Potato.

nevver:

When some words have hit the big time, they’ve left clunky related words behind.

1. EXHAUST/INHAUST
   While “exhaust,” from the Latin for “draw out of,” was first attested in 1540 and went on to a great career in the English vocabulary, “inhaust,” with the meaning “draw into,” was attested in 1547 (something about a “flye inhausted into a mannes throte sodenly”) but soon became obsolete.
2. OMNISCIENT/NESCIENT
   You know about “omniscient,” which comes from the Latin for “all knowing,” but did you know there was a counterpart meaning “not knowing”? You can now consider yourself more-scient!
3. RESUSCITATE/EXSUSCITATE
   “Exsuscitate” was around in the 1500s, as was “resuscitate,” but where “resuscitate” was for the act of bringing someone back from the dead, “exsuscitate” was for the less impressive act of rousing or waking someone up from sleep. It didn’t stick, and it doesn’t look likely to be resuscitated.
4. PRELIMINARY/POSTLIMINARY
   “Postliminary” has a technical use in international law, where it refers to the “right of postliminy” (stuff taken in war gets returned), but it’s also been used sporadically since the early 19th century as the opposite of “preliminary.”
5. INCANTATION/EXCANTATION
   If your incantation turns out to be a magic spell that somehow gets you in a jam, it might be good to be able to perform an excantation to get yourself out of it. Too bad the word, attested in 1580, is now obsolete.
6. INCRIMINATION/CONCRIMINATION
   It wouldn’t be fun to be the subject of an incrimination, but it might be a little more fun to be part of a concrimination with your friends, meaning “a joint accusation.” The word shows up in a 1656 dictionary, but we have no evidence that anyone ever used it.
7. INAUGURATE/EXAUGURATE
   Back in 1600 the word “inaugurate” was used to describe a ceremonial act of consecration or induction into office, but there was also the word “exaugurate” meaning, according to the OED, “To cancel the inauguration of; to unhallow, make profane.”

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nevver:

1. box tent : the plastic table-like item found in pizza boxes
2. jamais vu : that feeling of seeing something for the first time, even though there’s nothing new about it
3. paresthesia : that tingling sensation when your foot falls asleep
4. grawlix : the string of typographical symbols comic strips use to indicate profanity (“$%@!”)
5. caruncula : the small, triangular pink bump on the inside corner of each eye
6. badinage : another word for playful banter
7. rhumba : a group of rattlesnakes
8. dringle : to waste time by being lazy
9. agraffe : the wire cage that keeps the cork in a bottle of champagne
10. wings : those back flaps on a bra
11. rasher : a single slice of bacon
12. purlicue : the web between your thumb and forefinger

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legal-savvy:

paralegalizer:

Talking Like a Lawyer

Contrary to popular belief, knowledge of the law is just one part of what it means to be a lawyer. The transition from normal person to lawyer also involves learning to talk the talk. Unfortunately, this has serious ramifications for our friends and loved ones as we, the law students, start incorporating legal terms into everyday conversation.

To help those struggling to get their head around their law-student friend’s new vocab, we’ve prepared this quick cheat sheet to lawyer-speak…

“REASONABLE PERSON”

Example: “A reasonable person would say…”

Translation: What I think, not what you think. They are telling you you’re wrong.

“BUT FOR”

Example: “But for the unfortunate coffee incident last week…”

Translation: It’s your fault, even if your wrongdoing has only had an indirect impact.

“THE CHAIN OF CAUSATION”

Example: “If you trace the chain of causation you’ll find…”

Translation: Really, you set off the domino effect that caused this problem.

VOID AB INITIO

Example: “The agreement we made is void ab initio…”

Translation: Invalid from the beginning. Law students will probably use this to renege on a bet or get out of buying the next round. It’s also their way of saying, “P.S. I know Latin.”

“NOT INSIGNIFICANT”

Example: “The impact this event has had is not insignificant…”

Translation: It’s not a big deal….but it’s kind of not not a big deal, too.

“FAR-FETCHED OR FANCIFUL”

Example: “Of all your far-fetched or fanciful suggestions…”

Translation: Completely and utterly unrealistic.

“PUFFERY”

Example: “That offer was pure puffery…”

Translation: It’s hyperbole for law students, sometimes with advertising-related connotations.

“MISLEADING AND DECEPTIVE CONDUCT”

Example: “Your conduct was misleading and deceptive…”

Translation: You tricked me, you bastard.

“UNCONSCIONABLE”

Example: “Of all the unconscionable things…”

Translation: Very, very naughty. This will probably be used where the law student in your life is trying to claim the moral high ground.

