Favorite $0.50 Words at LPSG

[2322]

The rampant misuse of "penultimate" definitely needs some more attention here.

I'll also say, I think the word "gargantuan" is underused at this particular site.

Brobdingnagian is even more neglected.

 

[ManlyBanisters]

A couple of bizzare misuses of penultimate sprang to mind ... right after irregardless (on which I second MB).

Penultimate - the final pen? :biggrin1:

I can't recall where I saw it - I think it may have been here - but 'totally decimate' (where the speaker means 'annihilate') really pisses me off.
To those that need telling 'decimate' means to take away or destroy one tenth of something and derives from the Roman military practice of executing 1 in every 10 men involved in a mutiny.

Another one I 'love' :no: is 'almost unique' or 'very unique', something is either unique or it is not - there are no degrees of uniqueness!

I'll also say, I think the word "gargantuan" is underused at this particular site.

Redressing that is a gargantuan task to undertake, but I'm sure you're up to it - gallery comments may be a good place to start, but you may want to bring along a negative qualifier or two. :wink:

 

[HazelGod]

I can't recall where I saw it - I think it may have been here - but 'totally decimate' (where the speaker means 'annihilate') really pisses me off.
To those that need telling 'decimate' means to take away or destroy one tenth of something and derives from the Roman military practice of executing 1 in every 10 men involved in a mutiny.

Etymological derivations notwithstanding, word meanings adapt over time (read: are bastardized, sadly) to their vernacular usage.

In modern parlance, decimate and annihilate may be used almost interchangeably. I just noticed that Webster does exactly that!

decimate
3 a: to reduce drastically especially in number <cholera decimated the population> b: to cause great destruction or harm to <firebombs decimated the city> <an industry decimated by recession>

annihilate
4 a: to destroy a considerable part of <bombs annihilated the city>

 

[sparky11point5]

Trenchant thread! Here are some of my favorites.

- jejune (cred to Nick8!)
- je nais seul que (that special something)
- sturm und drang (storm and stress)
- schadenfreude (joy at other's misfortune)

Sparky

 

[HazelGod]

- je nais seul que (that special something)

Sorry, I love this one as well, but I just can't stand to see my fellow Americans butcher the French language...

je ne sais quoi (zh&#601; n&#601; say kwah) - literally, "I know not what."

 

[ManlyBanisters]

Etymological derivations notwithstanding, word meanings adapt over time (read: are bastardized, sadly) to their vernacular usage.

In modern parlance, decimate and annihilate may be used almost interchangeably. I just noticed that Webster does exactly that!

decimate
3 a: to reduce drastically especially in number <cholera decimated the population> b: to cause great destruction or harm to <firebombs decimated the city> <an industry decimated by recession>

annihilate
4 a: to destroy a considerable part of <bombs annihilated the city>

Well, those fuckers are wrong, too. Websters! Pah!

 

[Calboner]

I can accept the use of "decimate" to mean something like "reduce (in numbers) drastically," as that is a reasonable extension of the original sense of the verb. What I can't abide is the use of it by sheer sloppiness when the user means "devastate," as in "The hurricane decimated the house" (ugh -- it turns my stomach just to write that).

Webster's entry 3b is bullshit. That is just a solecism. This must be taken from the notorious Webster's Third.

 

[MASSIVEPKGO_CHUCK]

There was a time when Madam Zora(God I miss her!) was around and used in perpetuity cunt breathing dragon. That surprised me everytime I saw her using it.

But, my own personal four bit adjective has been fucko. Not to be confused with Fuko, the japanese super titted goddess.

 

[HazelGod]

Well, those fuckers are wrong, too. Websters! Pah!

What I can't abide is the use of it by sheer sloppiness when the user means "devastate," as in "The hurricane decimated the house" (ugh -- it turns my stomach just to write that).

Webster's entry 3b is bullshit. That is just a solecism. This must be taken from the notorious Webster's Third.

As something of a purist, I don't like it any more than either of you...but I can't escape the feeling we're trying to skate uphill. :no:

 

[sparky11point5]

Thanks, HG, I should have looked that up, since I almost tired to write it from schoolboy french memory. I do say it with aplomb though

Sorry, I love this one as well, but I just can't stand to see my fellow Americans butcher the French language...

je ne sais quoi (zh&#601; n&#601; say kwah) - literally, "I know not what."

 

[Enid]

fractious -- stubbornly resistant to authority or control; unpredictably difficult in operation; likely to be troublesome

 

[Steve26]

Not that I've ever seen it here, but I am a huge fan of ...

insipid (adj) -- 1. flat, dull, uninteresting. 2. tasteless, bland.

 

[HazelGod]

fractious -- stubbornly resistant to authority or control; unpredictably difficult in operation; likely to be troublesome

Nope, nobody here fits that description, officer... :tongue:

insipid (adj) -- 1. flat, dull, uninteresting. 2. tasteless, bland.

Nor that one...

 

[B_Nick8]

Trenchant thread! Here are some of my favorites.

- jejune (cred to Nick8!)
- je nais seul que (that special something)
- sturm und drang (storm and stress)
- schadenfreude (joy at other's misfortune)

Sparky

Thanks for the mention, Sparkster. And I was going to note "schadenfreude" but you beat me to it, so back at you!

 

[vince]

"Putz" is an old favorite of mine that I've seen used lately. With a nod to NJQT.

"Misogyny", which rears it little head from time to time around here.

I will also vote for the previously mentioned "schadenfreude", the driving force of so much opinion in the Politics forum.

 

[D_Ireonsyd_Colonrinse]

Excuse me! I have a couple 2008 posts using the word "jejune" that pre-date Nick8's more recent (and vaguer) usage. I hope this doesn't devolve into a pissing match where I'm forced to sift through hundreds of my own posts to produce the evidence.

 

[B_Nick8]

Excuse me! I have a couple 2008 posts using the word "jejune" that pre-date Nick8's more recent (and vaguer) usage. I hope this doesn't devolve into a pissing match where I'm forced to sift through hundreds of my own posts to produce the evidence.

Quite the competitive one, aren't you?

Game on.

 

[D_Ireonsyd_Colonrinse]

I'm sorry! - mea culpa - 2 days ago I left the following post:

Gold star for Nick8 for his precise useage of the word jejune!

--------------------

Damn it. There's no way I can possibly weasel my way out of this one, as it seems to contradict my statement that his usage was "vaguer". So. I'll post first before Nick rubs it in my face at a later date.


(I was just yanking your chain anyway, N8)

 

[B_Nick8]

Check it! :biggrin1:

 

[earllogjam]

I haven't seen the term "bump" used much anymore with OP's.