2. CharlieL - Nov. 9, 1998 - 9:41 AM PT
My favorite new word comes from when sonething is looked forward to for a long time, and then the actuality doesn't live up to the expectations, sort of like the elections for the GOP.
The word is "anticippointment."
3. envision - Nov. 9, 1998 - 9:53 AM PT
"Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own."--Jonathan Swift, "The Battle of the Books."
4. Random - Nov. 9, 1998 - 9:54 AM PT
"Stupid is as stupid does." says Forest Gump.
But it is sometimes
"anticippointment" gives self satisfaction to the less talented. Sounds petty and small to me.
5. profemeritus - Nov. 9, 1998 - 10:15 AM PT
Neologisms from adhocism to zap where adhocism is the tendency of people like Republicans to concentrate only on the latest issue, and the meaning of zap has moved from to kill to to stimulate to the medical usage meaning to apply cardioversion.
6. DanDillon - Nov. 9, 1998 - 10:19 AM PT
Strictly FYI in Message #1: 600,000 refers to the approximate number of lexical items in English.
7. CharlieL - Nov. 9, 1998 - 10:26 AM PT
"Stupid is as Random posts."
I know you can't see the "Forest" for the trees, Doint, (in fact, you can't even see the trees because of those GOP-issued blinders you wear) but you really should know from whom you are quoting. The character's name is "Forrest Gump."
Perhaps you were on "ridlin" when you posted that, right?
8. harr0004 - Nov. 9, 1998 - 10:26 AM PT
I was reading an article about a linguist who was saying that the increased use of the word "like" as a filler word (a la Valley girl) is beneficial to our speech. He brought up that many languages have similar filler words (notice italian speakers never seem to break stride?), though the specific examples escape me now.
I personally find it very irritating.
9. tmachine - Nov. 9, 1998 - 10:29 AM PT
I take issue with "zup." When my kids use it (and we live in a hip-hop nabe, so they come by it legitimately, I think), it sounds like "sup," not "zup." Which spoils the A-Z thing a bit
10. tmachine - Nov. 9, 1998 - 10:36 AM PT
what a stupid linguist. English has always had meaningless filler words. When I was Valley girl age the phrase of choice was "um, you know." My impression is that "like" is not just used in order not to break a train of thought; it actually substitutes for words so that the speaker doesn't have to remember other vocabulary. I don't mean hard words either--the prime example is its use, when retailing a conversation or story, instead of "say" or "says": "And she's, like, omigod where are you GOING in that sweater, and I'm, like, Duh! to my grandma's, you don't think I'd wear this, like, gross Shetland thing to school EVER?"
11. tmachine - Nov. 9, 1998 - 10:37 AM PT
neologism I rather like: "phat." Somehow when my 13-year-old says "That is SO phat!" it doesn't sound at all like "fat."
12. harr0004 - Nov. 9, 1998 - 10:42 AM PT
While I'm venting on language, I'll let you all in on a pet peeve of mine and every other Canadian I've ever met. Whenever an American commercial or T.V show wants us to know someone is Canadian they randomly tack "eh" onto the end of a sentence. example: that Wendy's ad where a hockey coach says "Take off your skates, eh."
Make no mistake, alot of people use that slang up here but it is used as a question mark, like raising your tone of voice at the end of a question or saying "you know?". Usually it is a request for agreement.
It's use generally irritates parents and school teachers.
13. harr0004 - Nov. 9, 1998 - 10:45 AM PT
tmachine
I think "zup" is correct as it is an abbreviation of the earlier "wazzup"
14. hashke - Nov. 9, 1998 - 10:45 AM PT
'anticencouragement'= a kick in the butt, rather than that long-awaited pat on the back.
15. tmachine - Nov. 9, 1998 - 10:51 AM PT
harr0004: but what I hear is "wassup," not "wazzup"
16. hashke - Nov. 9, 1998 - 10:52 AM PT
haar004:
Do a lot of people up there also say 'alot'?
17. tmachine - Nov. 9, 1998 - 10:52 AM PT
harr0004: "it's" instead of "its" for a possessive pronoun irritates this parent
18. harr0004 - Nov. 9, 1998 - 10:53 AM PT
I think that when "like" is used instead of "says" or "said" it's meant to convey an attitude as well as words. Using "goes" (as in "So then she goes "No way!" and then I go "Way!") is a more strict synonym(sp?) for "say"
19. profemeritus - Nov. 9, 1998 - 10:54 AM PT
supply-hider=hoarder (from supply-sider)
20. DocBrown - Nov. 9, 1998 - 10:59 AM PT
My job itself is a new word "Reengineering." In that capacity I am constantly swimming in new words, or more commonly nouns used as verbs and vice versa.
One of the newest biggies is the new word INCENTIVIZE. The English language already had a perfectly good verb form for the word incentive which I used for years. That word I used was INCITE. But recently I have drawn ridicule from my peers for not using the "proper" word INCENTIVIZE.
21. harr0004 - Nov. 9, 1998 - 11:07 AM PT
hashke
You couldn't give the benefit of the doubt that I just forgot the space there? (my name is harr0004, if we are all checking spelling)
tmachine
The "It's/its" problem is one I've sruggled with my entire literate life.
22. CoralReef - Nov. 9, 1998 - 11:09 AM PT
Millennial ennui™
23. tmachine - Nov. 9, 1998 - 11:11 AM PT
harr0004: I expect you've struggled with it, too
24. harr0004 - Nov. 9, 1998 - 11:15 AM PT
DocBrown:
I think "Incite" just got used too much in connection with riots, giving it an evil connotation. Such is the way of a living language.
25. harr0004 - Nov. 9, 1998 - 11:22 AM PT
re: Wassup/Wazzup
The latter seems to be the correct comic book spelling.(I site "HATE" comics' "Hey, Buddy")
26. marshame - Nov. 9, 1998 - 11:36 AM PT
One saying I have heard from teenagers/young people is "twenty four seven" which is a short hand expression for 24-hours a day, seven days a week. As in: "I feel like I'm working twenty four seven." "Oh yeah, my dad's on my back twenty four seven" etc. etc.
27. AzureNW - Nov. 9, 1998 - 11:40 AM PT
I've always heard it pronounced "seven-twenty-four."
28. CoralReef - Nov. 9, 1998 - 11:42 AM PT
I've always heard it twenty-four seven...BUT always written 24/7.
I guess there are variations.
29. Ronski - Nov. 9, 1998 - 11:58 AM PT
Re: Message #15
Yes; it is "'sup?", not "'zup?".
30. hashke - Nov. 9, 1998 - 12:01 PM PT
harr0004
Harr,harr, sorry about that! ;-)
31. hashke - Nov. 9, 1998 - 12:06 PM PT
Some home-groan neologisms:
remasculation=the Viagra worked!
brrrrgeoisie=the frozen muddle class, brought to mind by the serious snowfall here today.
momcorn=a more tender form of popcorn.
eggspert=a poultry guru
eggcerpt=just the yoke
32. harr0004 - Nov. 9, 1998 - 12:10 PM PT
I've always heard twenty-four seven, seems to make more sense that way though I couldn't really say why.
Has anyone heard the expression to go rank on someone? as in "I came in late again and the boss went rank on me"
33. hashke - Nov. 9, 1998 - 12:16 PM PT
harr:
No, haven't heard that one, but it's good. 'Pulled rank' is common.
34. DanDillon - Nov. 9, 1998 - 12:16 PM PT
harr0004,
Not to beat a dead horse, but would you mind adhering to standard English? This is the Language thread, after all.
35. CharlieL - Nov. 9, 1998 - 12:18 PM PT
Computer manufacturers are now using 24/7/365 to refer to some of their support plans.
36. CharlieL - Nov. 9, 1998 - 12:19 PM PT
Dan, I only adhere to standard English when I am stuck for a word.
