Please give us the word and its definition!
What new word did you learn today?
- Thread starter Louanne Learning
- Start date
oubliette - a dungeon entered only by a trapdoor
That's such a pretty word as well! Reminds me of the tradition of naming the Ugly Sisters in Cinderella pantomimes after awful but pretty sound things... Asphyxia's one that springs to mind as it was the first time I'd heard that word as a kid (thankfully!).
Here's my most recent one:
Sidereal - of or relating to the stars.
Just started a book about stories in the stars and that's a new one for me. 4 syllables: si-de-re-al.
This word always reminded me of the word "omelette" for some reason. I can't imagine why.
I just learned several new (archaic) words, so please bear with me.
Rampallian = a scoundrel, a wretch.
Fustilarian = a lowly person.
Scullion (which I knew already, but it's such a good word!) = a serving boy.
And the reason these came up? I just found out about these Shakespeare insults ...
You scullion! You rampallian! You fustilarian! I’ll tickle your catastrophe!
—Henry IV, Part 2, 2.1.60
Now, go ahead and insult thine enemies at thy leisure with these Shakespearean delights!
axiomatic - taken for granted, or self-evident
Yep - from the word "axiom", a statement or proposition which is regarded as being established, accepted, or obviously true. (Some are true, but some are ... debatable). Some of them can't be proved, but are accepted as true because they're so useful. (The best known axiom is Murphy's Law).
Here are a couple I just learned:
odalisque - a concubine in the harem of an Ottoman Turk sultan.
hierodule - a slave in service in an ancient Greek temple.
Not especially useful, I guess, unless you're writing something set in those periods.
Here are a couple I just learned:
odalisque - a concubine in the harem of an Ottoman Turk sultan.
hierodule - a slave in service in an ancient Greek temple.
Not especially useful, I guess, unless you're writing something set in those periods.
The adjective of "axiom."
I thought it was a Canadian machine to autonomously cut down trees.
And now I can't help but imagine a really "stoopid" commercial for it.
*video pans in on a lumberjack cutting wood with an axe. The lumberjack chops away like crazy, pauses, and wipes away sweat*
Voiceover: Ever thought "This takes too long, and I'd rather be inside having a beer?
*lumberjack nods and mouths a silent "Uh-huh"*
Voiceover: Well, you're in luck! Introducing NEW ... AXIOMATIC!!!
*the axe disappears - *pop!* - and a big shiny yellow thing with a spinning blade appears in the lumberjack's hands; the lumberjack does a "shocked-happy pikachu" face*
Voiceover: That's right, it's the new AXIMOATIC™! For when chopping trees takes too damn long!
*cue the lumberjack's wife coming out with a couple of jam sandwiches; she is played as ditzy and utterly unaware*
Wife: Oh, honey! You finally saved up and bought us a chainsaw! This is the happiest day of my life!
*jingle plays*
AXIOMATIC™ for you!
AXIOMATIC™ for me!
Let's go and chop a tree!
Tra-la-la la-la-lee!
Voiceover: AXIOMATIC™! from PAPA CHOPPO!©
psychopomp
creatures or entities responsible for escorting newly deceased souls to the afterlife
(i had no idea there was an over all name/word for these types of deities!)
creatures or entities responsible for escorting newly deceased souls to the afterlife
(i had no idea there was an over all name/word for these types of deities!)
That's cool! I'd have just assumed it was specific to greek mythology but, yeah, it's a wholly general term for all and any afterlife escorts. Nice.
Maybe it's not specific to the Greeks, but the word is Greek.
As the wikipedia link points out, it's "from the Greek word ψυχοπομπός, psychopompós, literally meaning the 'guide of souls'."
Do you despair over the state of the world? You may be suffering from Weltschmerz, a word which literally translates to “world pain.”
Is the State of the World Causing You Pain?
There's been a few over the last couple of days. Some I had forgotten and was happy to come across again, like hornswoggle (to trick), but two that were completely new:
Flensing: a very specific word for the act of stripping layers of blubber from a whale or more generally for stripping skin. Gross but curious.
Pulchritudinous: beautiful. That is all.
I feel like flensing is a more beautiful word than pulchritudinous, without context, and that pulchritudinous should mean something repugnant, like slicing blubber from whale flesh. We share a strange language sometimes.
Flensing: a very specific word for the act of stripping layers of blubber from a whale or more generally for stripping skin. Gross but curious.
Pulchritudinous: beautiful. That is all.
I feel like flensing is a more beautiful word than pulchritudinous, without context, and that pulchritudinous should mean something repugnant, like slicing blubber from whale flesh. We share a strange language sometimes.
aphorism - a pithy observation that contains a general truth
example - 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
example - 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Last edited:
A very poetic term, thanks for sharing! I like the origin of it too: of or relating to the west wind, deemed the most favourable, but also then of Favonius the Roman god of the west wind. Nice.
I remember writing a poem once (in response to a napowrimo prompt I think?) that had to be made up of kennings. I wonder if a similar prose challenge would work to write a short story almost exclusively constructed from aphorisms?
This is an interesting word! No doubt related to the Scottish term "ken" which means to know?
Not quite. A kenning is a compound expression in Old English and Old Norse poetry with metaphorical meaning, e.g. oar-steed = ship. They are very common in skaldic poetry (a skald is an Old Norse battle-poet, who recited poetry in the mead halls of the rich and famous.
One of the most famous and controversial skalds was Egill Skallagrímsson, possibly the inspiration for J. R. R. Tolkien's character of Beorn, the shape-shifter).Some more kennings include:
- whale-road or swan-road: the sea.
- dwelling-place: residence.
- earth-hall: burial mound.
- battle-sweat: blood.
- shield-warrior: fighters carrying shields.
- ring-giver: king.
- sleep of the sword: death.
- sky-candle or God's beacon: the sun.
I've studied the Vikings for years, so I'm familiar with skalds and kennings. Here are some more Old Norse words:- Goði (Old Norse, pronounced "Gothi"). Male priest who led the community in major rituals and sacrifices.
- Gyðja (again from Old Norse, pron. "Gytha"). Female priest who carried the same duties.
- Völva (Old Norse, meaning "staff-bearer" or "wand carrier"). Prophetess or seer, highly respected and feared for her ability to perform magic and predict the future through her practice of seiðr (pron. "SAY-ther", female magic connected with Old Norse religion, mostly concerned with the natural and supernatural world). Male seers also existed, but were often viewed with suspicion or criticism.
From the word Völva we also get the Völuspá, a poem in Norse mythology that tells of a völva's prophecies about the creation, destruction and re-birth of the world.
It's the best-known poem from the Poetic Edda, since it includes all we know about Ragnarök.Sorry to go on about this. I simply find it fascinating.
Similar threads
