# Words that only seem to be used in comination with another word(s) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 9, 2000, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326 "2000-10-09T23:33:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BrothaTJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@BrothaTJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrothaTJ)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326/41 "2000-10-11T23:22:41Z")
OK Trade, I’ll let that one slip. 🙂 Is riff raff two words or is it hyphenated? I know riff can stand alone but how about raff? ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326/42 "2000-10-13T23:09:26Z")
Teach, The Dictionary agrees with you that ‘You can mete out awards or mete out honors’ but I think mete is now associated with bad things. OK, what can I do with a PETARD, other than hoist it? ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Vampire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Space\_Vampire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Vampire)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2000, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326/43 "2000-10-14T08:13:57Z")
You don’t hoist it, it hoists you. You’d be more likely to bury it. ---
**Author:** ![Malarky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Malarky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malarky)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2000, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326/44 "2000-10-14T16:12:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Moe \* > \*\*scrimp. > > Does anybody use the word _scrimp_ without following it with _and save_? > > How about _nooks and cranies_. Are those real words? > > \*\* I’ve always used the word scrimp as a slang term for sex. Such as, _Woah, you scrimped a **girl**???_ ---
**Author:** ![scratch1300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@scratch1300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch1300)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2000, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326/45 "2000-10-14T16:52:48Z")
**Gall** seems to be the only thing around that can be **unmitigated**. The word **fro** I’ve never encountered except in the phrase **to and fro**. \*\* Deucedly\*\* modifies **clever** only, I guess. **Pitch** , as an adjective, finds **black** as its only mate. And the poor yeti! He’s the only creature that seems to have garnered the title **abominable**! (I’d like to meet someone with an “Abominable cat”!) Also, in the political field, Manuel Noriega was the only **strongman** around, according to the media. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2000, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326/46 "2000-10-14T21:33:37Z")
“He has an **abominable** odour about his person” (or did you mean that the only abominable animal is the Snowman of that nature?) “The party was an **unmitigated** disaster” ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2000, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326/47 "2000-10-14T21:50:46Z")
Of course ‘pitch black’ is the only use of pitch in that context - it’s like ‘sky blue’ or ‘blood red’. It means ‘Black like pitch’, pitch being ‘[A thick, black, lustrous, and sticky substance obtained by boiling down tar.](http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=pitch)’ ---
**Author:** ![ThisYearsGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@ThisYearsGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisYearsGirl)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326/48 "2000-10-15T01:27:09Z")
Can you whet anything besides an appetite? ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326/49 "2000-10-15T03:39:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lord Davidson \* > > _ **Irregardless** _, 99.9% of the time it’s used with the word “love”. > > That’s sure to piss SOMEONE off! > \*\* What, because Irregardless isn’t really a word? I mean, sure, it’s in the dictionary, but only because people used it so much they had to add it. Was this what you were looking for? 😉 Happy to oblige. Jman ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326/50 "2000-10-15T03:45:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ThisYearsGirl \* > \*\*Can you whet anything besides an appetite? \*\* [A knife.](http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=whet) (I feel like such a killjoy, but I can’t let these things stand…) ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326/51 "2000-10-15T04:07:20Z")
Does **frick** ever travel without **frak**? ---
**Author:** ![KJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b2d939/32.png) [@KJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KJ)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326/52 "2000-10-16T00:58:06Z")
What else can you do to havoc without wreaking it? Also, I always hear the phrase “Not too shabby,” but I have never heard, for example, “Damn, that’s the shabbiest thing I’ve ever seen.” Maybe it’s just me. And I believe fro is “fro’” as in a shortening of the word “from”; so you could say “I came fro’ England.” Yeah, it’s a long shot, but that’s the best explanation I can come up with. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326/53 "2000-10-16T01:21:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KJ \* > **What else can you do to havoc without wreaking it?** Cry it. To quote the bard: ‘Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!’ (Julius Caesar, Act III, scene 1.) ---
**Author:** ![Teach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/47e85d/32.png) [@Teach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teach)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326/54 "2000-10-16T14:15:05Z")
Or play it: [Macro Virus **Plays Havoc** Across Industry](http://www.zdnet.com/sp/stories/infopack/0,5483,2233103,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![tshirts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@tshirts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tshirts)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326/55 "2000-10-17T20:34:42Z")
\*\*flotsam and jetsam[/] - trash floating in the water and stuff tossed overboard. Seems redundant. Also, very often thgether: cease and desist ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326/56 "2001-08-03T02:51:08Z")
I’ve finally got it!!! **aleck** are there any alecks out there who ain’t smart? Whooohoo!! what do I win? (wait a sec, it’s my th…) Did I forget to mention that the winner gets a date with a doper of his/her choice? oh, and that this was a contest? {Of course, **stuyguy** actually won it a long time ago. But I came up with 2 - can **smarty** describe anything else but pants?) ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326/57 "2001-08-03T03:39:03Z")
Boston (and national) sportswriters can’t say “Tim Wakefield” without adding “knuckleballer” before it. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326/58 "2001-08-03T04:02:57Z")
I think this one almost counts. Abject. Unless followed by terror or poverty, are there any other valid uses? And as for sillier entries… Can “yore” be used without being preceeded by " In Days of"? Can “tisket” or “tasket” be used seperately? (are they even real words?) Can “yon” be used without being preceeded by “hither and” ? Can “Aback” be used without “Taken”? ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326/59 "2001-08-03T13:57:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by panache45 \* > **And what is “spick” without “span”?** A derogatory term for someone of Hispanic lineage, but misspelled. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326/60 "2001-08-03T14:23:14Z")
Employees are always disgruntled . . . but spouses are always estranged. And for the person who mentioned “zany” and “madcap”, you forgot **wicky-wacky!!** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-only-seem-to-be-used-in-comination-with-another-word-s/36326.md?page=4)