37. DanDillon - Nov. 9, 1998 - 12:20 PM PT
Re "sup" and "zup"--
It's a trifle, really. One's voiced, one isn't. Too mild a variation to make much of it. Besides, my sourse lists "zup." (Isn't "sup" a verb anyhow?)
38. DanDillon - Nov. 9, 1998 - 12:22 PM PT
Perhaps I've confused the fellow.
It's Standard English.
Chuck,
Eh?
39. Ronski - Nov. 9, 1998 - 12:24 PM PT
Voicing a matter of no consequence? Nefer!
40. DanDillon - Nov. 9, 1998 - 12:32 PM PT
Who you callin' a nefer?! You abb!
41. harr0004 - Nov. 9, 1998 - 12:39 PM PT
DanDillon:
"Not to beat a dead horse, but would you mind adhering to standard English? This is the Language thread, after all."
What word crime did I commit now? To be more specific this is a New Language thread not(underlined) a Standard English thread. I think my language is clear enough to understand and conforms to common usage even if it does not fit your grammar checker.
42. hashke - Nov. 9, 1998 - 12:44 PM PT
harr:
No, haven't heard that one, but it's good. 'Pulled rank' is common.
43. tmachine - Nov. 9, 1998 - 12:44 PM PT
harr0004: I believe what dandillon may have had in mind was your spelling of "site" for "cite."
44. DanDillon - Nov. 9, 1998 - 12:47 PM PT
site for cite
it's for its
alot for a lot
This is not punctiliousness.
And I do not use a grammar checker. I am my own.
45. hashke - Nov. 9, 1998 - 12:48 PM PT
make that 'yolk', as in 'yarmolka'.
46. harr0004 - Nov. 9, 1998 - 12:51 PM PT
So I made a spelling mistake,sorry (I know the difference between the two words)
I figured you didn't use a grammar checker I was be facetious(sp?)
47. wonkers2 - Nov. 9, 1998 - 12:53 PM PT
Anybody heard the term "fraculate?" [I am not sure of the spelling. I have never seen it written.] Hint: it is a sailing expression used mainly on racing boats, although it could be done on a cruising sailboat also. But I suspect most cruisers wouldn't bother.
48. hashke - Nov. 9, 1998 - 12:58 PM PT
Dan:
Boy, you ain't mincin' no words. As the Germans say 'keine Haare auf der Zunge haben'---'to have no hair on the tongue'. Or in Japanese 'ha ni kinu nisenu'---'to put no silk on one's teeth when one speaks'.
We need to stop har(r)assing harr!
49. harr0004 - Nov. 9, 1998 - 1:03 PM PT
hashke:
I think the "rank" is meant as total or complete(such as "rank amateur")
50. harr0004 - Nov. 9, 1998 - 1:05 PM PT
Thanks hashke. Geez, did I insult soemone??
51. CharlieL - Nov. 9, 1998 - 1:06 PM PT
To "rank on" someone is to belittle him/her mercilessly.
52. RustlerPike - Nov. 9, 1998 - 1:11 PM PT
CoralReef Message #22:
Or just millennui? Oui?
53. ChristinO - Nov. 9, 1998 - 1:24 PM PT
Hmmm....that makes me think of "rag on". I'm not familiar with "rank on".
My roommate and I are particularly fond of "That gives me the wiggins" for "That's dicey" or "That creeps me out".
54. Raskolnikov - Nov. 9, 1998 - 1:26 PM PT
has anyone explained what "gettin' jiggy wit' it" means?
55. CharlieL - Nov. 9, 1998 - 1:27 PM PT
I think it comes from "pulling rank on" someone, such as a drill seargeant yelling at a recruit.
56. harr0004 - Nov. 9, 1998 - 1:28 PM PT
CharlieL:
I didn't think it only meant to belittle. I always thought of it as any sort of direct verbal attack but I guess those are often belittling.