TALKING IN LISTS

We’ll finish this post with one more observation about lawyer-speak. You will soon notice law students starting to talk in the same way that they write their essays. If they have multiple points to raise, don’t be surprised to hear them structure everyday conversation with ‘firstly’, ‘secondly’, ‘finally’, etc.

This is true.

(via legallyyourss)

synchroneity-:

Etymology lesson!

Once upon a time (back in the days of Old English) male humans were called weremen and female humans were called wifmen. Wereman meant “man” (this is still seen today in words like “werewolf”, which of course means “wolf man”) and wifman meant “wife of man”. The -man suffix relates to human.

Over time, the were part of wereman was dropped and men simply became men, while wifman evolved into the word woman. 

When you change the word “woman” to “womyn” you are taking the part that relates to being human and removing it because you arbitrarily don’t like it seeming like “man”, while keeping the part that devalues women to simply being wives.

Learn the history of words before deciding what is and is not dehumanizing.

(via thescientificegalitarian)

Ailurophile A cat-lover.
Assemblage A gathering.
Becoming Attractive.
Beleaguer To exhaust with attacks.
Brood To think alone.
Bucolic In a lovely rural setting.
Bungalow A small, cozy cottage.
Chatoyant Like a cat’s eye.
Comely Attractive.
Conflate To blend together.
Cynosure A focal point of admiration.
Dalliance A brief love affair.
Demesne Dominion, territory.
Demure Shy and reserved.
Denouement The resolution of a mystery.
Desuetude Disuse.
Desultory Slow, sluggish.
Diaphanous Filmy.
Dissemble Deceive.
Dulcet Sweet, sugary.
Ebullience Bubbling enthusiasm.
Effervescent Bubbly.
Efflorescence Flowering, blooming.
Elision Dropping a sound or syllable in a word.
Elixir A good potion.
Eloquence Beauty and persuasion in speech.
Embrocation Rubbing on a lotion.
Emollient A softener.
Ephemeral Short-lived.
Epiphany A sudden revelation.
Erstwhile At one time, for a time.
Ethereal Gaseous, invisible but detectable.
Evanescent Vanishing quickly, lasting a very short time.
Evocative Suggestive.
Fetching Pretty.
Felicity Pleasantness.
Forbearance Withholding response to provocation.
Fugacious Fleeting.
Furtive Shifty, sneaky.
Gambol To skip or leap about joyfully.
Glamour Beauty.
Gossamer The finest piece of thread, a spider’s silk.
Halcyon Happy, sunny, care-free.
Harbinger Messenger with news of the future.
Imbrication Overlapping and forming a regular pattern.
Imbroglio An altercation or complicated situation.
Imbue To infuse, instill.
Incipient Beginning, in an early stage.
Ineffable Unutterable, inexpressible.
Ingénue A naïve young woman.
Inglenook A cozy nook by the hearth.
Insouciance Blithe nonchalance.
Inure To become jaded.
Labyrinthine Twisting and turning.
Lagniappe A special kind of gift.
Lagoon A small gulf or inlet.
Languor Listlessness, inactivity.
Lassitude Weariness, listlessness.
Leisure Free time.
Lilt To move musically or lively.
Lissome Slender and graceful.
Lithe Slender and flexible.
Love Deep affection.
Mellifluous Sweet sounding.
Moiety One of two equal parts.
Mondegreen A slip of the ear.
Murmurous Murmuring.
Nemesis An unconquerable archenemy.
Offing The sea between the horizon and the offshore.
Onomatopoeia A word that sounds like its meaning.
Opulent Lush, luxuriant.
Palimpsest A manuscript written over earlier ones.
Panacea A solution for all problems
Panoply A complete set.
Pastiche An art work combining materials from various sources.
Penumbra A half-shadow.
Petrichor The smell of earth after rain.
Plethora A large quantity.
Propinquity An inclination.
Pyrrhic Successful with heavy losses.
Quintessential Most essential.
Ratatouille A spicy French stew.
Ravel To knit or unknit.
Redolent Fragrant.
Riparian By the bank of a stream.
Ripple A very small wave.
Scintilla A spark or very small thing.
Sempiternal Eternal.
Seraglio Rich, luxurious oriental palace or harem.
Serendipity Finding something nice while looking for something else.
Summery Light, delicate or warm and sunny.
Sumptuous Lush, luxurious.
Surreptitious Secretive, sneaky.
Susquehanna A river in Pennsylvania.
Susurrous Whispering, hissing.
Talisman A good luck charm.
Tintinnabulation Tinkling.
Umbrella Protection from sun or rain.
Untoward Unseemly, inappropriate.
Vestigial In trace amounts.
Wafture Waving.
Wherewithal The means.
Woebegone Sorrowful, downcast.

(via so much to tell you)

(via thefourthandfrattiest)