# Words you've learned from song lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 31, 2007, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-learned-from-song-lyrics/417665 "2007-08-31T20:23:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LilShieste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@LilShieste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilShieste)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-learned-from-song-lyrics/417665/1 "2007-08-31T20:23:52Z")
While listening to my iTunes today, I realized that a few words in my vocabulary were learned solely from song lyrics. So then I wondered: how often has this happened to everyone else? The words don’t necessarily have to be obscure (the first in my list is pretty common) - they just have to be words that you first heard in a song lyric. Please share the word, and the specific song lyric in which you first heard it. This is what I’ve got, off the top of my head: [ol] [li] **Impetus**. “I think you can reach a place where the _impetus_ is pure” - Level on the Inside, by Dovetail Joint[/li][li] **Obsequious**. “He had the same _obsequious_ manner, that was the reason I had him killed.” - Turn Around, by They Might Be Giants.[/li][li] **Limerent**. “And the second was worse by far than the first, 'cause it made me _limerent_.” - Contrecoup, by They Might Be Giants[/li][/ol] LilShieste ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-learned-from-song-lyrics/417665/2 "2007-08-31T20:28:05Z")
Pompatus. “'Cause I speak of the pompatus of love.” Steve Miller, “The Joker” ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-learned-from-song-lyrics/417665/3 "2007-08-31T20:31:03Z")
**Calitas** , from Hotel California. > [@](#): > > Warm smell of calitas rising up through the air… ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-learned-from-song-lyrics/417665/4 "2007-08-31T20:50:16Z")
Is it not colitas? “circadian” - from _Daysleeper_ by R.E.M. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-learned-from-song-lyrics/417665/5 "2007-08-31T20:52:38Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] Is it not colitas? [/QUOTE] [Cecil seems to think so.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_001.html) ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-learned-from-song-lyrics/417665/6 "2007-08-31T21:11:11Z")
‘eviscerate’ from \*You are the Everything \* by R.E.M. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-learned-from-song-lyrics/417665/7 "2007-08-31T21:23:42Z")
_ **Sodomy, fellatio, cunnilingus, pederasty** Father, why do these words sound so nasty? **Masturbation** can be fun, Join the holy **orgy Kama Sutra** Everyone._ _I would just like to say that it is my **conviction** That longer hair and other **flamboyant affectations** Of appearance are nothing more Than the male’s emergence from his drab camouflage Into the gaudy plumage which is the **birthright** of his sex There is a peculiar notion that elegant plumage And fine feathers are not proper for the male When actually that is the way things are in most species_ \* Welcome **sulphur dioxide** , Hello **carbon monoxide** The air, the air is everywhere Breathe deep, while you sleep, breathe deep Bless you alcohol bloodstream, Save me nicotine lung steam **Incense** , incense is in the air Breathe deep, while you sleep, breathe deep **Cataclysmic ectoplasm** Fall out atomic **orgasm** Vapor and fume at the stone of my tomb Breathe like a **sullen** perfume Eating at the stone of my tomb Welcome sulphur dioxide, Hello carbon monoxide The air, the air is everywhere Breathe deep, while you sleep, breathe deep \* And that’s not even counting the drug names and Roman Polanski. It was quite an education for a 6 year-old. Thanks, Ragni and Rado. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-learned-from-song-lyrics/417665/8 "2007-08-31T21:27:26Z")
[QUOTE=whole bean] ‘eviscerate’ from \*You are the Everything \* by R.E.M. [/QUOTE] That’s the exact one I thought of. Also, from the same album, “raze”, from “World Leader Pretend”. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-learned-from-song-lyrics/417665/9 "2007-08-31T21:55:04Z")
[Iridescent](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/iridescent)- from George Harrison’s [Cloud Nine](http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palms/1164/cloud_nine.html) [Palaver](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/palaver) from Les Miserables (Thenardier’s attack on Rue Plumet- “what a palaver/what an absolute treat/to watch a cat and its father/pick a bone in the street”) Many more, but none are coming to mind… ---
**Author:** ![Asgardking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Asgardking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asgardking)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-learned-from-song-lyrics/417665/10 "2007-09-01T00:21:44Z")
**anacrusis** from Shriekback’s _Faded Flowers_ “Only the anacrusis, the main even remains” only time I"ve ever consulted a dictionary while listening to music ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-learned-from-song-lyrics/417665/11 "2007-09-01T00:27:23Z")
“Umbrellaellaellaeheheh” Rihanna has a lot to answer for. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-learned-from-song-lyrics/417665/12 "2007-09-01T01:07:13Z")
Copasetic - Local H “Bound For The Floor” Peccadillos - Bush "Testosterone " There are more, but I can’t think of them now. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-learned-from-song-lyrics/417665/13 "2007-09-01T04:19:46Z")
Some words I learned from The Beatles: “Pataphysical” - from _Maxwell’s Silver Hammer_ “Hogshead” - _Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite_ “semolina” and “pilchard” - _I Am The Walrus_ (“crabalocker” does not seem to be a real word) “sideboards” - _Come Together_ “polythene” - _Polythene Pam_ “desultory” and “philippic” - Paul Simon, from _A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara’d Into Submission)_ “chenille” - Frank Zappa , _Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow_ “bromhidrosis” - FZ, _Stink Foot_ There must be many more than these, but I’m sure these were the first places I heard these words when I was a kid. (P.S.: looking for the definition of “colitas” is how I wound up here.) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-learned-from-song-lyrics/417665/14 "2007-09-01T04:45:33Z")
Greg Graffin, I’m looking at you. The above mentioned obsequious. _1000 More Fools_ Trammel: “Is your fecundity a trammel or a treasure?” - _I Want to Conquer the World_ If hadn’t happened to already know what fecund was when I first heard this song, we could add that too. ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-learned-from-song-lyrics/417665/15 "2007-09-01T10:55:47Z")
_wemoweh_ The _Lion Sleeps Tonight_ by The Rascals ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-learned-from-song-lyrics/417665/16 "2007-09-01T11:48:05Z")
[QUOTE=Shoshana] _ **Sodomy, fellatio, cunnilingus, pederasty** Father, why do these words sound so nasty? **Masturbation** can be fun, Join the holy **orgy Kama Sutra** Everyone._ an education for a 6 year-old. Thanks, Ragni and Rado. [/QUOTE] Damn. I came here just to mention that. And I was all of 9 before I got to it. And called for a serious trip to the dictionary. A very :eek: experience. And took me another 9 years before I managed all of them\*. But I did it all in one night! \*If you count an 18 year old virgin having sex with an experianced 16 year old as pederasty…but I’m stil checking it of on my list. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-learned-from-song-lyrics/417665/17 "2007-09-01T11:58:55Z")
“gavotte” - **Carly Simon’s** _You’re So Vain_ ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-learned-from-song-lyrics/417665/18 "2007-09-01T18:15:41Z")
**Ennui** – from Townshend’s _“Exquisitely Bored”_ ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-learned-from-song-lyrics/417665/19 "2007-09-01T23:39:55Z")
_You’d see 'em wearing their baggies **Huarache** sandals too_ –Beach Boys, Surfin’ USA Growing up in Virginia, I never heard the word “Huarache.” If I’d lived in California, I’m sure I would have. To me it was always “raunchy sandals.” BTW, I only learned this in the last 10 years. Internet. Lyrics. etc. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2007, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-learned-from-song-lyrics/417665/20 "2007-09-02T03:17:05Z")
I’ve very, very seldom heard the word “plebeian” outside of the song “Cry Me a River” - Julie London version. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-learned-from-song-lyrics/417665.md?page=2)