# What words do you often see in print but never hear in spoken communication? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 24, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455 "2015-04-24T17:32:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455/21 "2015-04-25T15:03:23Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Taciturn. > > Especially from the taciturn. Along these lines, I never hear “sanguine” or “phlegmatic.” “Gee, you seem quite sanguine today!” ---
**Author:** ![jezzaOZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@jezzaOZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jezzaOZ)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455/22 "2015-04-25T15:35:24Z")
In America only: Solder In parts of America only: Herbs ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455/23 "2015-04-25T15:39:34Z")
Undulate. Slither or wiggle work better in speech. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455/24 "2015-04-25T15:50:23Z")
“Publius” I’ve known it as the pseudonym under which The Federalist Papers were written. I did not hear it pronounced out loud until it was used in an episode of Scandal. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455/25 "2015-04-25T17:25:27Z")
> [@jezzaOZ](#): > > In America only: Solder > > In parts of America only: Herbs 😕 Is this just a joke about different pronunciations Americans have? ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455/26 "2015-04-25T17:37:40Z")
The phrase “tu quoque” I think I’ve never heard aloud, I would have no idea how to correctly pronounce it. ---
**Author:** ![Cara\_mel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@Cara\_mel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cara_mel)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455/27 "2015-04-25T21:30:43Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Victuals. > > It was only a couple of years ago I learned, in passing, that you’re not meant to pronounce the ‘c’ > > :smack: When we studied Dickens in high school our English teacher made sure we said “vittles”, and I have since felt like I’m the only person who knows that. I sometimes read about a US city called “Decatur.” It looks kind of French so I’m not sure how to say it, but I’ve never bothered to look it up. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455/28 "2015-04-25T21:42:38Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever heard the word _ubiquitous_ used in real life. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455/29 "2015-04-25T21:46:48Z")
> [@Cara\_mel](#): > > I sometimes read about a US city called “Decatur.” It looks kind of French so I’m not sure how to say it, but I’ve never bothered to look it up. Usually duh KAY ter. but teh first syllable is almost more of a d alone ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455/30 "2015-04-25T21:50:36Z")
> [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > Along these lines, I never hear “sanguine” or “phlegmatic.” “Gee, you seem quite sanguine today!” Mr. Spock was known to say “sanguine”. Come to think of it, Mr. Spock probably used a lot of English words that no English-speaking IRL earth human ever said aloud. ETA: “Sanguine” came up in a college English Composition class that I took. It was in some essay that we read, but there was a spoken discussion of the word in the class (because various students asked what it meant). The teacher challenged us to look it up in a dictionary for homework. Following day, one person reported that he found two definitions: One seemed off-the wall and unrelated to anything in the essay so he ignored it; the other definition seemed more relevant, but he had already forgotten it. The “irrelevant” meaning of “sanguine” is blood-thirsty ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455/31 "2015-04-26T04:15:58Z")
Newspaper words seldom seen or heard elsewhere: _solons, fracas._ ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455/32 "2015-04-26T04:33:20Z")
Multifaceted. Beneficial. And, as someone pointed out to me: Refreshing. “Oh my, this beverage is refreshing!” No one talks like that. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455/33 "2015-04-26T05:12:09Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > I don’t think I’ve ever heard the word _ubiquitous_ used in real life. Huh. It’s use is quite _ubiquitous_ in my day-to-day speech. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455/34 "2015-04-26T05:46:22Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Huh. It’s use is quite _ubiquitous_ in my day-to-day speech. There’s always one. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cara\_mel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@Cara\_mel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cara_mel)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455/35 "2015-04-26T06:19:57Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > Usually duh KAY ter. but teh first syllable is almost more of a d alone Really? Well I was off by a long shot - in my head it came out as “de kat UR.” Now I won’t be embarrassed if I ever go there. ---
**Author:** ![Cara\_mel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@Cara\_mel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cara_mel)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455/36 "2015-04-26T06:25:41Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Huh. It’s use is quite _ubiquitous_ in my day-to-day speech. Tsk tsk, if you’re going to take on us Aussies, at least use the correct form of “its” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455/37 "2015-04-26T08:28:12Z")
> [@Cara\_mel](#): > > Tsk tsk, if you’re going to take on us Aussies, at least use the correct form of “its” 😛 {_looks at username_}~tsk tsk indeed!! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455/38 "2015-04-26T08:59:45Z")
I’ll admit to occasionally using **sanguine** in conversations with its usual meaning of “hopeful”. However, **sanguinary** means “bloody”, which is confusing if you don’t understand the origin of the words. A coworker once used **chimerical** in conversation. It kind of flummoxed me, since I’d never heard anyone speak it before. Also, I’d gotten the wrong idea of its pronunciation based on its spelling. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455/39 "2015-04-26T20:46:28Z")
> [@Teach-me-not](#): > > **Bosom**. OK, I am cheating. It’s not that I’ve _never_ heard of this word, but it’s been so rare that I will count it here. In fact, for a while, I assumed the pronunciation to be _bO-sum_ (the _bo_ part is sorta like in _boson_). About 50 years ago, I was babysitting for my cousins. The boy, then about 7, had just learned the word “bosom.” For the entire time I was there, every other word out of his mouth was “bosom.” To this day, I associate that word with him. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455/40 "2015-04-27T00:42:49Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > About 50 years ago, I was babysitting for my cousins. The boy, then about 7, had just learned the word “bosom.” For the entire time I was there, every other word out of his mouth was “bosom.” To this day, I associate that word with him. > [@Londonderry Air"](#): > > … Would God I were the tender apple blossom | That floats and falls from off the twisted bough | To lie and faint within your silken bosom | Within your silken bosom as that does now… Lodonderry Air is the melody now used for Danny Boy. The lyrics quoted are from massive international hit song early in the 20th century that made the melody well known: my grandparents had the sheet music. Since, as a child, I found that sheet music before I heard “Danny Boy”, I’ve had Bosoms stuck in my mind ever since. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-often-see-in-print-but-never-hear-in-spoken-communication/718455.md?page=3)