Original staff report: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_236.html
Cecil mentioned “Jeopardous” was no longer in the dictionary. I have found it in many modern dictionaries - not to mention dictionary.com.
He didn’t say it was no longer in the dictionary, he said that the Oxford English Dictionary didn’t give any examples of it actually being used in literature after 1661. (Since this is an old column, I don’t know whether he meant the 1928 or 1933 edition, or the OED2. Hang on for a moment…
No, the New Supplement doesn’t list it, either.
I guess it depends on what you call common. Onelook lists 39 that it calls common. I’d go with hazardous, horrendous, stupendous and tremendous.
Faldage, you’re obviously fairly new here. Please note that this thread is COMMENTING on a column that Cecil alreadywrote, namely:What are the four common English words ending in “-dous”?
There is a link in the initiating post in this thread. You should READ the column first, because you’re just repeating what’s already been said. You’ll know for next time, eh?
And, suborbit, you’re obviously new too, so welcome to the Straight Dope Message Board. You are commenting on a column by Cecil and not a Staff Report, so I’m moving this to the appropriate forum.