# What's Your Favorite Word You Rarely Get To Use? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 9, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270 "2011-05-09T14:25:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/21 "2011-05-09T16:05:43Z")
Treppenwitz - blinding flashes of intellect…just a little too late. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/22 "2011-05-09T16:28:59Z")
verisimilitude ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/23 "2011-05-09T16:31:29Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Interesting! And such a funny-sounding word, too. It sounds like the name of a grape soda to me. I got it from a book of extinct words. I love it because it describes something there is no modern word for, and it rhymes with purple. It’s a word that certainly deserves to be used. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/24 "2011-05-09T16:37:09Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Argh, Pirate-speak ahoy! Yar. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/25 "2011-05-09T16:39:03Z")
Vicissitudes (changes in daily life). I learned this word on an episode of _ALF_ where he decides to join a monastery. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/26 "2011-05-09T17:00:11Z")
Defenestrate. Most of my windows don’t open, see. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/27 "2011-05-09T17:02:54Z")
Just one? Slugabed. (or maybe weltanschauung.) ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/28 "2011-05-09T17:04:43Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > Vicissitudes (changes in daily life). I learned this word on an episode of _ALF_ where he decides to join a monastery. You learned that word from _Alf_? Really? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cryptic\_C62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cryptic\_C62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cryptic_C62)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/29 "2011-05-09T17:12:34Z")
I’m a stickler for grammar and punctuation, but I absolutely love making up words. Of my vast pseudocabulary, these are the ones that don’t get used very often: “Oxtabajillion” is my favorite imaginary number. It lies somewhere between a bajillion and a googol. “Wazbob” is one of several generic names for function arguments that one of my comp sci professors came up with. “Well, what does this function take? It takes a number, a string, and a wazbob.” “Snargit” and “Hargit” both serve as generic exclamations, but they do have technical definitions as well: In a collection of similar objects, the snargits are the objects that are plentiful but smaller in size, whereas the hargits are the objects that are less common but much larger in size. For example, if you’ve got a dozen chicken eggs and one ostrich egg, you might say “Could you bring me the eggs? Just the snargits, not the hargit.” ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/30 "2011-05-09T17:13:44Z")
Conflate is the first word that comes to mind - one of my favorite words. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/31 "2011-05-09T17:19:27Z")
> [@Cryptic\_C62](#): > > “Oxtabajillion” is my favorite imaginary number. It lies somewhere between a bajillion and a googol." My imaginary large number of choice is “A Brazilian.” Obviously, it works better in verbal than in written communications. Favorite real word I don’t get to use often? “Bloviate.” Usually only used during election cycles… ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/32 "2011-05-09T17:41:07Z")
“Penultimate” I try to use it whenever I can, but how often does second-to-last need to be labeled? ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/33 "2011-05-09T17:49:46Z")
Crudité Only simpletons use the common word “crudite” ---
**Author:** ![Cryptic\_C62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cryptic\_C62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cryptic_C62)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/34 "2011-05-09T17:59:56Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > My imaginary large number of choice is “A Brazilian.” Hey, I use “brazillion” too! I thought I was the only person who was clever enough to have come up with that 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/35 "2011-05-09T18:06:03Z")
Pejorative: love it. Like Zophia, I love defenestrate. When I was a kid, I learned that the German word for window is fenster. Then when I ran into defenestrate, it cracked me up. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/36 "2011-05-09T18:10:56Z")
Yep, defenestration and sartorial. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/37 "2011-05-09T18:19:11Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > “Penultimate” > > I try to use it whenever I can, but how often does second-to-last need to be labeled? I think you’d be surprised. At least once a month I find use for that word although, depending on my audience, I may use “next-to-last.” I also find use for the word _antepenultimate_ (next-to-next-to-last.) “Conflate” I use about once a week. It’s a very useful word. I’ve always called “defenstrate” the Millard Fillmore of vocabulary, popular through its obscurity. Anybody with a reasonable interest in the English language knows that word. However, it is true that one rarely finds an opportunity to use it, unless you’re talking about Czech history. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/38 "2011-05-09T18:27:09Z")
bacchanalia ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/39 "2011-05-09T18:33:22Z")
> [@Cryptic\_C62](#): > > I’m a stickler for grammar and punctuation, but I absolutely love making up words. Of my vast pseudocabulary, these are the ones that don’t get used very often: > > “Oxtabajillion” is my favorite imaginary number. It lies somewhere between a bajillion and a googol. > > “Wazbob” is one of several generic names for function arguments that one of my comp sci professors came up with. “Well, what does this function take? It takes a number, a string, and a wazbob.” > > “Snargit” and “Hargit” both serve as generic exclamations, but they do have technical definitions as well: In a collection of similar objects, the snargits are the objects that are plentiful but smaller in size, whereas the hargits are the objects that are less common but much larger in size. For example, if you’ve got a dozen chicken eggs and one ostrich egg, you might say “Could you bring me the eggs? Just the snargits, not the hargit.” These are great! I also am a big fan of the Scientology use of the fake word “enterbulate”. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/40 "2011-05-09T18:34:15Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > Crudite Years later, people would remember early May 2011, and the “crudité” wars started by **monstro**. Still splitting the board into two hateful factions decades later. One I really like is melliflu (mellifluous in English). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270.md?page=3)