# You mean it's not really a word???! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 7, 2007, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-mean-its-not-really-a-word/425606 "2007-11-07T23:53:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-mean-its-not-really-a-word/425606/21 "2007-11-08T13:13:42Z")
[QUOTE=DooWahDiddy] I’ve been thinking of starting a movement to make “logistify” a word. You know, like, “You can logistify it all you want, but it’s still not a word.” There has to be _some_ word that means “to make logical”. Any takers? [/QUOTE] What’s wrong with “cromulate”? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-mean-its-not-really-a-word/425606/22 "2007-11-08T14:32:11Z")
[QUOTE=DooWahDiddy] I’ve been thinking of starting a movement to make “logistify” a word. You know, like, “You can logistify it all you want, but it’s still not a word.” There has to be _some_ word that means “to make logical”. Any takers? [/QUOTE] Logistics and logic aren’t the same. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-mean-its-not-really-a-word/425606/23 "2007-11-08T14:32:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Oh my god I have one of these. > > ‘Agida or Agita’ > > A couple of months or so after I moved in with my husband I said this to one of my kids while they were doing something to annoy me at the dinner table. “You’re giving me agida.” I’d said it 100 times before, I’d heard my mother say it thousands of times. > > My husband looked at me like I had 3 heads and said ‘What? What did you say?? That’s not a word!’ I Im 80% sure that word appears in Dickson’s book **Family Words** Actually, now that I’ve looked it up, I’m 100% certain. There’s a fairly large entry on it that you can find with the “Search Inside” option on Amazon: > **[Family Words: A Dictionary of the Secret Language of Families (How America...](https://www.amazon.com/Family-Words-Dictionary-Language-Families/dp/1933338172)** > > Family Words: A Dictionary of the Secret Language of Families (How America Speaks series) \[Dickson, Paul\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Family Words: A Dictionary of the Secret Language of Families (How America Speaks series) It was the subject of the “Word Watch” column in **The Atlantic** in June 1987, where Prof. Luigi Ballerini of NTYU suggested it came from Italian \* acidita\*, meaning “acidity”. It’s used in the Woody Allen film **Broadway Danny Rose**. .. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-mean-its-not-really-a-word/425606/24 "2007-11-08T14:35:01Z")
By the way, apropos of tghis entire thread is Gellett Burgess’ book that popped up after Dickson’s on Amazon. I’ve head of Burgess in several connections, but not this one – his book \*\*Burgess Unabridged: A Classic Dictionary of Words You Have Always Needed \*\* > **[Burgess Unabridged: A Classic Dictionary of Words You Have Always Needed:...](https://www.amazon.com/Burgess-Unabridged-Classic-Dictionary-Always/dp/0802716466)** > > Burgess Unabridged: A Classic Dictionary of Words You Have Always Needed \[Burgess, Gelett, Dickson, Paul\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Burgess Unabridged: A Classic Dictionary of Words You Have Always Needed ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-mean-its-not-really-a-word/425606/25 "2007-11-08T14:48:19Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] I’m willing to compromise: claption. Then musicians can go around saying that Claption is God. 😃 [/QUOTE] This audience responce has been closed-claptioned for the hearing impaired. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-mean-its-not-really-a-word/425606/26 "2007-11-08T15:01:26Z")
“Agita” as explained by the [Word Detective](http://www.word-detective.com/121800.html) looks like the word “acido” from Italian for “acid” morphed into “agita” when Italians came to America. I’ve been using “grok” for about 15 years and not once has anyone (those who have no idea who Heinlen is) questioned it. “Gigrundous” is a word I use frequently. Although not an acceptable word, eveyone seems to understand what I’m saying. It’s a word I made up, however, I am probably not the only one to do so. “Kerjillion” although, not mine, explains pretty clearly that there’s an assload of something but without the certainty of how much. Clearly more than a trillion, I’m sure. Isn’t language a beautiful thing? ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-mean-its-not-really-a-word/425606/27 "2007-11-08T16:57:24Z")
On **gigundrous** : There seem to be 9 Google hits. There are a few that treat it as a more enthusiastic cousin of “ginormous”: > [@http://letsgosox.blogspot.com/2007/09/al-feast.html](#): > > I’d been to Thom’s once before, and from going there tonight, I have to say: Believe the hype. It is as Red Sox as you can get. 14th and 2nd, next time you’re in New York. They even have a TV at every table if you’re eating. Or you can just watch on the gigrundous screen on the wall. > [@http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=139137](#): > > I then took a skip down to the Home Depot (local gigrundous hardware/home improvement warehouse) and got the aluminum, screws, nuts, countersink, primer… (Home Depot is “local”? Hrmm…) > [@http://profiles.friendster.com/jospeedsalot](#): > > Getting into fender benders, ping-pong, running, paying gigrundous traffic fines, playing Grand Theft Auto, court dates (big ups to my lawyer…) But here’s an ambiguous usage: > [@http://crapfest.blogspot.com/2004\_04\_01\_archive.html](#): > > SLW HND is back. i haven’t had the “pleasure” of speaking with him yet, but something tells me i will, and soon. gawd, i love how gigrundous dorks gravitate towards me, no matter where i go or what i do. it’s awesome. What the fuck does that mean? ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-mean-its-not-really-a-word/425606/28 "2007-11-08T17:11:06Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Logistics and logic aren’t the same. [/QUOTE] Boy you can say that again. Stupid college Logic classes. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-mean-its-not-really-a-word/425606/29 "2007-11-08T18:06:59Z")
Not a word? That’s unpossible! ---
**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:** [November 8, 2007, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-mean-its-not-really-a-word/425606/30 "2007-11-08T18:16:57Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] “Mayhaps”- I’ve been saying it for so long I don’t recall where I picked it up. I thought maybe from a Shakespeare play. [/QUOTE] I think the only time I’ve ever seen it (“mayhap”) in print was in the old “Thor” comic books. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-mean-its-not-really-a-word/425606/31 "2007-11-08T18:46:29Z")
Well then, all butchering aside, nice to know it IS an honest to god word. Ignorance fought! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-mean-its-not-really-a-word/425606.md?page=1)