# Words you never really knew the meaning of --till now. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 29, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-never-really-knew-the-meaning-of-till-now/747459 "2016-02-29T00:07:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-never-really-knew-the-meaning-of-till-now/747459/1 "2016-02-29T00:07:14Z")
Books by European authors or simply those set in Europe often mention “vestibule” and “portico” when describing a big house or a building. I never bothered to know what those meant. So now, a vestibule is simply a small room or division between the front door and the main interior. A portico is simply a porch. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-never-really-knew-the-meaning-of-till-now/747459/2 "2016-02-29T06:16:13Z")
I didn’t know those terms were specifically European. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-never-really-knew-the-meaning-of-till-now/747459/3 "2016-02-29T06:27:01Z")
I think I encounter it with American authors mainly with Ludlum and Uris. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-never-really-knew-the-meaning-of-till-now/747459/4 "2016-02-29T06:29:39Z")
Oh, and I take the word “panache” solely in context to imply a flashy, outlandish style, which is close to the Wiki definition (just now :D.) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-never-really-knew-the-meaning-of-till-now/747459/5 "2016-02-29T07:17:06Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Books by European authors or simply those set in Europe often mention “vestibule” and “portico” when describing a big house or a building. I never bothered to know what those meant. So now, a vestibule is simply a small room or division between the front door and the main interior. A portico is simply a porch. > > 😃 Vestibule is also more or less a synonym for ‘vulva’, which makes it useful in double-entendre such as “Won’t you come into my vestibule?” ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-never-really-knew-the-meaning-of-till-now/747459/6 "2016-02-29T12:17:57Z")
I thought “SIC” was only one interpretation but not… ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-never-really-knew-the-meaning-of-till-now/747459/7 "2016-02-29T13:12:15Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Vestibule is also more or less a synonym for ‘vulva’, which makes it useful in double-entendre such as “Won’t you come into my vestibule?” Additionally, the vaginal vault is a thing. ---
**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:** [February 29, 2016, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-never-really-knew-the-meaning-of-till-now/747459/8 "2016-02-29T13:17:21Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Additionally, the vaginal vault is a thing. Not exactly the safest place to keep your valuables 😃 ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-never-really-knew-the-meaning-of-till-now/747459/9 "2016-02-29T23:34:12Z")
… ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-never-really-knew-the-meaning-of-till-now/747459/10 "2016-02-29T23:56:04Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Not exactly the safest place to keep your valuables 😃 Used to keep the Family Jewels there on occasion. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-never-really-knew-the-meaning-of-till-now/747459/11 "2016-03-01T00:18:25Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Books by European authors or simply those set in Europe often mention “vestibule” and “portico” when describing a big house or a building. I never bothered to know what those meant. So now, a vestibule is simply a small room or division between the front door and the main interior. A portico is simply a porch. > > 😃 And a garden is a yard. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-never-really-knew-the-meaning-of-till-now/747459/12 "2016-03-01T01:10:36Z")
Vestibule is familiar to those of us who are Catholic. What I feel stupid about is a couple of days ago a commercial for the new movie \*\*Whiskey Tango Foxtrot \*\*came on TV and I realized it meant “WTF?” :smack: