Word of the Day!

davyjose

I was thinking, perhaps we could have a word of the day thread. Just a thread where each day (or whenever), someone posts a word, the meaning, and maybe an example of its use, so that we might all get to stretch our vocabulary a bit, and add the odd fancy word to that story you've been workin on/seem super nerdy/impress the chicks with/etc.

We could try going alphabetically, or randomly. ( Andyou can copy and paste from the dictionary for precision, but it's probably an idea to have an understanding of the word, rather than plucking one from oscurity, this way it's less likely to be too obscure.) Either way, I'll start with A:

Abstruse

1.Hard to understand; recondite; esoteric
2.Obsolete. secret; hidden.


"Pickarooney tried to get to grips with the exact guidelines of the VOAT competition, but found they were too abstruse."

pickarooney

Meh. More of an English forum thing, no?

Spiritoftheseventies

Would be good for improving the vocabularly. Im up for it.

ToasterSparks

Me too, I like the idea. Though I'll admit, I'll most likely be reading entries than submitting them.

Pickarooney, I find your lack of enthusiasm very abtruse.

(Is that a correct use of the word?)

EileenG

Personally, I'd be more inclined to go for a "Cliche of the day", so we could see the words and phrases to avoid.

My personal teeth clencher is "To coin a phrase" when a person is about to repeat a cliche.

"To coin a phrase" means to make up a new phrase for the first time, it doesn't mean repeat something that has lost all meaning.

Spiritoftheseventies

I know someone goes mad when someone says needless to say. His point being it doesnt need to be said.

Antilles

Not a cliche, as such, but the phrase "begs the question" sends me into a Hulk-like rage every time.

davyjose

pickarooney wrote: »

Meh. More of an English forum thing, no?

Meh. if you say so.

Spiritoftheseventies

I like the word continuum (prononouced con-tin-you-um)

wike def. In mathematics, "the continuum" is sometimes used to denote the real line, and more generally to describe similar objects. Every part of the real line is said to be a continuum. Peirce: A continuum is something every part of which has parts.

imasmeasmecanbe

Sesquipedalian

Being prone to the use of long words

Spiritoftheseventies

Facetious.
Notabe for fact that all the vowels are in sequence.

af_thefragile

EileenG wrote: »

Personally, I'd be more inclined to go for a "Cliche of the day", so we could see the words and phrases to avoid.

My personal teeth clencher is "To coin a phrase" when a person is about to repeat a cliche.

"To coin a phrase" means to make up a new phrase for the first time, it doesn't mean repeat something that has lost all meaning.

This would be a good idea for a thread as well.

Would be good to know the "traps" novice writers could easily fall into. There's nothing worse than reading a good story and then coming across an overused and poor cliche...

Can't think of one right now though... unfortunately!



Anyway for the word, here's one:

Vicarious.

Dictionary says: Felt or undergone as if one were taking part in the experience or feelings of another.
As in "Listening to Pete's story about his Arctic trip filled me up with vicarious excitement"...

I think... Never used the word myself. But it sounds cool... :pac: