# Weird word - if anyone knows it, Dopers will **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 25, 2003, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-word-if-anyone-knows-it-dopers-will/209441 "2003-10-25T02:33:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-word-if-anyone-knows-it-dopers-will/209441/1 "2003-10-25T02:33:10Z")
**erenctic** Mom found this in a British mystery she was reading, used as an adjective. Anyone around here heard of it? ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-word-if-anyone-knows-it-dopers-will/209441/2 "2003-10-25T02:42:35Z")
Can we have the whole sentence? It might be just a typo. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-word-if-anyone-knows-it-dopers-will/209441/3 "2003-10-25T02:43:47Z")
[dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) found no matches for erenctic, but found one for [elenctic](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=elenctic). Does that meaning make sense in the context? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-word-if-anyone-knows-it-dopers-will/209441/4 "2003-10-25T02:46:20Z")
Could you post the sentence in which it was used? The closest I can find is _orectic_, which means “of or pertaining to desire”. ---
**Author:** ![Saranga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Saranga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saranga)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-word-if-anyone-knows-it-dopers-will/209441/5 "2003-10-25T05:09:55Z")
No matches in the OED. The word might be _eremitic_. Or it could be a hapax legomenon. Man, I have been waiting years to use that in a sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-word-if-anyone-knows-it-dopers-will/209441/6 "2003-10-25T06:21:02Z")
Are you sure it’s an English word? Maybe the author has a habit of using foreign words and decided to not italicise that one. Or, perhaps, the copyeditor let his blue pencil slip from out his grasp and neglected to nix yon non-existent nomenclature. A sentence would be very useful. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-word-if-anyone-knows-it-dopers-will/209441/7 "2003-10-25T22:20:45Z")
I concur that it must either be a typo or mum’s eyesight. No hits on over 10 web search engines. Peance. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-word-if-anyone-knows-it-dopers-will/209441/8 "2003-10-26T15:02:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Saranga \* > \*\*No matches in the OED. The word might be _eremitic_. > > Or it could be a hapax legomenon. Man, I have been waiting years to use that in a sentence. \*\* [People here can be cold. \*\*I’ll[/] ask.] Saranga, what is a hapax legomenon? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-word-if-anyone-knows-it-dopers-will/209441/9 "2003-10-26T15:04:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by j66 \* > \*\*[People here can be cold. \*\*I’ll[/] ask.] > > Saranga, what is a hapax legomenon? \*\* Hey, pal, what’s the deal? Don’t have a decent dictionary??? Try this then: > **[Dictionary by Merriam-Webster: America's most-trusted online dictionary](https://www.merriam-webster.com/)** > > The dictionary by Merriam-Webster is America's most trusted online dictionary for English word definitions, meanings, and pronunciation. #wordsmatter ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-word-if-anyone-knows-it-dopers-will/209441/10 "2003-10-26T15:06:56Z")
But to put in context, I think he’s implying that the author coined the word, if indeed it was spelled as given. Remember that none of us have (or should it be “has”) seen the printed page that this word is on, nor do we know what book supposedly contained it. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-word-if-anyone-knows-it-dopers-will/209441/11 "2003-10-26T16:40:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Earl Snake-Hips Tucker \* > \*\*Hey, pal, what’s the deal? Don’t have a decent dictionary??? > > Try this then: > > [http://m-w.com/](http://m-w.com/) \*\* Actually, a very good one AND I usually keep one open on line for the thesaurus (I know it’s lazy but I can never remember exactly the word I want). But Saranga obviously wanted someone to ask and now you’ve gone and ruined it for S. Like I said, people here can be cold. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-word-if-anyone-knows-it-dopers-will/209441/12 "2003-10-26T17:04:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by j66 \* > \*\*, people here can be cold. \*\* Yeah, tell me about it. Some people’s threads I refuse to open because any time I try it, the furnace kicks on. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-word-if-anyone-knows-it-dopers-will/209441/13 "2003-10-26T18:03:02Z")
