this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2025
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[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

Too much to ask, pure fantasy

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

"Bosom". Religious nuts shouldn't have a monopoly on the word. Also, it makes me chuckle every time.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

It's like the wholesome counterpart to "boob." Both kinda sound like what they describe, but "bosom" feels classy.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 hours ago

"proselytize"

Only came across the word recently.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 hours ago
  1. "Thank you"
  2. "My bad"
  3. "I am not familiar with the subject so I have no opinion on it"
[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I petition to bring back regular use of Kerfuffle.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

I'll sign that petition no doubt

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 hours ago

"Wow isn't life great since we went to the 3 day working week!"

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 hours ago

Prestige TV

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 hours ago

I've always been partial to there- and where-compounds (thereupon, therefrom, wherein, etc.).

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 hours ago

"lambasts" or "pillories" instead of "slams" in news headlines

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 hours ago

No kings. United we stand. ✊

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 hours ago
  • cerulean is a word that just has so much more class and gravitas than "sky blue"
  • gravitas is a word that simply has no other word providing such ... well, gravitas (dignity, solemnity, etc.)
  • charlatan is a word we need to apply every time a politician or a CEO or such speaks
  • the Holy Triad: whence, whither, wherefore
  • nubivagant is a word that doesn't mean anything like what it looks and sounds like
  • niggardly is another word that doesn't mean anything like what it looks and sounds like (and can get you fired if you have uneducated colleagues)
  • frippery is just fun to say

I would also like to see some further German words imported into English like we imported "Schadenfreude":

  • Backpfeifengesicht as an alternative for 'a punchable face'
  • Fremdschämen to express being embarrassed for someone who's done something cringe
  • Weltschmerz is a word I'll let you look up so you can see how it might be super-appropriate for this day and age

There's also a Chinese word I'd like to bring into English and make common:

  • 三观 (sānguān) which is pronounced kinda/sorta "san gwun", means literally "three views", and means idiomatically the alignment (or lack thereof) of worldviews, values, and ethics between individuals
[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Verisimilitude. It's just nice.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 hours ago (3 children)

It's a good word! How would you use it in a sentence?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago

The general meaning is the appearance of truth or validity.

But I usually use it to describe something that is "believable" even if the underlying premise is not. So a fantasy story that pays close attention to detail and is highly consistent might be described as having versimilitude. On the other hand, a story where the characters make out-of-character choices might be lacking versimilitude, even if there are no overtly "fictional" elements to the story.

That's usually how I've heard it used, not sure if it's the "main" usage though.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 hours ago

Poorly! As I'm currently high and do not feel confident using it correctly!

Looks cool though!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 hours ago

The novelist's meticulous attention to historical detail—from the cadence of 19th-century dialogue to the texture of hand-stitched corsets—lent her story an uncanny verisimilitude, making even the most outlandish plot twists feel hauntingly plausible.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 hours ago

Not a particular phrase, but I'd like if people asked more questions, even if they sound like stupid questions, than to assume the answer.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (2 children)

Good forenoon to you!

Also, I'm totally down with referring to the days of the Week by their etymological roots. Happy Day of Thor to you!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 hours ago

Surely you mean Star Period 4?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Ooooh I'm 100% behind using the etymological roots. Good call!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

May tomorrow you have an excellent Day of Venus.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 hours ago

Why thank you 😊

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 hours ago

Call it cheesy, but people need to tell each other "I love you" more often.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 hours ago

"I don't know."

If we were honest, it's the thing we should all be saying and hearing all day long. But it's not. Quite the opposite, it's among the rarest. Instead, people are shooting their certainties at one another, relentlessly.

Not knowing something or not having an opinion on a question is not an issue. It's to be expected, even if we were all geniuses (I'm certainly not one). Not doing the work to inform oneself could potentially be an issue but should not be as long we don't pretend otherwise. It's when one pretends to know, based on what one has heard someone else say, or because one wants to push a specific narrative that suits them, that shit starts hitting the fan. That's when living together turn into the stinking shit hole it has turned into in which lies are fine (when they're not adored) and facts have become suspicious if not dangerous.

Obviously, I don't know what I'm talking about.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Gadzooks. It's just such a fun phrase.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

I love it! I'm also pretty fond of words like shenanigans and hijinks.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 hours ago

Ooooh those are good ones

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (1 children)

"I disagre, but you know what? That's fine, let's drop the subject and have a drink or whatever!"

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 hours ago

"NO! I will destroy you, and wipe your seed from this earth unless you agree that Batman Begins had some pacing issues at the end of act 1!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 hours ago

For me, the small politeness words are not "thank you", "sorry", or "good morning". They're "maybe", "I think", "perhaps", "I don't know". I respect honest doubt way, way more than I respect dishonest = rushed certainty, and I wish I saw more of that.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Old english stuff like thy or thou. Nothing practical, just for the lol.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 hours ago
[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 hours ago

Does just broader vocabulary count? Maybe it's just a rule that everyone sits down with a dictionary every couple of weeks for 30 minutes just opening it to a random page.

Also, more latin phrases. That's cool shit.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

I care about you but not just said to me but to between other people.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 hours ago

Crocodile done deal

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 hours ago

Ever since reading it in my kids' Bluey book: bumblenuts (context is, "g'day, bumblenuts!" following an introduction)