Words You've Learned from Reading and Writing

April Swanson · Jun 1, 2018

Siri Kirpal said:
Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Machair: a Scottish word for a fertile plain, used by both Scots and non-Scots especially to mean a meadow by the coast.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

To clarify a wee bit, machair is Gaelic, and in Gaelic it means fertile plain, but in broader use it's come to mean a very specific coastal landscape. Machair features a lot in the Hebrides. When it flowers it's very pretty!

Tazlima · Jun 1, 2018

April Swanson said:
I was force-fed Merchant of Venice at school and have dodged Shakespeare ever since, which is ridiculous, given my quest to read all the greats. Do you have a recommendation for a noob?

"Titus Andronicus," without a doubt. If teenagers were given that to read instead of "Romeo and Juliet," I think a lot more people would develop an interest in Shakespeare (though many parents would probably object).

Be warned, it's completely twisted and has a lot of violence, so if you don't have a stomach for that sort of thing, I'd stick with the comedies, but if you're OK with horror stories or gory comics, it's a helluva read, not to mention thought-provoking.

Spoiler: At one point, the main character's daughter is gang-raped, then her hands are cut off and her tongue cut out so she can't reveal who attacked her. When her father discovers what's happened, he kills her rather than have her suffer the "shame" of living as a rape victim. It's completely effed up.

April Swanson · Jun 1, 2018

Tazlima said:
"Titus Andronicus," without a doubt. If teenagers were given that to read instead of "Romeo and Juliet," I think a lot more people would develop an interest in Shakespeare (though many parents would probably object).

Be warned, it's completely twisted and has a lot of violence, so if you don't have a stomach for that sort of thing, I'd stick with the comedies, but if you're OK with horror stories or gory comics, it's a helluva read, not to mention thought-provoking.

Spoiler: At one point, the main character's daughter is gang-raped, then her hands are cut off and her tongue cut out so she can't reveal who attacked her. When her father discovers what's happened, he kills her rather than have her suffer the "shame" of living as a rape victim. It's completely effed up.

Thanks! I think ASoIaF has hardened me against a lot of horrible stuff

Today's word is Argot

– the jargon or slang of a particular group or class.

Keithy · Jun 5, 2018

Here's a few from scrabble:

Ixia - a South African flower
Inia - a South American river dolphin
Hexerei - witchcraft
Vav - sixth letter of the hebrew alphabet
Dzo - a hybrid of a cow and a yak

Siri Kirpal · Jun 5, 2018

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Thanks for the clarification, April. Since you know the word, do you know how it's pronounced? I haven't a clue.

You asked about Shakespeares to read: I recently read A Midsummer's Night's Dream, which is faster paced than many. I've read Hamlet twice, once for school and once on my own. The second time was better, but having it done in class once helped. I highly recommend seeing a performance of Much Ado About Nothing. An early performance of Macbeth remains my gold standard for theatrical performances, but haven't read it, so am not sure how well it holds on the page.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

M. R. Kessell · Jun 5, 2018

Here’s one you should definitely work into everyday conversation. I didn’t see it on the list so far, but I apologize if it’s come up before.

Borborygmus - stomach rumbling

April Swanson · Jun 6, 2018

Keithy, mind me never to play you at Scrabble

Siri Kirpal: Thank you for the recommendations. Machair has the hard, guttural 'ch' like the one in loch. I'm Scottish but I don't speak Gaelic, and attempting to pronounce some of the words can be a nightmare!

M. R. Kessel, that is a BRILLIANT word!

K, my word for today is deglutition

– the action or process of swallowing. I guess it comes before borborygmi

M. R. Kessell · Jun 6, 2018

Thanks, April!

Deglutition is now part of my lexicon. And, yes, I think it’s definitely better when it comes before the borborygmi!

Jason · Jun 6, 2018

List 7

List 7

Dahlia - Any composite plant of the genus Dahlia, native to Mexico and Central America and widely cultivated for its showy, variously colored flower heads
vociferate - shout, complain, or argue loudly or vehemently
whin - a thorny bush, such as gorse
burn - a small stream or brook
Peripatetic - 1) Traveling from place to place, especially working or based in various places for relatively short periods. 2) Aristotelian
Formication - a sensation like insects crawling over the skin
Ephemera - Things that exist or are used and enjoyed for only a short time.
Acyrologia - An incorrect use of words, particularly replacing one word with another word that sounds similar but has different meaning.
Diphtheria - An acute, highly contagious bacterial disease causing inflammation of the mucous membranes, formation of a false membrane in the throat that hinders breathing and swallowing, and potentially fatal heart and nerve damage by a bacterial toxin in the blood. It is now rare in developed countries because of immunization.
Lambrusco - A variety of wine grape grown in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy.
Machair - a Scottish word for a fertile plain, used by both Scots and non-Scots especially to mean a meadow by the coast
duckspeak – Voicing political orthodoxies without thinking, lit. "to quack like a duck"
prolefeed – The steady stream of mindless entertainment to distract and occupy the masses.
doublethink – the act of simultaneously accepting two mutually contradictory beliefs as correct otherwise referred to as cognitive dissonance.
Mastiff - A dog of a large, strong breed with drooping ears and pendulous lips.
Expostulate - express strong disapproval or disagreement
amity - friendly relations
Argot – the jargon or slang of a particular group or class
Ixia - a South African flower
Inia - a South American river dolphin
Hexerei - witchcraft
Vav - sixth letter of the hebrew alphabet
Dzo - a hybrid of a cow and a yak
Borborygmus - stomach rumbling
deglutition – the action or process of swallowing

And, as an afterthought, since many people often don't go back to the first post, here's a running tally of all the prior lists:
List 1
List 2
List 3
List 4
List 5
List 6

Maryn · Jun 6, 2018

My "Words to Learn" list is growing ever more massive thanks to this thread!

