# Some words that shouldn't exist: copacetic, and, discombobulated. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 21, 2012, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718 "2012-12-21T08:07:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/61 "2012-12-22T22:28:09Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > Nothing personal, but a SDMB search for posts containing “gullible” and “dictionary” returns over 1400 results, and most of them (going by the one sentence excerpts shown) are variations of this joke. I’m not falling for that. ---
**Author:** ![SerafinaPekala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@SerafinaPekala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SerafinaPekala)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2012, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/62 "2012-12-23T01:22:36Z")
“Super-” as in “supercute” “supercool” ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2012, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/63 "2012-12-23T01:40:46Z")
> [@feddup2](#): > > “Super-” as in “supercute” “supercool” “Doublepluscute” would be doublepluscool! ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/64 "2012-12-23T01:50:00Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > I’m not falling for that. Damn. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2012, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/65 "2012-12-23T22:51:17Z")
I’ll agree that copacetic, humongous and discombobulated are candy-ass words. Cutesy and on a level with a winking smilies. 😉 Still, there are times when a cutesy, candy-ass word is what’s called for, so I can’t wish for their non-existence. Another candy-ass word is “curmudgeon”. If someone is truly a curmudgeon then using such a cutesy word to describe them would be counter-productive. Likewise, anyone who refers to themself as a curmudgeon isn’t one. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/66 "2012-12-23T23:19:00Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > Nothing personal, but a SDMB search for posts containing “gullible” and “dictionary” returns over 1400 results, and most of them (going by the one sentence excerpts shown) are variations of this joke. Hooray! You win! ---
**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:** [December 23, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/67 "2012-12-23T23:36:31Z")
> [@JamesQueue](#): > > Unnecessary words are those that have a perfect substitution, they don’t add anything to the language other than to show off a good vocabulary. They can be substituted using much more common words that are easier to remember, more commonly used, easier to pronounce, don’t sound stupid, and have fewere syllables. > > What other words do you think fit the criteria? What words do you believe to be _exactly synonymous_ with those two? There are subtle gradations of denotation and connotations between many synonym pairs; almost never are the meanings exactly the same. Even when the meanings are very close – talk & speak, for instance, or little/small, big/large – there’s a virtue to having more and less formal terms to use. ---
**Author:** ![jrbor76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9e8a1a/32.png) [@jrbor76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrbor76)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/68 "2012-12-26T22:22:39Z")
At a Christmas gathering at my parents’ place right now… my aunts just pointed out that supposedly my other aunt (who isn’t here) uses the word ‘copacetic’ a lot. As in, All. The. Time. I personally use it once a year or so, when it fits the circumstances. Nothing wrong with limited usage IMHO. On a side note, without the word ‘copacetic’, the world would never have heard of the band Local H. Just throwing that out there. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/69 "2012-12-27T06:15:41Z")
> [@jrbor76](#): > > On a side note, without the word ‘copacetic’, the world would never have heard of the band Local H. Just throwing that out there. [This is the song he’s talking about](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZHMk6ynaGw), in case you’ve never heard it. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/70 "2012-12-27T06:26:56Z")
I cannot wait to hear someone refer to generosity as “bigesse”. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/71 "2012-12-27T10:32:27Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > I’ll agree that copacetic, humongous and discombobulated are candy-ass words. Cutesy and on a level with a winking smilies. 😉 Still, there are times when a cutesy, candy-ass word is what’s called for, so I can’t wish for their non-existence. > > Another candy-ass word is “curmudgeon”. If someone is truly a curmudgeon then using such a cutesy word to describe them would be counter-productive. Likewise, anyone who refers to themself as a curmudgeon isn’t one. Curmudgeon is yet another word that sounds like exactly what it is, which I love. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/72 "2012-12-27T19:09:19Z")
What about nonplussed? While one can be nonplussed, can one be plussed? Another one that is challenging to use in a sentence is “pluperfect”. Without looking it up - who can use it in a sentence? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/73 "2012-12-27T20:49:33Z")
“I wish I had understood the meaning of the pluperfect tense when I really needed it on that test.” ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718/74 "2012-12-27T21:32:41Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Another one that is challenging to use in a sentence is “pluperfect”. Without looking it up - who can use it in a sentence? I had learned to cook a pluperfect turkey before Christmas came around. (I think the tense is right) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-words-that-shouldnt-exist-copacetic-and-discombobulated/644718.md?page=3)