# Words like 'marathon' **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 26, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-like-marathon/590396 "2011-07-26T15:38:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-like-marathon/590396/1 "2011-07-26T15:38:10Z")
Marathon has a very specific meaning. It is a footrace of 26.2 miles (named after a city in Greece). However, it is used these days to basically describe anything that’s lengthy (in terms of time). A similar word is ‘litmus test’, which is used to describe any test that yields one of two results. I’m looking for similar words, i.e. words that have very specific meanings, but are used to much wider degree. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-like-marathon/590396/2 "2011-07-26T15:41:54Z")
Decimate: to kill one out of every ten people Used to signify mass destruction. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-like-marathon/590396/3 "2011-07-26T15:43:54Z")
Witch hunts rarely involve a pursuit of real witches these days. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-like-marathon/590396/4 "2011-07-26T15:45:19Z")
nm **Enderw24** beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-like-marathon/590396/5 "2011-07-26T15:53:03Z")
Scapegoat: technically the biblical reference in Leviticus (KJV) regarding the goat on whom the sins of the people were placed, but more generally refers to any party unfairly blamed. Guinea pig: a small animal, or generally used for a test subject. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-like-marathon/590396/6 "2011-07-26T15:55:01Z")
Quantum jump: A transition from one state to another without passing through any intermediate state. But it’s usually used not only more widely, but incorrectly, for any very rapid change. Genuine quantum jumps can in fact be arbitrarily slow. ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-like-marathon/590396/7 "2011-07-26T16:04:47Z")
Literally… used to mean without exaggeration… now it seems to be used to denote some sort of emphasis… “I literally walked five miles to school barefoot” has turned to “I literally died driving five miles to school in last year’s DC’s” ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-like-marathon/590396/8 "2011-07-26T16:23:50Z")
Impact means for one body to strike another, but is now (vastly over) used instead of effect or affect. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-like-marathon/590396/9 "2011-07-26T16:35:32Z")
> [@FuriousGeorge](#): > > Literally.. used to mean without exaggeration… now it seems to be used to denote some sort of emphasis… > > “I literally walked five miles to school barefoot” has turned to “I literally died driving five miles to school in last year’s DC’s” I don’t think that this one counts. I’m not asking about words that are often used incorrectly. ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-like-marathon/590396/10 "2011-07-26T16:39:03Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I don’t think that this one counts. I’m not asking about words that are often used incorrectly. Fair enough.. my mistake. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-like-marathon/590396/11 "2011-07-26T16:42:38Z")
Laundry list, as in a “laundry list of charges” against a suspect. Not even sure what an original laundry list was – did you list what you were sending to the laundry (6 shirts, 2 dresses)? ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-like-marathon/590396/12 "2011-07-26T17:16:16Z")
“Think outside the box.” Once those original people escaped, they had no idea how popular their phrase would become. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-like-marathon/590396/13 "2011-07-26T17:21:52Z")
A bunch of brand names, like Band-Aid, Aspirin, Scotch Tape, Kleenex, Q-Tips . . . ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-like-marathon/590396/14 "2011-07-26T17:46:27Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Not even sure what an original laundry list was – did you list what you were sending to the laundry (6 shirts, 2 dresses)? Yes, because in the era when clothing and linens were expensive, the laundry list helped prevent the servants from stealing stuff\*. Also, if you had guests, you wanted to make sure clothing got back to its rightful owners. \*Which they would sell or pawn. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-like-marathon/590396/15 "2011-07-26T20:17:58Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I don’t think that this one counts. I’m not asking about words that are often used incorrectly. While I agree that the figurative use of “literally” is a heinous error, the dark machinations of the cult of Descriptivism hold that this is a [perfectly cromulent usage](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literally), and it’s not their problem if creates an intolerable ambiguity in everyday speech. (The editorial boards at American Heritage and M-W should literally die in a fire for their crimes.) Onward: A _cliché_ is a block of commonly-used typesetting text used instead of individual letters. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-like-marathon/590396/16 "2011-07-27T00:42:44Z")
> [@](#): > > …and it’s not their problem if creates an intolerable ambiguity in everyday speech. I find the misuse of “literally” to be particularly heinous, because it makes it impossible to express certain ideas. Most other figurative uses, I don’t mind, because if it’s unclear, then you can just ask whether it’s meant literally or not. But once “literally” itself becomes used figuratively, this is no longer possible. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-like-marathon/590396/17 "2011-07-27T00:49:12Z")
If it’s a gaping hole in the english lexicon then another word will be created or shanghaied to fill the void. I’ve never found it to be that difficult to determine if someone is using literally in the traditional sense or as a general intensifier, but that’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-like-marathon/590396/18 "2011-07-27T00:54:52Z")
“Ton”. As in “that thing weighs a ton!” ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-like-marathon/590396/19 "2011-07-27T00:55:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Quantum jump: A transition from one state to another without passing through any intermediate state. But it’s usually used not only more widely, but incorrectly, for any very rapid change. Genuine quantum jumps can in fact be arbitrarily slow. Also often used to signify a change of great magnitude. ---
**Author:** ![stephen59](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@stephen59](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stephen59)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-like-marathon/590396/20 "2011-07-27T01:00:22Z")
Shibboleth - originally referring to a regional dialect’s rendering of a word incorrectly (see Judges chapter 12), now refers to any signalling to prove insider status. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-like-marathon/590396.md?page=2)