tapered off, of course. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/116 "2023-09-11T00:28:10Z")
The terms “ace”,”deuce”, “trey” are familiar, but did you know there are terms for the four, five and six on a die also? They are, respectively, “cater”, “cinque”, “sice”. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/117 "2023-09-20T13:43:20Z")
There’s a form of counting of sheep in the north of England that may well be a last relic of the Cumbric/proto-Welsh > **[Yan tan tethera](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yan_tan_tethera)** > > Yan Tan Tethera or yan-tan-tethera is a sheep-counting system traditionally used by shepherds in Northern England and some other parts of Britain. The words are numbers taken from Brythonic Celtic languages such as Cumbric which had died out in most of Northern England by the sixth century, but they were commonly used for sheep counting and counting stitches in knitting until the Industrial Revolution, especially in the fells of the Lake District. Though most of these number systems fell out o Sh... ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/118 "2023-09-20T14:04:55Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > And I think the term you’re looking for is “unpaired words”: > > [Unpaired word - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unpaired_word) I see a couple of my favorites on that list of unpaired words, couth and wieldy. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623/119 "2023-09-21T00:01:16Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Will stand corrected but I think the term is “affray”. Yes, I misrembered [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-words/989623.md?page=5)