Words You Think Everyone Should Know

[Uber Evil]

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'.

That is a medical term, no. I wouldn't exactly count medical terminology, since it is a whole 'nother basket of fruit.

 

[Thundero13]

ham has two meanings, apart from being a meat, its also a very eccentric and/or odd person
And of course an aglet...

 

[ReaperGrimm]

Sarcasm
sar·casm/ˈsärˌkazəm/
Noun: The use of irony to mock or convey contempt.

 

[CaptainKoala]

Opinion

?noun
1. a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty.
2. a personal view, attitude, or appraisal.
3. the formal expression of a professional judgment: to ask for a second Medical opinion.

You, good sir, just won yourself the world's biggest cookie:

 

[SilentCom]

"Video Game", because if you don't know what it is, then you have no right to be here.

Also "computer" because chances are if you don't know how to use one, you're not on the escapist right now.

 

[Twilight.falls]

Twilight. Noun: The time of day just after sunrise but before morning, and just before sunset but before night.

It is not, in fact, just a series of books aimed at teenage girls.

 

[DuctTapeJedi]

The difference between the words "random," and "arbitrary" should be known.

 

[AquaAscension]

Twinge: Sudden pain or emotional pang.
Somnambulate: The act of sleep walking.
Squirrelled: because it's supposedly the longest (in terms of letters) single syllable word.
Endeavor: either to attempt or an attempt (verb or noun respectively)
Respect: Something very few have.
Their/There/They're: Belonging to/place/They Are (respectively)
Solace: comfort in sorrow
Respite: a break/rest from something difficult
Pulchritudinous: beautiful
And so very many more. A large vocabulary, while not necessary to convey meaning, makes conversation less trite (unless one runs into someone using bombastic language - then it just gets asinine)

 

[Anezay]

Ah my favourite: a thread of amateur linguists.

-cracks knuckles-

[big ole' snip]

You ruined the fun in the universe. All of it. No need to bring facts into this, it's the internet, dammit.

 

[instantbenz]

Tittle - term used for the dot on the letter 'i'

The graphic designer in me always giggles when I can use that in critique.

How to make everyone silent in a typography critique and make the student horrified:
"your tittles appear to be of differing sizes"

 

[ShindoL Shill]

all of them, because knowledge is power.
but serious time.
sarcasm, satire and leave. people seem to have real trouble with these.
and if you take my first sentence to heart, like one of my friends does, the chemical name for titin. yes, he has decided to learn it. he estimates it to be as long as a childrens novel.

Also "computer" because chances are if you don't know how to use one, you're not on the escapist right now.

well (i learned this from Jen of the IT Crowd) you turn it on and press the internet button. then you mash the keyboard and pray to the bigass spacefox you get what want, like a grocery shopping website.
and thats how to bake a cake, children.

 

[Llil]

Meeple. A small person-shaped figure used as a player's token in a board game.

Spoiler: Here's a picture of a basic meeple.

 

[katsumoto03]

Disingenuous

adj

Not candid or sincere, typically by pretending that one knows less about something than one really does.

 

[BENZOOKA]

A few thousand Finnish words, since it's such a wonderful language.

If it has to be English though:

Triptych
noun

1. A picture or relief carving on three panels, typically hinged together side by side and used as an altarpiece

2. A set of three associated artistic, literary, or musical works intended to be appreciated together

Spoiler: As in

 

[OpticalJunction]

Discombobulate - to confuse or disconcert; upset; frustrate.

Because it just sounds cool.

Haha, this one's fun to say.

bibliobibuli
those who read too much

flummery
meaningless chatter; also, deceptive language.

nothosonomia
the act of calling someone a bastard.

 

[Electric Alpaca]

Apocryphal - of doubtful authenticity.

Usage of it most commonly refers to the creation of reasoning for something occurring, after the event has occurred, when there was no reason for the event to have occurred initially.

 

[Popadoo]

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
Because fuck your maximum word count, that's why.

 

[Vhite]

Thank you
Please

Really not much used any more.

 

[StBishop]

Tetralogy. A story contained in four parts.

{extratextsoIdon'tgetsuspended}

~Tom<3

Thank you. I dislike the use of Quadrilogy.

I can't think of anything specific that everyone should know.

Maybe people should know the difference between don't like and dislike.

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.

They think it means "not plussed" as in not increased in anyway, excitement, fear, enjoyment etc.

 

[StBishop]

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.

OT: Less "word that everyone should know" and more "difference everyone should know:" a farce vs. a satire. They are not the same thing.

Farce = slap-stick style buffoonery.
Satire = humor, irony, or sarcasm with a point.

Ate a chilver on a platter of silver. Done.

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?

Because you don't care about the history of America(As a group of two continents)?