# Words I just don't work into enough conversations **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 22, 2007, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-just-dont-work-into-enough-conversations/409011 "2007-06-22T16:00:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-just-dont-work-into-enough-conversations/409011/1 "2007-06-22T16:00:05Z")
Hijinks. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-just-dont-work-into-enough-conversations/409011/2 "2007-06-22T16:06:33Z")
as was pointed out in a thread earlier, shan’t is not used nearly often enough. ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-just-dont-work-into-enough-conversations/409011/3 "2007-06-22T16:13:32Z")
I say hijinks frequently. What I don’t use enough: confuddled, postulate, sashay. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-just-dont-work-into-enough-conversations/409011/4 "2007-06-22T16:31:33Z")
“When I was at the helm of the [_Flying Cloud_](http://www.softadventure.net/flying1.jpg) as she sailed the Caribbean…” On our windjammer cruise, the captain generously permitted some wannabes to stand at the wheel for a few minutes. I got about a minute or so as Wannabe #3. It all ended when the Captain decided a yacht with no visible person topside was encroaching on our beam. “May I?” he said, politely, indicating the wheel, but I’m sure he had no intention of compromising with me. And so my command came to an end. For about 2 weeks after the cruise, my standard joke was to try any conversational gambit that allowed me to include “When I was at the helm of the _Flying Cloud_ as she sailed the Caribbean…” Discussions of the weather, traffic, work, etc. were all fodder for "“When I was at the helm of the _Flying Cloud_ as she sailed the Caribbean, this sort of thing didn’t happen, I can tell you that!” and the like. But it’s been years since I used it. I’ll have to bring it back up sometime to amuse my wife. 🙂 Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-just-dont-work-into-enough-conversations/409011/5 "2007-06-22T16:34:40Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] Hijinks. [/QUOTE] Your title says word **s** (plural) and you only included one word. overwrought reference to **opalcat** omitted for everyone’s sake. WIJDWICE: Overwrought, Clandestine, [Cachinnatory](http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-cac2.htm). ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-just-dont-work-into-enough-conversations/409011/6 "2007-06-22T16:53:25Z")
[QUOTE=SiXSwordS] Your title says word **s** (plural) and you only included one word. [/QUOTE] But it’s a plural … 😛 ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-just-dont-work-into-enough-conversations/409011/7 "2007-06-22T17:05:16Z")
wombat (very difficult to work into ordinary conversation) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-just-dont-work-into-enough-conversations/409011/8 "2007-06-22T17:16:27Z")
[QUOTE=KlondikeGeoff] wombat (very difficult to work into ordinary conversation) [/QUOTE] Depends on how often your wombat is involved in hijinks, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-just-dont-work-into-enough-conversations/409011/9 "2007-06-22T17:20:33Z")
Concatenate. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-just-dont-work-into-enough-conversations/409011/10 "2007-06-22T17:36:11Z")
Incompossible. Look up Ambrose Bierce’s definition of it, in his Devil’s Dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-just-dont-work-into-enough-conversations/409011/11 "2007-06-22T17:47:44Z")
[QUOTE=hawksgirl] sashay. [/QUOTE] I think the really problem is not not saying it. It’s just not sashaying enough. My elephant wants a wombat. To engage in hijinks with. Does that help? _sashayes into the kitchen_ ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-just-dont-work-into-enough-conversations/409011/12 "2007-06-22T17:56:14Z")
rapscallion ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-just-dont-work-into-enough-conversations/409011/13 "2007-06-22T17:57:29Z")
Defenestrate. (Alas, I had a chance to say this in conversation back in February, and I missed it.) ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-just-dont-work-into-enough-conversations/409011/14 "2007-06-22T18:03:18Z")
Sadly, my wombat’s hijinks, in propinquity to the window, lead to his defenestration. ---
**Author:** ![Electrical\_Storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac8455/32.png) [@Electrical\_Storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electrical_Storm)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-just-dont-work-into-enough-conversations/409011/15 "2007-06-22T18:05:34Z")
Kerfuffle. rigoddamndiculous. (Ahem - yes, I admit I watched the “Austin Powers” trilogy.) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-just-dont-work-into-enough-conversations/409011/16 "2007-06-22T18:06:11Z")
Ah, but is he a _recalcitrant_ wombat? (I was just given the opportunity to call my sidekick “recalcitrant,” and I grabbed it with gusto.) ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-just-dont-work-into-enough-conversations/409011/17 "2007-06-22T18:06:48Z")
Ghastly. The odd part is, the concept isn’t that far out there, but for some reason I don’t use the word enough, and it’s one of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-just-dont-work-into-enough-conversations/409011/18 "2007-06-22T18:07:56Z")
Malarkey. Scimitar. Skylarking. Just about any of the pre-WWII British slang which I am currently absorbing from the Jeeves & Wooster series of books I’m reading. “I thought I’d ankle on down to the club . . .” ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-just-dont-work-into-enough-conversations/409011/19 "2007-06-22T18:11:32Z")
Whence. I’m waiting for the perfect question I can phrase to being with “whence”. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-just-dont-work-into-enough-conversations/409011/20 "2007-06-22T18:15:05Z")
Shenanigans, inconceivable, ergo, and Zimbabwe. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-just-dont-work-into-enough-conversations/409011.md?page=2)