57. CharlieL - Nov. 9, 1998 - 1:29 PM PT
Message #55 was a response to Message #53.
58. harr0004 - Nov. 9, 1998 - 1:34 PM PT
Raskolnikov:
I just assumed "gettin' jiggy wit' it" (I personally never heard it before the Will Smith song)was just the modern version of "make it funky", though that too defies precise definition.
59. PsychProf - Nov. 9, 1998 - 1:36 PM PT
Birch Bark
60. harr0004 - Nov. 9, 1998 - 1:39 PM PT
ChristinO:
I usually hear "gives me the willies" which is basically the same thing. I thought "That's dicey" meant that something was chancy or risky.
61. TheDiva - Nov. 9, 1998 - 1:40 PM PT
Apparently the latest adolescent locution for 'it's bad' (in the negative sense) is 'it reeks'.
Gettin' jiggy wit it refers to enjoying oneself while dancing, I believe.
62. hashke - Nov. 9, 1998 - 1:41 PM PT
punktiliousness=when the crack-addled graffiti 'artist' staggers home on time, probably because of a sell-out of spray paint.
guntamination=a loud and deadly feature of our 'society'
feeture=dollar inflation in the Coming Attractions
eggsistence=never coming out of one's shell
eggcitement=successful impregnation
63. PsychProf - Nov. 9, 1998 - 1:42 PM PT
"The Worst"...
64. hashke - Nov. 9, 1998 - 1:47 PM PT
harr:
You're welcome. Now, just as long as you really meant 'someone', and don't say 'your welcome', and don't write 'there is a lot of people over there', and avoid 'lay' for 'lie', you're gonna make it, Bud.
65. ChristinO - Nov. 9, 1998 - 1:48 PM PT
harr,
I suppose they're equatible. (I know there's a word for that but I can't for the life of me remember what it is). It's basically an uneasy and spastic feeling in response to a given situation or idea.
66. hashke - Nov. 9, 1998 - 1:50 PM PT
PP:
The Wurst of Thymes, or whut?
67. PsychProf - Nov. 9, 1998 - 1:53 PM PT
Boozer...liverwurst
68. hashke - Nov. 9, 1998 - 2:00 PM PT
PP:
You awright? You is incogherent!
69. katewrath - Nov. 9, 1998 - 2:06 PM PT
Hello,
I was just beating my head against my desk because I need the pronounciations of a slew of Marshallese words (names, mostly) and can't think of a reference to turn to when suddenly, it dawned on me: The Language Thread! Even if no one here actually speaks Marshallese, someone will almost certainly be able to guess at some pronounciations.
(In case you're wondering, I'm an infrequent Fraygrant who usually hangs out in Movies and TV and am generally considered harmless.)
Anyway, here are the words:
Rinamu (I'm thinking: RIN-a-moo?)
Lokileni (LOW-kih-lehn-ee?)
Tara Malolo (mah-LO-lo?)
pandanus (pan-DA-noos?)
Eniwetok (aNY-weh-talk?)
Any help or reasonably certain guesses would be most appreciated.
70. BobaFett - Nov. 9, 1998 - 2:10 PM PT
TheDiva:
"Gettin' jiggy with it" may also be applied to dancing, but I believe it primarily means having sex.
71. marjoribanks - Nov. 9, 1998 - 2:14 PM PT
A pandanus is a kind of tree.
72. katewrath - Nov. 9, 1998 - 2:18 PM PT
Sorry,
Just as I was walking out I noticed the "Gettin' jiggy wit' it" discussion. Ignoring both McDonald's and Captain Morgan Spiced Rum's use of the phrase in their advertising, I think it could be defined as a socially admirable state of being, entailing excellent taste in clothing, grooming, bearing and manners. To cite Will Smith's song of the same name, wearing Prada and displaying skill on the dance floor are both components of this state of being. Someone who is "getting jiggy with it" could, in other eras, be a hep cat, a hipster, one together dude, a full-on babe, an international man of mystery or a hoopy frood who really knows where his towel is.
