# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/41 "2011-05-09T18:39:50Z")
Ameliorate and assuage are my faves but I must admit I get to use them a fair amount. Also Krankenschwester (which is german for nurse) which I never get to use now that I no longer live in Germany. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/42 "2011-05-09T19:30:22Z")
Tomfoolery ---
**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, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/43 "2011-05-09T20:08:08Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > “Penultimate” > > I try to use it whenever I can, but how often does second-to-last need to be labeled? Now this is a word that I somehow always manage to use incorrectly (and I suspect I am not alone in that). I don’t know why, but I can never remember that penultimate doesn’t mean “the best” “prime example of” or “ultimate”. Stupid brain. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/44 "2011-05-09T20:08:33Z")
Yet another vote for defenestrate. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/45 "2011-05-09T20:23:38Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Defenestrate. Most of my windows don’t open, see. So you don’t get to use it much because your windows don’t open, or it would be \*especially \*fun to use because your windows don’t open? I like egregious too, but of the words that contain my name, I prefer gregarious. My favorite underused word is mondegreen. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/46 "2011-05-09T20:32:09Z")
Anathema. I love that word. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/47 "2011-05-09T20:41:34Z")
Terpsichorean. Also, imprimatur. I’d say “copacetic,” but I do get to use that one fairly often. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/48 "2011-05-09T20:42:40Z")
antithesis Just like it. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/49 "2011-05-09T20:45:37Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Defenestrate. Most of my windows don’t open, see. If you open the window before tossing someone through it, you’re doing it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/50 "2011-05-09T20:58:50Z")
Banana hammock. It can either mean men’s tighty whities or men’s Speedos. Okay, it’s two words, but fun as hell to say. 😃 ---
**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, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/51 "2011-05-09T21:17:44Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > Banana hammock…or men’s Speedos I thought those were called “meathooks”? :dubious:😃 ---
**Author:** ![FrancisCastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b4bc9f/32.png) [@FrancisCastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrancisCastle)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/52 "2011-05-09T21:26:57Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > Banana hammock. Yes! Just because you can’t help but get a mental picture. I love to use the word blasphemous. Although I probably don’t use it in exactly the correct way. ---
**Author:** ![FE3O4ENAIL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba9def/32.png) [@FE3O4ENAIL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FE3O4ENAIL)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/53 "2011-05-09T22:28:49Z")
Perpendicularity. I use square , or true, or at a right angle most of the time, but sometimes in a sing-song voice I say “perpendicularity”, just to sound like a smartass. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/54 "2011-05-10T00:15:14Z")
I forgot “specious.” I rarely get to use that one and it’s one of my faves. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/55 "2011-05-10T00:38:57Z")
[Estacionamiento](http://translation.babylon.com/spanish/to-english/estacionamiento/) ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/56 "2011-05-10T01:12:59Z")
I really don’t know why we can’t have a thread about unusual words without people castigating others as simpletons for not knowing words, or as snobs for knowing and using unusual words. There’s really no good reason for snark in a thread like this. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/57 "2011-05-10T01:15:04Z")
Callipygian, alas and alack. ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/58 "2011-05-10T01:16:04Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > Vicissitudes (changes in daily life). I learned this word on an episode of _ALF_ where he decides to join a monastery. Vicissitudes of life is a concept in tort law. Picayune, is my favorite word. I could use it a lot, but almost nobody understands it. ---
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/59 "2011-05-10T02:02:21Z")
My favorite word I rarely get to use is a simple one. ‘ta-da’ Unless you are a magician you never get to use it. I one day want to present my design ideas to a client with a flourish and say ‘ta-da!’ That would be awesome I think. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270/60 "2011-05-10T02:25:55Z")
Piss-elegant: a delightfully snarky, pretentious word to mean “pretentious.”🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-word-you-rarely-get-to-use/581270.md?page=4)