# Words (and phrases) you wish were in more common use **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 9, 2023, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265 "2023-06-09T20:58:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265/21 "2023-06-10T04:08:46Z")
Hornswaggled Miasma Kerfuffle ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265/22 "2023-06-10T04:15:44Z")
Ah’m the posse-wrangler what corrals our weekly poker roundup. So ah gits tuh use all sorts uh Cowboy Lingo in muh E-lectronical Schedulatin’ Missives. [e-mails] Fav-o-rites? Referrin’ to fellow cowpokes as **rapscallions**. Or **varmints** **Guttersnipes** **Mugwumps** **Dunderheaded dough-heads** But not **lickspittles** … too many contradictory meanings. So now I catch myself using olden words that really should make a comeback: **Bamboozle** **Atwixt** Or **Atwixt and Between** (though that’s redundant) **Hornswoggle** **Balderdash**! **High-Falutin** ’ **Flummux** The whole **Kit and Caboodle** Beggin’ fer a **Whuppin** ’ **Fiddle Faddle** **Picayune** **Harum-Scarum** **Fandango** **Persnickity** Calling a cheap cuppa coffee a **Belly Wash**. “Didjoo **drabble** that coat in the dirt?” Ah swears, thet Donnie’s a **Flannel Mouth** Liar.” “ **The dickens** you say!” And it’s always a **botheration** when there’s a **boodle** of **barflies** at the **waterin’ hole**. The other day, I referred to someone bein’ **lower than a snake’s belly in a wagon rut** (reckons how ah got thet _bun moe_ from Jed Clampett). . > [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Or getting your panties in a wad. Or your undies in a bundle. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265/23 "2023-06-10T04:17:33Z")
We now use boffins quite a bit at work. As in, “The boffins at treasury think that property prices will continue to rise.” Originally I used it in a presentation, intending it to be a term of derision, but it has been adopted in our team as a term of respect and endearment. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265/24 "2023-06-10T04:38:31Z")
I listen to a lot of British audiobooks, and so I’ve heard and loved the term “boffins” for decades now. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265/25 "2023-06-10T10:31:17Z")
> [@digs](#): > > . > > > [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > > > Or getting your panties in a wad. > > Or your undies in a bundle. or your knickers in a twist. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265/26 "2023-06-10T12:36:48Z")
Defenestration. As a former school bus driver, I can assure you that mass defenestration is a common fantasy on that job. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265/27 "2023-06-10T13:10:31Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > > [@digs](#): > > > > > [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > > > > > Or getting your panties in a wad. > > > > Or your undies in a bundle. > > or your knickers in a twist. “Panties in a wad”, or “undies in an uproar.” ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265/28 "2023-06-10T13:11:22Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > > [@Riemann](#): > > > > Moist panties. > > In case anyone thinks I’m just being a perv… > > [Language Log » Literary moist aversion](https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=4389) Just? Not what one would expect from an erudite sort of bloke but moist panties for you! ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265/29 "2023-06-11T00:12:40Z")
When someone says something outrageous I like to respond with **pshaw!** ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265/30 "2023-06-11T00:48:26Z")
In a pig’s eye! ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265/31 "2023-06-11T01:40:27Z")
I regularly use bamboozled and tarnation. mmm ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265/32 "2023-06-11T06:10:55Z")
“To be honest…” should usually be replaced by “to be frank”. With the former phrase, I suggest that honesty is not my regular mode (as it may not be, but I probably don’t want to announce this) whereas “frank” indicates that I wouldn’t normally say this, but this time I simply must because it’s so important, or you’re so important. Essentially, honesty is in preference to dishonesty, whereas frankness is in preference to silence. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265/33 "2023-06-11T14:07:28Z")
I’d argue that ideally, frankness is in opposition to diplomacy / circumlocution / euphemism / courtesy. The charitable interpretation of “frank” is truthful, but unbuffered. And lacking in malice or aggression. The less charitable use of “frank” is often a passive-aggressive sheep’s clothing for that which is exactly malicious or aggressive, and much more often an opinion than a fact. IMO “frank” is a _very_ loaded term I’d be disinclined to use. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265/34 "2023-06-11T14:19:30Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > “Brigand” and “cad” should still be in popular use as well My dearly departed grandmother used to refer to a bad person as a “louse”. > [@digs](#): > > The other day, I referred to someone bein’ **lower than a snake’s belly in a wagon rut** (reckons how ah got thet _bun moe_ from Jed Clampett). I used to have a boss who referred to lunch as “vittles”. I asked where he - a Jewish city boy - had learned the phrase. “Granny from Beverly Hillbillies”, he told me. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265/35 "2023-06-11T14:34:01Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > My dearly departed grandmother used to refer to a bad person as a “louse”. My Dad was fond of “fink”. That’s a word we should use more. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265/36 "2023-06-11T14:42:08Z")
A friend (and former coworker) and I were talking recently in the presence of my teenage daughter and her teenage grandsons. We referred to a former boss of ours (a sexual harasser and philanderer) as a “rake” and a “cad”. The teens were dying laughing. Apparently these are practically Victorian terms to them. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265/37 "2023-06-11T14:52:43Z")
They’re ~~practically~~ actually Victorian terms to me. I’d be laughing too. I’m 64. They’re fun (and funny) precisely because they _are_ so ridiculously anachronistic. Only people with monicles and spats should use words like this except as a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265/38 "2023-06-11T15:01:54Z")
We are bridge players. At 75 she’s often the kid in the group! In the last 35 years we’ve gone from the players talking about their children to grandchildren and now great grandchildren. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265/39 "2023-06-11T15:28:35Z")
Yup. Time keeps on slippin, slippin, slippin away. This whole thread can be summarized as “Steampunk English”. With more emphasis on the “steam” than the “punk”. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265/40 "2023-06-11T19:32:33Z")
I also like, ‘not in good nick!’, instead junky or crappy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-and-phrases-you-wish-were-in-more-common-use/985265.md?page=3)