# Words you've seen but rarely (or never) heard **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 5, 2018, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785 "2018-09-05T07:27:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785/21 "2018-09-05T15:55:05Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > OTOH, I do crosswords and there are an unbelievable number of words that are only used there. Indeed. In crosswords, crowds are always saying “rah.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say “rah” in real life. ---
**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:** [September 5, 2018, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785/22 "2018-09-05T16:42:41Z")
If you read about dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures, you will run into this a lot. Giant polysyllabic Latin and Greek derivatives that you’ll read over and over but never hear anyone say. Just try pronouncing _Coelurosauria_. See-lur-uh-sor-ee-ah. Also _Czatkowiella, Nyctiphruretus, Ruhuhucerberus, Muzquizopteryx, Madygenerpeton_. Adding to the difficulty, at least for English speakers, the flood of fossil discovery now coming from China has added new Chinese roots to a lot of species names: _Futalognkosaurus, Xiongguanlong, Zhongyuansaurus, Liaoxipterus_. Pity the amateur paleontologist. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785/23 "2018-09-05T17:33:56Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Also _…Muzquizopteryx_. Is that the one where, if you can get it to say its own name backwards, it gets sent back to its home dimension? ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785/24 "2018-09-05T18:03:10Z")
Tolkien used ‘dotard’ a lot in The Lord of the Rings, usually referring to King Theoden. I had never heard it in real life until last year when Kim Jong-un referred to Trump as a dotard. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785/25 "2018-09-05T18:28:58Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > I have no clue what ‘Pareidolia’ might be, or what you’re reading where you see it used frequently… [Here](https://www.google.com/search?q=Pareidolia+site%3Aboards.straightdope.com&oq=Pareidolia+site%3Aboards.straightdope.com&aqs=mobile-gws-lite..) is an obscure site where it might have been encounteted. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785/26 "2018-09-05T18:37:24Z")
Priapism. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785/27 "2018-09-05T18:44:55Z")
Half the words mentioned here. I read a lot, and then I try to say something and everyone looks at me funny. Plus, I have minor… I forget the word for it, but I switch letters and syllables around. (Like most words with _lv_ in them- calvary instead of cavalry, salivitate instead of salivate). And let’s not get started on silent consonants. My brother has the reads-too-much problem, too, but his gaffes get turned into family in-jokes. He once dismissed my father as an “old jeezer”, for example, and now Dad sarcastically refers to himself that way. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785/28 "2018-09-05T19:11:13Z")
Only within the last year did I realize that “viscount” = “vie-count.” I’ve read the word for decades AND heard it countless times in Brit/European movies and TV, but the dime took a very long time to drop. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785/29 "2018-09-05T19:16:24Z")
I have known about the concept of Deus Ex Machina for a long time, but only this year ever heard it spoken, but my inner voice will still probably say “deuce X machine-ah” for years to come. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785/30 "2018-09-05T19:47:37Z")
For years my family got a bang out of my mispronunciation of “similar” as sim-IL-yer. There was no way I was going to attempt “indignant” until I heard someone else say it first, but I had to wait a long time! ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785/31 "2018-09-05T20:16:47Z")
I recently subscribed to a subreddit called submechanophobia, a word I’ve probably never heard spoken before. [https://www.reddit.com/r/submechanophobia/](https://www.reddit.com/r/submechanophobia/) > [@Ambivalid](#): > > Priapism. They used to say that one in a lot of ED meds ad copy. “Immediately seek medical attention if you experience priapism, an erection lasting four hours or more.” I always thought Cataclysmic Priapism would make a good band name. ---
**Author:** ![Map\_Ylow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/map_ylow/32/85_2.png) [@Map\_Ylow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Map_Ylow)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785/32 "2018-09-05T21:06:36Z")
“Anamnesis”. It’s really quite a nice word. Also “conscientious”. Which I completely failed at pronouncing the first time I ever said it - as I’d only ever seen it in text before. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785/33 "2018-09-05T21:30:47Z")