73. DanDillon - Nov. 9, 1998 - 2:18 PM PT
Interesting that these words and phrases that have been mentioned, not yet in common usage, have vastly divergent interpretations appended to them. Once the meaning of a word regularizes, then it passes the editorial board and enters the unabridged dictionaries.
74. katewrath - Nov. 9, 1998 - 2:20 PM PT
MB:
I know a pandanus is a type of tree, but how is it pronounced?
75. harr0004 - Nov. 9, 1998 - 2:27 PM PT
Did everyone hear that the new Oxford dictionary states that it is OK to split infinitives. The ban on them was apparently an attempt to make English conform to Latin rules of grammar where infinitives are all one word and therefore unsplittable.
It is now correct for us "...to boldly go where no man has gone before!".
76. marjoribanks - Nov. 9, 1998 - 2:33 PM PT
Katewrath,
Here are my guesses which, um, are as good as yours.
Rinamu - Reeh-na-mooh
Lokileni - Loh-ki-lay-ni
Tara Malolo - Tah-rah Mah-loh-loh
pandanus Pan-dah-noos
77. BobaFett - Nov. 9, 1998 - 2:35 PM PT
Harr:
It always was a silly rule anyway. There was no chance of confusion and no chance of making the sentence incomprehensible by sliding a single word in between "To" and the verb.
And, "to boldly go" sounds much better than "to go boldly."
78. hashke - Nov. 9, 1998 - 3:08 PM PT
Just in from the Redneck Medical Dictionary:
benign - what you be when you be past eight
barium - what doctors do with patients who die
pap smear - a lie about one's dad
79. hashke - Nov. 9, 1998 - 3:13 PM PT
katewrath:
Does 'lokileni' refer to a U.S. aviation hero?
80. marshame - Nov. 9, 1998 - 3:29 PM PT
Har
A bonafide definition of rank is: in bad taste, coarse, strong, offensive.
So maybe, when the boss "went rank on me", it means that he demostrated his superior heirarchical authoritative position over me in a coarse, offensive way.
All,
Here's a new one that I have heard in financial circles. At first, I thought it was a typical Texanian error, but then I have heard it more and more from those who would know better: to levelize, as in, "we are structuring the debt in order to better levelize it." Seems to me we could just level the debt, as we have always done.
Now that it's the 90's, I guess we have to levelize it. I'm trying to orientate myself to this new way of talking, since I'm in a position where I have to administrate such things in a preventative way.
81. Philistine - Nov. 9, 1998 - 3:42 PM PT
Actually, "getting jiggy with it" refers to ostentatious displays of most any kind, especially those that are meant to incite envy. I have heard it used most to describe showing off expensive clothes, jewelry and cars.
82. Philistine - Nov. 9, 1998 - 3:45 PM PT
I find neologisms such as Marshame and DocBrown describe, "levelize" and "incentivize" to be almost as irritating as saying "nookyaler" for nuclear, or "physical" for fiscal.
83. KurtMondaugen - Nov. 9, 1998 - 3:46 PM PT
Actually, I believe the proper phrase is "gettin' jiggy widdit".
84. marshame - Nov. 9, 1998 - 3:50 PM PT
Philistine
I never heard nook-alyer or physical (for fiscal) til I came to Texas. Do you think it's a Texas thang?
85. tmachine - Nov. 9, 1998 - 3:52 PM PT
I don't think I've had the opportunity to agree with bobafett before, but I have to say that my understanding of the primary meaning of "gettin jiggy with it" is "getting it on," i.e., sex. The other meanings are derivative in the sense that a cool person is one who gets laid.
86. katewrath - Nov. 9, 1998 - 3:57 PM PT
Haske,
These are all words from a children's book called "The Bomb" by Theodore Taylor, which is a fictional account of the people of Bikini atoll before, during and after Operation Crossroads, the U.S. atomic tests after WW2. Lokileni is a character, but, for example, when I looked up a National Geographic article, I found that the protagonist Sorry Rinamu was clearly named after one of the islanders interviewed for the piece. So Lokileni could be named after a U.S. aviation hero for all I know.
