# What word or words would you like to hear in more common usage? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 19, 2016, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-word-or-words-would-you-like-to-hear-in-more-common-usage/760359 "2016-07-19T21:51:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-word-or-words-would-you-like-to-hear-in-more-common-usage/760359/1 "2016-07-19T21:51:50Z")
I used to flip thru a big ol’ dictionary looking for interesting words. Unfortunately, I’ve forgotten most of the ones I found because neither I nor most other people use them. One that I do remember and really like is _persiflage_ - noun: light and slightly contemptuous mockery or banter It’s a bit classier than snark. Are there any words you’d like to hear more often? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-word-or-words-would-you-like-to-hear-in-more-common-usage/760359/2 "2016-07-19T21:54:48Z")
Discombobulation - state of being confused, upset. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-word-or-words-would-you-like-to-hear-in-more-common-usage/760359/3 "2016-07-19T22:10:28Z")
Defenestrate–to throw something out a window. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-word-or-words-would-you-like-to-hear-in-more-common-usage/760359/4 "2016-07-19T22:37:46Z")
I got to use the word “cachinnation” in conversation just the other day. I have a neighbor who has a very loud laugh! Quite possibly the first time I have ever actually uttered that word. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-word-or-words-would-you-like-to-hear-in-more-common-usage/760359/5 "2016-07-19T23:11:36Z")
“Gender” instead of “sex,” which already means something else. ---
**Author:** ![ASanders](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asanders/32/3367_2.png) [@ASanders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASanders)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-word-or-words-would-you-like-to-hear-in-more-common-usage/760359/6 "2016-07-19T23:13:37Z")
Chuffed. It’s a Britishism that would be a great addition to American vocabularies. ---
**Author:** ![Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90ced4/32.png) [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waltzes_with_Cacti)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-word-or-words-would-you-like-to-hear-in-more-common-usage/760359/7 "2016-07-19T23:28:33Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Are there any words you’d like to hear more often? “Please” “Thank you” “May I?” “Excuse me” ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-word-or-words-would-you-like-to-hear-in-more-common-usage/760359/8 "2016-07-19T23:56:54Z")
I figured someone would pick some ordinary niceties… I don’t consider any of them to be particularly interesting words, altho they are far too scarce in everyday life. I rather like _callipygian_, and I was quite surprised to hear it in the lyrics of a [Limeliters song.](http://www.metrolyrics.com/vikki-dougan-lyrics-the-limeliters.html) ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-word-or-words-would-you-like-to-hear-in-more-common-usage/760359/9 "2016-07-20T00:23:44Z")
Foreigners who don’t know the language well find “diarrhea” a very mellifluous word, but I can’t say that it is underused. For myself, I think “borborygmus” could be put to wider use, at least in apologies. “I hope you will forgive my borborygmus, Lady Catherine, I’m afraid my collywobbles have developed a life of their own.” ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-word-or-words-would-you-like-to-hear-in-more-common-usage/760359/10 "2016-07-20T13:25:47Z")
Right on! ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-word-or-words-would-you-like-to-hear-in-more-common-usage/760359/11 "2016-07-20T13:33:51Z")
I’d like to hear the entire Spanish language used more … it’s almost musical to the ear. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-word-or-words-would-you-like-to-hear-in-more-common-usage/760359/12 "2016-07-20T13:37:22Z")
> [@seal\_cleaner](#): > > “Gender” instead of “sex,” which already means something else. Where have you been for the last several years? It’s incredibly common to use “gender.” A Google news search turns up 14.9 million results. Searching “sex” mainly turns up results related to the act in various ways–sex workers, sex education, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-word-or-words-would-you-like-to-hear-in-more-common-usage/760359/13 "2016-07-20T14:01:41Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Defenestrate–to throw something out a window. I would have expected **Eutychus** to have suggested that word… ---
**Author:** ![Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90ced4/32.png) [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waltzes_with_Cacti)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-word-or-words-would-you-like-to-hear-in-more-common-usage/760359/14 "2016-07-20T17:00:48Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I figured someone would pick some ordinary niceties… I don’t consider any of them to be particularly interesting words, altho they are far too scarce in everyday life. Actually, _nicety_ does not mean a polite, pleasant phrase. It means a fine or subtle detail or distinction. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-word-or-words-would-you-like-to-hear-in-more-common-usage/760359/15 "2016-07-20T17:40:52Z")
> [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](#): > > Actually, _nicety_ does not mean a polite, pleasant phrase. It means a fine or subtle detail or distinction. Actually, it means both. ---
**Author:** ![Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90ced4/32.png) [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waltzes_with_Cacti)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-word-or-words-would-you-like-to-hear-in-more-common-usage/760359/16 "2016-07-20T17:58:03Z")
> [@RadicalPi](#): > > Actually, it means both. Cite? ---
**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:** [July 20, 2016, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-word-or-words-would-you-like-to-hear-in-more-common-usage/760359/17 "2016-07-20T18:11:51Z")
> [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](#): > > Cite? Google “niceties of life” to find innumerable examples of the usage. The usage evolution of _nice_ is rather fascinating. > **[nice | Etymology of nice by etymonline](https://www.etymonline.com/word/nice)** > > "foolish, ignorant, frivolous, senseless," from Old French nice (12c.) "careless, clumsy;… See origin and meaning of nice. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-word-or-words-would-you-like-to-hear-in-more-common-usage/760359/18 "2016-07-20T21:33:00Z")
I’d like to hear “fewer” used correctly more often. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-word-or-words-would-you-like-to-hear-in-more-common-usage/760359/19 "2016-07-20T22:00:34Z")
> [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](#): > > Cite? The _Oxford English Dictionary_, definitions I (niceness, or an instance of this) and II (a nice thing, utterance, etc.) Sample quotation: 1931 The master, about fifty years old, a veteran Ichabod in pedagogy . . . began the day without any get-together niceties. ---
**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:** [July 20, 2016, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-word-or-words-would-you-like-to-hear-in-more-common-usage/760359/20 "2016-07-20T23:53:29Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I’d like to hear “fewer” used correctly more often. And commensurately fewer incorrect use of “less”? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-word-or-words-would-you-like-to-hear-in-more-common-usage/760359.md?page=2)