Jason · Jun 6, 2018

Remember, there's a quiz every sixth Thursday of each month to see how many you've added to your repertoire!

DanielSTJ · Jun 6, 2018

Jason said:
Remember, there's a quiz every sixth Thursday of each month to see how many you've added to your repertoire!

I like quizzes.

Jason · Jun 6, 2018

Alrighty then:

Question #1 - How many Thursdays are there in an average month?

April Swanson · Jun 7, 2018

*casually ignores question; Admiral Ackbar comes to mind;

epithet

– an adjective or phrase expressing a quality or attribute regarded as characteristic of the person or thing mentioned; a term of abuse.

That definition is from Oxford, but I find this one from Dictionary.com a bit easier to understand: any word or phrase applied to a person or thing to describe an actual or attributed quality.

Keithy · Jun 8, 2018

Unguent - a soft greasy or viscous substance used as ointment or for lubrication.
Chirurgeon - an archaic form of surgeon.

Keithy · Jun 12, 2018

Famulus - a servant or attendant, esp. of a scholar or a magician
Dandle - move (a baby or young child) up and down in a playful or affectionate way.

rachel0d · Jun 21, 2018

Wow what a great collection of words! I was looking for something like this to expand my vocabulary and google just wasn't enough. I'll be sure to make my own list if i ever find the time to read

Jennie · Jun 23, 2018

Jason said:
List 7
vociferate - shout, complain, or argue loudly or vehemently
Peripatetic - 1) Traveling from place to place, especially working or based in various places for relatively short periods. 2) Aristotelian
Ephemera - Things that exist or are used and enjoyed for only a short time.
Lambrusco - A variety of wine grape grown in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy.
amity - friendly relations
Argot – the jargon or slang of a particular group or class

Now, this is a forum I will enjoy, as I've been collecting words with pleasure for years. What I am particularly interested in your list is that the words I quote here are currently used in French, or Italian. So I will add a little additional definition to them.
Vociferate: in French "vociférer" it's a verb we use quite often. A loud scream, it's rather a negative word.
Peripatetic - in French, you have the word "péripatéticienne" which is an elaborate word to mean "prostitute".
Ephemera - in French "éphémère", a lovely word that I use often when I write in French. Ephémère is an adjective that means something that lasts a few hours, or moments. As a noun, éphémère is the name of a small dragon-fly that lives only for a day.
Lambrusco - that's an Italian word. Lambrusco is a particular kind of red wine that is sparkling. You can have Lambrusco morbido (mellow) or secco (dry). It's very good, and best drunk cold.

Amity - very close to "amitié" = friendship in French
Argot - this is a specific French word to mean slang. Argot is rather elaborate, and you have different kinds of argot, depending on sociocultural groups. Originally, before 1630, argot meant "the world beggars." Argot is constantly reinvented, and has been used and is still used by many poets (as far back as François Villon) and writers and scriptwriters. One active form of argot is called verlan - it consists in putting the syllabes of a word back to front. For example with "before" you would say "forebe". To say "femme" (woman) you say "meuf."

DrDLN · Jun 23, 2018

In addition to Sat Nam, there are few other words worth knowing. atma/parmatma (soul/god), Ek O (One God)... and so on. These have very important implications in everyday life.

April Swanson · Jun 29, 2018

Hebdomadal (a) - weekly

Siri Kirpal · Jun 29, 2018

DrDLN said:
In addition to Sat Nam, there are few other words worth knowing. atma/parmatma (soul/god), Ek O (One God)... and so on. These have very important implications in everyday life.

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Make that Ek Ongkar = One God. Atma = Soul (as does Ji and Jeeo) Parmatma = Supreme Soul (AKA God)

I explain what the greeting means in every post so no one thinks I'm sitting on gibberish.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Jennie · Jul 8, 2018

I was looking for words about the weather.

Frazil: name for ice crystals in turbulent water, swift streams, rough seas
Habook: thick dust storm or sandstorm (this word I use in my novel)
Petrichor: the smell of rain in the air
Sastruga: ridges that snow forms on a snowfield by the action of wind
Williwaw: a violent squall blowing in polar latitudes.

Serddar · Jul 13, 2018

There are many, especially because English is not my first language, so it expanded rapidly once I started reading and then writing, but one that I have a really huge liking towards, and use when I write is "envelop". It just seems to fit in lots of places.

April Swanson · Jul 16, 2018

My favourite new word of late is celerity - swiftness of movement.

Jennie · Jul 18, 2018

I was given for Christmas a wonderful book that collects words in other languages that have no equivalent in English (or other languages I would say).

I thought it would be nice to share here some of these words as a way of titillating our imagination.

So, the first is KOMOREBI. It's a Japanese noun that means "the sunlight that filters through the leaves of the trees".

Words You've Learned from Reading and Writing

Happy Beeps

Happy Beeps

Just keep swimming

Swan in Process

Happy Beeps

Ideas bounce around in my head

At Sea

Ideas bounce around in my head

The Wandering Bard

Ideas bounce around in my head

Happy Beeps

Just keep swimming

Just keep swimming

Happy Beeps

Swan in Process

Happy Beeps