MB: Thank you. I appreciate you taking a shot at the pronounciations.
87. hashke - Nov. 9, 1998 - 3:58 PM PT
tmachine:
A cool person who gets laid is dead.
88. tmachine - Nov. 9, 1998 - 4:00 PM PT
And stiff too, I guess
89. harr0004 - Nov. 9, 1998 - 4:00 PM PT
marshame:
That sounds right, though my U.K English thesaurus says "rank" is synonymous with "complete" as well as "rancid" (up in Canada we have a screwed up and overlapping mix of U.K and American English)
90. wabbit - Nov. 9, 1998 - 4:09 PM PT
Philistine,
You may have seen this, but since you mentioned "izing" -- the Dialectizer is for you.
91. Philistine - Nov. 9, 1998 - 4:19 PM PT
Thunk yuoo, Vebbeet. Um de hur de hur de hur. I hefen't ectooelly seee thet beffure-a, und I hefe-a tu sey,
I fuoond it hystereecel. I'm buukmerkeeng zee seete-a, und yuoo cun luuk furverd tu mure-a "deeelectized"
pusts frum me-a in zee footoore.
92. profemeritus - Nov. 9, 1998 - 4:19 PM PT
Philistine
It is also galling to economists to hear fiscal exam for physical exam.
I find many fraygrants trolling, dissing each other and causing their victims to get dissed.
93. ChristinO - Nov. 9, 1998 - 4:21 PM PT
According to Will Smith in the Barbara Walters interview jiggiessence has nothing to do with the sex act. Katewrath's got it on the money. "Gettin' jiggy widdit" has to do with being a person of style and individuality.
Wabbit, I missed seeing you last week. Many happy returns on your birthday!
94. BobaFett - Nov. 9, 1998 - 4:22 PM PT
Here's a new word we actually need. Check out this sentence:
Mr. Rabbit placed the pellets, whose nutritional value he depended upon, into his mouth.
I HATE having to use "whose" to refer to a non-human thing. It sounds stupid, but there is no non-personal possessive relative pronoun. I always change the sentence around to get rid of this offensive "whose," but I shouldn't have to. There should be a word like "whiches" or something.
95. ChristinO - Nov. 9, 1998 - 4:23 PM PT
Not to be confused with "dishing" which is gossip but not necessarily malicious.
Phil,
You sound a bit like the Swedish Chef. "Mbork! Mbork! Mbork!"
96. Philistine - Nov. 9, 1998 - 4:23 PM PT
profE -
"Dis" is a very useful and intuitive neologism. In short, I think its here to stay.
room -
I'll see if I can find some hiphop lyrics that clarify the meaning of "get jiggy with it (or widdit.)"
97. profemeritus - Nov. 9, 1998 - 4:24 PM PT
I saw in the business section of a newspaper "supply-cider." Do you consider that a neologism, Hashke?
98. BobaFett - Nov. 9, 1998 - 4:24 PM PT
Will Smith is a family-friendly figure. There's no way he's going to admit on tv that the title to his song means getting it on.
Many of these slang terms have deriavitive meanings, and these are always offered as the primary meaning when authority types and/or white people ask about them. But "gettin' jiggy wit it" means the same thing as "gittin' some bootie." And no, "Bootie" there does not mean "money" or "respect."
99. Philistine - Nov. 9, 1998 - 4:26 PM PT
ChristinO -
yes, I ran that post through the "dialectizer's" Swedish Chef setting. I don't think it handled 'future' very well, though. I'm almost certain the S.C. would say something more like "feecher."
100. marjoribanks - Nov. 9, 1998 - 4:28 PM PT
Actually, Philistine is on the money. Getting jiggy wit it means being ostentatious, as in clothes, cars, jools, etc.