Cool big words that will blow up your Word spell checker

brianjanuary · Nov 27, 2011

I've always loved big, unusual, virtually unknown words that no one ever uses anymore.

Here are a few off the top of my head:

Enceinte--pregnant

Zoetic--alive, viable, pertaining to life

Eldritch--strange, unearthly, eerie

Ululate--howl or wail

Syncretism--a fusion of differing or disparate belief systems, or, in linguistics, the merging of two different inflected forms of a word

Absquatulate--leave in a hurry (can't you just see this in an action movie--"Let's absquatulate! Now!")

Esculent--edible

Thaumaturgy--the working of miracles or magic

And my all-time favorite--

Callipygian--having a nice rear end

Any others you can think of?

Brian January
http://amzn.com/B005WM0HN6
http://amzn.com/B006QCZF3S

Jamesaritchie · Nov 27, 2011

I must have a good spell check program. The only word you list that isn't in it is "zoetic".

brianjanuary · Nov 27, 2011

Wow! That's pretty good! They don't work in mine!

Brian January
http://amzn.com/B005WM0HN6
http://amzn.com/B006QCZF3S

Becky Black · Nov 27, 2011

Takes notes for Scrabble. Zoetic could be a corker!

thothguard51 · Nov 27, 2011

Most of the list are not that unusual.

The problem with cool new words, IMHO; they are only cool if the readers accept them, not if spell checker can find them...

Rufus Coppertop · Nov 27, 2011

discromulentated?

Susan Coffin · Nov 27, 2011

The two words not in my spell checker: Zoetic and Absquatulate..

mirandashell · Nov 27, 2011

Eldritch can also mean oblong for some reason......

AnWulf · Nov 27, 2011

Only zoetic was highlighted by my spell checker the rest are in there.

I like eldritch and callipygian … wondering how to brook that rightly … I like callipygian women.

I hav a bunch of words that will blow up most folks spell checkers:

agenbite - remorse
bedoven - drenched
benothing - to annihilate
byspel - example
dwine - to diminish, decline (akin to dwindle)
eath - easy
forethink - to think beforehand, to anticipate
gnamma (namma) - a natural hole in a rock in which rainwater collects
inwit - conscience
teld - tent
umbe - around
wanhope - dispair, lack of hope, faint or delusiv hope
wanrufe - disquiet, unrest
wanwierd - misfortune

And a whole bunch more!

Xelebes · Nov 27, 2011

Acatamathesia - The inability to understand data coming through one's senses
Alectryomancy - Divination through observing a rooster collect kernels.
Anacampserote - Anything used as a means to bring back one's lost love
Anapisthographic - Having writing on only one side
Antilapsarianism - Denial of the belief of the Fall of Humanity
Blandiloquence - complimetary speech, flattery
Bouleversement - an overturning, reversal or ruin
Catapedamania - the love of parkour
Dacnamania - the obsession of killing
Éclaircissement - A Clarification
Eellogofusciouhipoppokunurious - Good
Grammaticaster - A petty or dithering grammarian
Gynotikolobomassophile - Someone fond of nibbling women's earlobes.
Kakarrhaphiophobia - The fear of failure
Kephalanomancy - Divination through a baked or boiled ass's head. (Or maybe, worship led by an asshat.)
Lampadodromy - A torch race
Mascalephidrosis - Profuse sweating of the armpits
Obequitate - To ride around
Penecontemporaneous - Of what has happened right after something got put down.
Polyphiloprogenitive - Very fertile, very prosperous.
Presbyophrenia - Female senility (with loss of memory)
Proceleusmatic - inciting, encouraging or exhorting
Quodlibetificate - to quibble
Quomodocunquise - to make money in any manner
Xenodocheionology - the love or hotels
Zenzizenzizenzic - of the eighth power of a number

Xelebes · Nov 27, 2011

Also, is it zoetic or zoëtic?

Fallen · Nov 27, 2011

Xelebes said:
Gynotikolobomassophile - Someone fond of nibbling women's earlobes.

gunnoticklealobowhadda? :roll:

I like this one. Wouldn't fancy trying to pronounce it after a drink, but I like it.

thymebandit · Nov 27, 2011

wow the people here have great spell checkers. Mine keeps telling me that Im spelling blonde wrong

Torgo · Nov 27, 2011

mirandashell said:
Eldritch can also mean oblong for some reason......

Ha!

Fallen · Nov 28, 2011

thymebandit said:
wow the people here have great spell checkers. Mine keeps telling me that Im spelling blonde wrong

Lol.

blond = masculine 'the blond-headed guy'
Blonde = fem 'the blonde-headed girl'

I know my micro office doesn't like 'blond's', but It's always best just to take or leave a suggestion.

