Odd words

[gmw]

I've been busy writing software rather than stories lately (for what seems like years ... wait ... it is years. Damn!) But I still read. Indeed I read so much that every now and then I glance at the incoming spam emails to see what's new. You know how badly most of these things of written, they're often worth a chuckle. So here I was reading one from "Apple Global" where I was being told "omission to do so will result in remotion of your Apple ID".

I thought: "Remotion? What idiots these people are."

A few moments passed and then, I'm not sure why, I looked it up. It's a real word! How have I managed to go XX years without coming across "remotion" before?

The next thought I had was, the writer's corner here could do with an "Odd words" thread, somewhere we can each air our ignorance. ... Wait. Put like that it might not be such a popular idea.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by gmw

The next thought I had was, the writer's corner here could do with an "Odd words" thread, somewhere we can each air our ignorance. ... Wait. Put like that it might not be such a popular idea.

Ha ha. Uh, yeah.

I always thought remunerate was a weird word. Sure grammar wonks get it right but ordinary mortals just want to say renumerate.

[gmw]

I wonder if your remuneration problem may be similar to my verisimilitude problem. I think it's a wonderful word, but I've never used it in conversation; I just can't get my tongue around it.

I have a similar problem with corollary - every time I try to say it out loud I am reminded of Pratchett: "Nanny Ogg knew how to start spelling 'banana', but didn't know how you stopped." I try to say corollary and end up with too many "oro"s in there somewhere. ... Maybe that's why I like reading so much, all these wonderful words that don't have to be spoken.

[Loosheesh]

I come across odd words from time to time but the two that have really stayed with me a while are discombobulate (found this one in a Harlequin romance more than 20 years ago; I do use it from time to time, mostly when I'm being facetious ) and cachinnation (this one I found in Jane Eyre: "curious cachinnation" - so delightful! )

Finding odd words is one of my favorite things about reading

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Ha ha. Uh, yeah.

I always thought remunerate was a weird word. Sure grammar wonks get it right but ordinary mortals just want to say renumerate.

Yet another example of why a knowledge of Latin is so useful in understanding English words. Anyone with a knowledge of Latin would immediately recognise that it comes from the Latin verb "munero", which means "to give as a gift" or "to reward". I hear people say that learning Latin is irrelevant in today's world, but it's something I constantly find useful.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by Loosheesh

I come across odd words from time to time but the two that have really stayed with me a while are discombobulate (found this one in a Harlequin romance more than 20 years ago; I do use it from time to time, mostly when I'm being facetious ) and cachinnation (this one I found in Jane Eyre: "curious cachinnation" - so delightful! )

Finding odd words is one of my favorite things about reading

And yet, it seems, modern writers are discouraged from getting too adventurous with their vocabulary. I know I got queried about using susurrus ... but I said if Pratchett could get away with it in a kids book then having it in a book intended for adults should be fine. (Admittedly in Pratchett's "Wee Free Men" the definition is given along with the word.) Still, I think an author can get away with the occasional interesting word without offending too many people, especially if the context assists with understanding - as it often does.

I do like cachinnation.

Originally Posted by HarryT

Yet another example of why a knowledge of Latin is so useful in understanding English words. Anyone with a knowledge of Latin would immediately recognise that it comes from the Latin verb "munero", which means "to give as a gift" or "to reward". I hear people say that learning Latin is irrelevant in today's world, but it's something I constantly find useful.

My first reaction would be that knowing Latin gives me just another language to be confused in. ... But the truth is that I am quite jealous of those that were taught Latin in school - like my wife. The rural school I attended only offered what was called "An Introduction to Modern Languages", which covered French, German, Indonesian and Japanese all in one year. It's wonderful to be able to count to ten for people when I meet them, and if I really push my memory I might be able to say hello in some (probably inappropriate) form. But that's about it.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by gmw

My first reaction would be that knowing Latin gives me just another language to be confused in. ... But the truth is that I am quite jealous of those that were taught Latin in school - like my wife.

Me too . I learned Latin (and Greek) as an adult, for fun (which I appreciate may not be everyone's idea of fun, but there you go ).

[arjaybe]

Originally Posted by gmw

And yet, it seems, modern writers are discouraged from getting too adventurous with their vocabulary. I know I got queried about using susurrus ... but I said if Pratchett could get away with it in a kids book then having it in a book intended for adults should be fine. (Admittedly in Pratchett's "Wee Free Men" the definition is given along with the word.) Still, I think an author can get away with the occasional interesting word without offending too many people, especially if the context assists with understanding - as it often does.

Someone said, "There's nothing wrong with making a reader pick up a dictionary," and I took it to heart. If I have a word that's just right, I'm not going to replace it with something less right just because it might be easier for some people to read. Of course, I'd never use a "big word" just to try to impress people. If "small words" do the job, then that's what I use.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by gmw

I wonder if your remuneration problem may be similar to my verisimilitude problem. I think it's a wonderful word, but I've never used it in conversation; I just can't get my tongue around it.

Yeah, remunerate can not be pronounced. (Studies have shown this.)

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Yet another example of why a knowledge of Latin is so useful in understanding English words. Anyone with a knowledge of Latin would immediately recognise that it comes from the Latin verb "munero", which means "to give as a gift" or "to reward". I hear people say that learning Latin is irrelevant in today's world, but it's something I constantly find useful.

Me too, Harry. Me too. E pluribus unum!

[cromag]

Funny! The first thing I thought of was the old song by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles: I Second That Remotion.

(FWIW, my spell check doesn't know it's a real word, either. I'm going to take a chance and not add it to the dictionary.)

[gmw]

Originally Posted by cromag

Funny! The first thing I thought of was the old song by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles: I Second That Remotion.

(FWIW, my spell check doesn't know it's a real word, either. I'm going to take a chance and not add it to the dictionary.)

You had me going there for a minute - quite panicky. I thought: "I know that song! It cannot be ...!!!"

And, of course, it's not. You're a naughty naughty boy.

[Gregg Bell]

Bob Dylan thought "I can't hide" in the Beatle's "I want to hold your hand" was "I get high."

[Katsunami]

Defenestrate: throwing someone out of a window

I first read it in an Eddings novel, and thought he made it up.

It sounds as if a Dutch word ended up in English... only the Dutch version doesn't exist.

In "defenestrate" I see "fenest(e)r", which looks and sounds the Dutch word "venster"; and this word actually is the Dutch word for "window". Therefore the Dutch translation of "defenestrate" would become "ontvensteren", and that word doesn't exist, as far as I know.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Defenestrate: throwing someone out of a window

I first read it in an Eddings novel, and thought he made it up.

It sounds as if a Dutch word ended up in English... only the Dutch version doesn't exist.

In "defenestrate" I see "fenest(e)r", which looks and sounds the Dutch word "venster"; and this word actually is the Dutch word for "window". Therefore the Dutch translation of "defenestrate" would become "ontvensteren", and that word doesn't exist, as far as I know.

From the Online Etymology Dictionary:

defenestration (n.)
1620, "the action of throwing out of a window," from Latin fenestra "window" (see fenestration). A word invented for one incident: the "Defenestration of Prague," May 21, 1618, when two Catholic deputies to the Bohemian national assembly and a secretary were tossed out the window (they landed in a trash heap and survived) of the castle of Hradschin by Protestant radicals. It marked the start of the Thirty Years War.