Words You Think Everyone Should Know

[teqrevisited]

Slubberdegullion.

Noun

slubberdegullion (plural slubberdegullions)

A filthy, slobbering person; a sloven, a villain, a fiend, a louse.
A worthless person.
A drunk, and/or an alcoholic

It's one of those words that is just too ridiculous to forget, and a word I want to hear Boris Johnson say for the humour.

 

[James Joseph Emerald]

and who has an entire class for european history, the 1st 1300 years of significance were africa/southern europe(greece), and until the 1700's it was the rest of Europe... so in 'non-european' history you will learn about:
-North America
-Canada
-South America
-prehistory

seeing as how the rest was european...

so why wouldn't you just have one class for everything?

Heh, how could you study prehistory in a history class? =P

I don't really understand your argument. If you were to subdivide history into greater geographical regions, it seems like using continents would be the most logical way: European History, American/South American History, African History, Asian/Russian History, etc. Sure, one might cover a wider timespan than the other, but I've seen entire history courses taught based on a single day. So it's not like you'd run out of content.



Edit: Forgot what this thread was about.

It's hard to settle on a single word, because I often get blank stares when I say stuff. I think the latest one was casually using "eschew" in a sentence.

 

[Hazard12]

Prestidigitation.

Literally means magic tricks performed for entertainment. Can be used for a more abstract sleight of hand in speaking.

 

[coolkirb]

Ill go with.........crapulence simply because its so much fun to use in a sentance

 

[Adrian Neyland]

Fugatious, Fleeting like a moment in time.
(Look it up because I'm not quite sure on the spelling)

 

[Giest4life]

The most important word ever is defenestration: "The action of throwing someone or something out of a window"

This is the truth, internet.

I learnt that in my European History class, it took a trip to Wikipedia for me to believe that my teacher wasn't trolling the class.

EDIT: Oh, I gotta contribute too, I guess:
Vorstadt: the term given to a populated area that surrounds an Altstadt (Inner city/center city).

isn't Altstadt german or OldTown?

and who has an entire class for european history, the 1st 1300 years of significance were africa/southern europe(greece), and until the 1700's it was the rest of Europe... so in 'non-european' history you will learn about:
-North America
-Canada
-South America
-prehistory

seeing as how the rest was european...

so why wouldn't you just have one class for everything?

From 1350-Present Day, were, I believe, the exact syllabus of the class

 

[Jaime_Wolf]

Ah my favourite: a thread of amateur linguists.

-cracks knuckles-

Irony.
i·ro·ny/ˈīrənē/
Noun: The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_bleaching#Semantic_bleaching
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymological_fallacy

nonplussed.
To be put at a loss as to what to think, say, or do. Filled with bewilderment.

I'm really sick of idiots using this word wrong. The word means to be greatly confused. Why do stupid people keep using it like it means unfazed or unshaken.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_drift
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymological_fallacy

Good (adjective) - to be desired or approved of.
The birthday cake was very good.

Well (adverb) - in a satisfactory manner.
He did very well on his test.

These words may be much more simple than others in this thread but I feel they are just as important to know. Something can 'be' good, or 'do' well. Not the other way around (in most cases at least).

I cringe when people say they did 'really good on that test'. After hearing that, I often passive-aggressively use 'well' in the wrong context ('I think my marks are still well.' or something) and then smirk arrogantly when people try to correct me.

(Yes I am aware that there are some cases where these words can be used differently but I am only getting into a 'basic' grammar lesson here. Loads of people already can't figure this much out and it frustrates me.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammaticalization
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variety_%28linguistics%29

Floccinaucinihilipilification: The estimation of something as valueless.
It is the longest word in the English language.

Just shy of it, actually. It's 12 syllables and 29 letters. The longest word (and the word I was going to throw into this discussion anyway) is pneumonoultrasilicovolcaniconiosis, clocking in at a rousing 17 syllables and 33 letters. It is a deadly disease of the lungs.

My favorite word to say would probably be 'indubitably'.

There is no reasonable way to know the longest word. First, how are we going to count? Syllables? Moras? Segments? Letters (which makes the question more "longest graphical representation of a word" than "longest word")?

Then: what do we count as the English language? Do technical and scientific terms count? Which speaker populations do we count as English? This last question is especially difficult (read: impossible). Bear in mind that languages don't have the sharp borders we like to think they do - there isn't a point between France and Spain where they suddenly stop speaking one language and start speaking the other - the languages blur together in varying degrees across the entire border region forming a gradient between them. Even assuming we decide all of that, what makes a word "official"? How many speakers have to adopt it? I can make up extraordinarily long words all day, but it seems odd to call them the longest words in "English".

Chilver. A female lamb and the only word to rhyme with silver

That's Old English, a quite different language from Modern English. Incidentally, the word "silver" didn't exist in OE (you would be looking for "siolfor"), nor do we have any truly firm understanding of how most OE words were pronounced, so it's pretty impossible to know if it would have rhymed with "silver". And given the number of changes in vowel pronunciation without subsequent grapheme changes even relatively recently, it's very unlikely that they rhyme.

TL;DR: Language is complicated. Speaking a language doesn't mean you understand its mechanics any more than living in the universe means you understand astronomy. Life is hard.

OT: The verb "effect". It's a useful word that I don't hear often enough and I think it imparts a really nice feeling to statements.

 

[David Hebda]

The quintessential precept behind antidisestablishmentarianism reveals the erudite demeanor of pseudo-rubenesque suburbanite culture.


All of them!

 

[Matt Oliver]

life-meaning of it is undefinable in this current day and age.

captcha: The Holy Grail Of Pants

 

[TheKmanofAwesometon]

Gargantuan - bigger than huge, but smaller than colossal.

 

[RavenCrush]

I would have to say either:

Kerfuffle, a slight commotion.

or

Hippomonstrosesquippadaliophobia, the fear of long words. (Some psychologist felt mean the day he created this.)

 

[ZRendZ]

Procrastination I'll come up for a reason later
In all seriousness i get annoyed for when i use it and automatically people get it confused with its more sexual counterpart
No teacher, i forgot to do you work because i have a procrastination problem, not because i touch myself 24/7

also Captcha is "Gravy Train"

 

[Android2137]

Zenzizenzizenzic is an obsolete form of mathematical notation representing the eighth power of a number (that is, the zenzizenzizenzic of a number x is the power x^8), dating from a time when powers were written out in words rather than as superscript numbers.

I wish it still existed. It's sounds fun to say.

 

[The_Echo]

The most important word ever is defenestration: "The action of throwing someone or something out of a window"

This is the truth, internet.

Dammit, you stole my word.

Oh well, I guess I'll contribute with hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia. The fear of long words.

 

[MeglonMaster]

chagrin: distress of mind caused by humiliation
i get this a lot

 

[SanguineScale]

Lugubrious- mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially in an affected, exaggerated or unrelieved manner

because it doesn't anywhere as serious as it means

and Satiate- to satisfy to the full; sate

because I just love saying it to the girlfriends I don't have....

 

[Kanatatsu]

I'd personally like the ignorant douchebags who keep correcting others on their use of the word "irony" to get a clue.

Words actually do what they are commonly used to mean. The dictionary definition of "irony" these dopes keep quoting is not the only acceptable definition.

Given the widespread use of the word to mean something like "humorous or enlightening incongruity between what is expected and what actually is", this is a perfectly acceptable definition and it's perfectly acceptable to use the word in this fashion.

So take your English 101 "look at the new way I learned to correct people today" snarkiness and cram it sideways.

 

[Tharwen]

Serendipity - the act of unexpectedly finding something (usually a good thing)

Chilver. A female lamb and the only word to rhyme with silver

Next time I am writing poetry... I will find a way to work this in. Somehow. Unfortunately this means I have to write about sheep.

Mary had a small chilver
It's fleece was quite silver
And everywhere that Mary went
That chilver always stayed silver

 

[LiberalSquirrel]

Serendipity - the act of unexpectedly finding something (usually a good thing)

Chilver. A female lamb and the only word to rhyme with silver

Next time I am writing poetry... I will find a way to work this in. Somehow. Unfortunately this means I have to write about sheep.

Mary had a small chilver
It's fleece was quite silver
And everywhere that Mary went
That chilver always stayed silver

I would just post '^.^' but then I'd have a low content post. But thank you for making my evening. Truly, that poem is a work of art, and an excellent use of 'chilver.' =D