I hate when that happens. Go here: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=4156154#post4156154](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=4156154#post4156154) ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2003, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-word-if-anyone-knows-it-dopers-will/209441/14 "2003-11-04T02:57:16Z")
**ultrafilter** had it right - Mom misread it and it was actually elenctic. Which is a real word even if it doesn’t sound like one. The book is _Death’s Jest Book_, by Reginald Hill There was also _eidetic_, which I knew vaguely; _pantechnicon_, which is some sort of vehicle; and _delation_, which I find in [m-w.com](http://m-w.com). So the problem wasn’t that they weren’t real words, just really, really obscure ones. If Mom don’t know them, they have to be obscure. She reads even more than I do. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2003, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-word-if-anyone-knows-it-dopers-will/209441/15 "2003-11-04T10:45:53Z")
A pantechnicon is a moving van. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2003, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-word-if-anyone-knows-it-dopers-will/209441/16 "2003-11-04T21:31:18Z")
A hapax legomen is a word that appears in a whole body of literature only once. If it isn’t defined in its one occurrence, its meaning has to be surmised using context or perhaps etymology. The term is usually used by philologists of dead languages poring over ancient scrolls, since the input into that literature is closed and there’s little chance of ever seeing the word used again. For a living, growing language like English, there’s always a good chance any given word will be used again. Once an odd word starts to get attention in English, Safire will write a column about it in the _New York Times Magazine_. Send him this one and see if he’ll bite. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2003, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-word-if-anyone-knows-it-dopers-will/209441/17 "2003-11-04T21:44:02Z")
P.S. — I think the term for the word in question, “erenctic,” is “ghost word.” A ghost word is one that only seems to exist because it arose from a misreading of something else. One of the most notorious examples of ghost words is “dord.” It happened during the preparation of a dictionary. An editor picked up one of those cards used by lexicographers to compile entries. Handwritten on it was the following: “D or d — Density.” Of course it referred to the letter D (either capital or lowercase) as an abbreviation for density used by physicists. But the editor, who must have been working overtime late at night and bleary-eyed, overlooked the spaces and had the entry “Dord. _n._ Density” printed in the dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2003, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-word-if-anyone-knows-it-dopers-will/209441/18 "2003-11-04T21:54:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Saranga \* > > Or it could be a hapax legomenon. Man, I have been waiting years to use that in a sentence. Outstanding, **Saranga**! ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-word-if-anyone-knows-it-dopers-will/209441/19 "2003-11-05T03:48:20Z")
> [@](#): > > One of the most notorious examples of ghost words is “dord.” It happened during the preparation of a dictionary. An editor picked up one of those cards used by lexicographers to compile entries. Handwritten on it was the following: “D or d — Density.” Of course it referred to the letter D (either capital or lowercase) as an abbreviation for density used by physicists. But the editor, who must have been working overtime late at night and bleary-eyed, overlooked the spaces and had the entry “Dord. n. Density” printed in the dictionary. Any idea which dictionary and which edition? Sounds apocryphal. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-word-if-anyone-knows-it-dopers-will/209441/20 "2003-11-05T04:23:52Z")
[sigh] Ah, you Dopers with your neverending chant of “Cite? Cite? Cite?” Come on. You know me, good old Jomo. I’ve been a Doper for 4 years and my posts are widely acknowledged as linguistically on the ball. I don’t write checks with my keyboard that my cites can’t cash. Haven’t I earned your trust by now, that you can take my word for once? No. OK, it was _Webster’s New International Dictionary_, 2nd ed., 1934. Still don’t believe me? Would you like to see a fac-simile of the offending entry? [http://www.snopes.com/language/mistakes/dord.htm](http://www.snopes.com/language/mistakes/dord.htm) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-word-if-anyone-knows-it-dopers-will/209441.md?page=2)