Education & Reference Underused/Forgotten Words

[Tulip]

Yes to spiffing. Sterling too

 

[mdc]

Spanking is better than either.

Foible. Verve. Gallivant.

 

[MarcMaverick]

Lilt
Hornswoggled.
Quintessential
Secular
Tryptophan
Antidisestablishmantarianism

 

[AtomicBlonde]

smashing
lexicon
fornication
semblance
penchant
scrumptious
wherewithal

I use these words a lot, I'm sure a lot of you guys do too and I love 'em.

 

[Doctor Feel]

lol i use fornication and quintessential on a regular basis.

Funny how the two words go together in a sense

 

[Righteo]

Surreptitious.

 

[Dan3490]

Thrice.

 

[Illinois Nazi]

Thrice.

Isn't that an archaic form of "threepeat"?

 

[Team Mo']

Faffing.

 

[skilts]

perfunctory

That certainly is.

 

[skilts]

Cad and bounder. They have the added bonus of being virtually inseparable.

I mourn the loss of the semi-colon; and the misuse of colons is equally disappointing.

Edit: Similarly, there used to be an offence on the books of being, "a rogue and a vagabond". This was a catch-all offence used to get indigents and suspicious characters off the streets for a few days, even though they may not have committed a specific crime. They just had to be deemed by police as a person likely to do so.

2nd Edit: The term 'rogue and vagabond' has the further pleasure attached of being a splendid Spoonerism.

 

[_Christoh_]

frivolous

 

[Damon_3388]

Edit: Similarly, there used to be an offence on the books of being, "a rogue and a vagabond". This was a catch-all offence used to get indigents and suspicious characters off the streets for a few days, even though they may not have committed a specific crime. They just had to be deemed by police as a person likely to do so.

Sounds like the criminal equivalent of "general soreness"

- "What'd you get done for mate?"
- "Oh you know, general scallywag behaviour, being a rogue and a vagabond, all that."

 

[coldpieswarmbeer]

Plethora.

pleth·o·ra
noun
1. A superabundance; an excess.
2. An excess of blood in the circulatory system or in one organ or area.

i use this alot.

 

[Crimson Azure]

Discombobulated

Truculent

Perfunctory

Disingenuous

I think half the problem these days is people are too lazy to think about how they want come across to others when speaking. The opposite is worse. Some try to impress others by using big words but fail to place them correctly or use them appropriately whilst conversing, which makes them come off a wanna-be hi brow pretentious intellectual, but just makes them look stupid. I would take someone lazy with their words, who just wants to get their point across over these aforementioned types any day.

 

[krisholio14]

Strumpet

 

[Damon_3388]

Strumpet

Harlot

 

[Crimson Azure]

De facto - Now everyone says: "He lives with his partner" rather than the traditional "they're living in a de facto relationship.

Used to hear that term a lot as a kid.

 

[Caesar]

Languorious and lugubrious.

 

[Damon_3388]

tempestuous
ardour
histrionics
lackadaisical
quisling
quizzical

 

[getthefooty]

Hear lackadaisical all the time though it is rarely pronounced correctly.

Love the word transcend but I wouldn't really say it's underused. Ubiquitous, nonplussed, grotesque and merely are all words I enjoy.

 

[mdc]

Strumpet

Harlot

Wench.

 

[krisholio14]

Wench.

hussy.

 

[MarcMaverick]

Banshee
Harpy
Cad
Tripe
Glad

 

[Messenger]

quisling

Not heard since Kim Beasley left Parliament.