> [@ioioio](#): > > Type “pronounce: [word]” into the Google search bar and you can hear how the word is pronounced. How does that work for two words that are spelt the same but pronounced differently, e.g. lead, read, etc.? ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785/34 "2018-09-05T22:11:29Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > Only within the last year did I realize that “viscount” = “vie-count.” I’ve read the word for decades AND heard it countless times in Brit/European movies and TV, but the dime took a very long time to drop. This is one of those I’ve read tons of times but hadn’t heard spoken (not big on period dramas). Then it was used by Daria in a conversation with Jane, and I realized that’s the word I’d been reading. The first word I ever remember mispronouncing was “determined.” I was reading something aloud in 3rd or 4th grade and read it like detter and mined and the teacher laughed and and said “Jinxed!” We’d just talked about reading aloud in class, and I was always amazed how she could tell what word some kid was struggling with when they often weren’t even close (later I realized it was because she’d heard what we were reading hundreds of times). ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785/35 "2018-09-05T23:39:28Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > Paradigm was always my bug-a-boo when I was reading it. Funny thing was, I _heard_ it pronounced more than once but never connected the spelling and pronunciation to the same word until I was in my 30’s. Back when I was young I thought there was a subtle difference between the words subtle and suttle. I think I was in high school when I twigged that they were the written and spoken versions of the same word. The word I mangled the worst was idiosyncrasies. Personally, I don’t blame me. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2018, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785/36 "2018-09-06T08:32:45Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Back when I was young I thought there was a subtle difference between the words subtle and suttle. I think I was in high school when I twigged that they were the written and spoken versions of the same word.[ And just to thoroughly confuse things, there’s the archaic word “sutler” – a supplier of provisions to an army. And what he does, is to “suttle”: which truly is a word in the Shorter Oxford Dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2018, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785/37 "2018-09-06T08:44:28Z")
I thought of another one today: cairn. I’ve seen it quite a lot both in literature and in descriptions of touristy sites, but I don’t think I’ve heard it. > [@ioioio](#): > > Type “pronounce: [word]” into the Google search bar and you can hear how the word is pronounced. In what dialect? I used to work in a place where you could tell who was local and who wasn’t by how they pronounced the name, and it wasn’t from some exotic language. Bellshill. Outsiders said bell-shill. It’s actually Bell’s Hill. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2018, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785/38 "2018-09-06T08:50:56Z")
Inchoate. I’m still not sure how it’s pronounced. Or how it’s used correctly for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2018, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785/39 "2018-09-06T14:01:27Z")
Avoirdupois. I’ve never heard it spoken. I would say closely to how it would be pronounced in French, approximating ‘a-VWAR-doo-PWAH’, but M-W, at least, just shows a more Americanized pronunciation, ‘A-ver-duh-POIZ’. I’ve never had a chance to use the word ‘epitome’ out loud, but if I did, I would pronounce it as ‘ep-i-tome’, not ‘uh-PI-tuh-mee’, but sometimes I like being a renegade. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2018, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785/40 "2018-09-06T16:02:52Z")
> [@ioioio](#): > > Type “pronounce: [word]” into the Google search bar and you can hear how the word is pronounced. > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > How does that work for two words that are spelt the same but pronounced differently, e.g. lead, read, etc.? Google offers several choices for listening. From the top choice, I got: LEAD: “Led”, as is the metal. Otherwise, “leed”. READ: “Reed”. Past tense, “red”. > [@Nava](#): > > . . . > I used to work in a place where you could tell who was local and who wasn’t by how they pronounced the name, and it wasn’t from some exotic language. Bellshill. Outsiders said bell-shill. It’s actually Bell’s Hill. Google returns only text guides for pronouncing “Bellshill”. [This one](https://www.howtopronounce.com/bellshill/) offers three pronunciations, two of which I couldn’t begin to transcribe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-seen-but-rarely-or-never-heard/820785.md?page=3)