Mr Flibble · Nov 28, 2011

Fallen said:
Lol.

blond = masculine 'the blond-headed guy'
Blonde = fem 'the blonde-headed girl'

You only have the e when the (female) person is described as 'a blonde' - when using blond as an adjective, no e.

'The knockout blonde in the corner'
'The girl had blond hair'

One of my faves is : Arachibutyrophobia. Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth.

CACTUSWENDY · Nov 28, 2011

I sure am glad I don't read books with those type of words. I would have to have a dictionary next to me allllll the time.

Rufus Coppertop · Nov 28, 2011

There's a great Far Side cartoon with the caption Anatidaephobia: the fear that somewhere, somehow a duck is watching you.

Fallen · Nov 28, 2011

IdiotsRUs said:
You only have the e when the (female) person is described as 'a blonde' - when using blond as an adjective, no e.

'The knockout blonde in the corner'
'The girl had blond hair'

One of my faves is : Arachibutyrophobia. Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth.

I knew that. Honest.

AnWulf · Nov 28, 2011

Blonde Hair

IdiotsRUs said:
You only have the e when the (female) person is described as 'a blonde' - when using blond as an adjective, no e.

'The knockout blonde in the corner'
'The girl had blond hair'

From the OED:

adjective
(also blond)(chiefly of hair) fair or pale yellow: her long blonde hair
I had my hair dyed blonde

having hair of a fair or pale yellow colour: a tall blonde woman

having fair hair and a light complexion (especially when regarded as a racial characteristic): she was blonde and blue-eyed, but she wore her hair in the same kind of weave as the black women

noun
a woman with blonde hair.
[mass noun] the colour of blonde hair: her hair was yellow — not any shade of blonde, but yellow

Chekurtab · Nov 28, 2011

I like the linguistics exercise. I doubt a reader will enjoy it. There better be a lot of editor's notes to explain the writing if one is to stroll down that road.

Mr Flibble · Nov 28, 2011

Hmm not what my dictionary says (blonde: A woman with fair hair), and I can't find a grammar guru who disagrees.

Maybe there's a US/UK difference - I learnt all this during copy edits (ie that I can describe an MC as 'blonde' but her hair does not have a gender when I'm using blond as an adjective and is thusly 'blond' as default).

Meh I could be wrong. But the usage seems fairly clear. Possibly the OED is reflecting a newer (less formal grammatically) usage?

ETA: Perhaps this would explain it:

Usage note
The spelling blonde is still widely used for the noun that specifies a woman or girl with fair hair: The blonde with the baby in her arms is my anthropology professor. Some people object to this as an unnecessary distinction, preferring blond for all persons: My sister is thinking of becoming a blond for a while. As an adjective, the word is more usually spelled blond in reference to either sex ( an energetic blond girl; two blond sons ), although the form blonde is occasionally still used of a female: the blonde model and her escort.

I think perhaps the usage is changing.

Tepelus · Nov 28, 2011

Rufus Coppertop said:
There's a great Far Side cartoon with the caption Anatidaephobia: the fear that somewhere, somehow a duck is watching you.

You mean, this one?

AnWulf · Nov 28, 2011

The Link

IdiotsRUs said:
Hmm not what my dictionary says (blonde: A woman with fair hair), and I can't find a grammar guru who disagrees.

Maybe there's a US/UK difference - I learnt all this during copy edits (ie that I can describe an MC as 'blonde' but her hair does not have a gender when I'm using blond as an adjective and is thusly 'blond' as default).

Meh I could be wrong. But the usage seems fairly clear. Possibly the OED is reflecting a newer (less formal grammatically) usage?

ETA: Perhaps this would explain it:

I think perhaps the usage is changing.

Here is the link for it ... it's from the OED's "world" wordbook.

The usage box note there is a bit different than the one on my computer. According to the OED blond is usual spelling in the US since the 70s for both the adjectiv and noun ... Well someone forgot to tell me! ... And I'v seen blonde lots of times in print in the States.

And maybe someone forgot to tell M-W as well:
Byspel from M-W:

She has blonde highlights in her hair.

M-W and OED agree that "blonde" with an "e" can also be used as an adjective

Jamesaritchie · Nov 29, 2011

We were taught in school, and in college, that "blond" is always masculine, and "blonde" is always feminine. That's how most of my publishers style it, as well.

But I see this "rule" violated so often that I doubt there is any real difference in the US today.

Cool big words that will blow up your Word spell checker

Writing my way off the B Ark

A Gentleman of a refined age...

Tell it like it Is

Delerium ex Ennui

Delerium ex Ennui

Stood at the coalface

Secretly British

Formerly Phantom of Krankor.

Stood at the coalface

They've been very bad, Mr Flibble

An old, sappy, and happy one.

Stood at the coalface

Smart donkey. Please don't call me-

They've been very bad, Mr Flibble

And so...