Overmorrow refers to the day after tomorrow and I feel like it comes in quite handy for example.

  • ℕ𝕖𝕞𝕠
    link
    fedilink
    973 months ago

    perambulation is a good one. My morning walk isn’t quite grand enough to be called a ‘constitutional’; nor scenic and leisurely enough to be called a ‘stroll’; nor yet social enough to be called a ‘promenade’; ‘perambulation’ is just the ticket.

    • DrSleepless
      link
      English
      193 months ago

      And what a lovely paragraph about it. Thank you.

    • @Phoonzang
      link
      43 months ago

      And a “perambulator” is a kid stroller. It was an enlightening moment when I first came across that word in Neil Stephenson’s “Seveneves”, delved into its etymology and then realised why my British friend called the stroller a “pram”. This is just a contracted form of perambulator.

      It did not occur to me that there’s actually also a verb for it, so thank you for pointing that out! I love it, and I will use it henceforth!

  • Kushan
    link
    English
    903 months ago

    Interrobang.

    It’s this thing: ‽

    More people should use the symbol because it looks cool and has a badass name, so for that you need to know what it’s called.

    Who’s with me‽

    • DrSleepless
      link
      English
      643 months ago

      Interrobang sounds like something from a porno about police work.

      “Did you question the suspect?”

      “Yeah, Chief, we interrobanged him and got the info.”

      • Thassodar
        link
        fedilink
        English
        133 months ago

        Hey, it’s me, your suspect. I’ve got more info, step it up with the interrobanging, will ya?

      • lattrommi
        link
        fedilink
        English
        73 months ago

        Questioning a bang.

        My quick and dirty interrobang with her revealed to me how empty inside I was, unlike the outhouse we were in.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        33 months ago

        Or a fully themed, punctuation inspire flick. Named “character” to let you fill in the blanks.

        Char 1: Well what do you think Mark?

        Char 2: Are you sure she can handle it, Point?

        Char 1: Its time we’ve shown

        Char 2: our true power…

        Together: As Interrobang!

        Char 3: No wait, I’ve got my per…

        … OK it needs to be reworked, but you get the idea.

        • Bob
          link
          fedilink
          33 months ago

          Is it still pornographic? “Detective, dash over here and interpunct my colon”, “don’t full stop, I’m about to comma”, etc, etc.

    • moonlight
      link
      fedilink
      373 months ago

      While I like the concept, I can’t help but prefer ‘!?’ or ‘?!’. There’s more granularity of meaning, and I think it just looks nicer having two or more separate characters.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        53 months ago

        Yeah, but you aren’t proper if you’re using more than one piece of punctuation at the end of your sentence. Them’s the rules.

        Unless…

        • @MutilationWave
          link
          13 months ago

          Eh the context determines the need for proper grammar. Throwaway comments on Lemmy- fuck the grammar

    • @alexc
      link
      213 months ago

      Only if you agree to stop calling them Hashtags and use their more-correct name of Octothorpes

    • Skua
      link
      fedilink
      63 months ago

      I made AltGr + / type an interrobang so I’d always have access to it

  • @Jordan117
    link
    English
    743 months ago

    Petrichor: The smell of rain on dry ground. One of those things everybody knows about but lacks a word for.

  • [email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    613 months ago

    Overmorrow refers to the day after tomorrow

    Figured the other way around might be as obscure…
    nudiustertian: relating to the day before yesterday

    Yikes

    • @saffroncity
      link
      343 months ago

      To add to that, “ereyesterday” is the noun version for the day before yesterday.

      • @JimBeann
        link
        83 months ago

        Never saw this one before and not sure how to pronounce it while the German Vorgestern is as commen as Übermorgen.

        English on the other hand has fortnight which I think is very cool as we don’t have a special word for 14 days

        A little off topic but I find these words extremely interesting that have no direct translation as they often give a new perspective on things or concepts.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        83 months ago

        Yes, I learned English here in Austria and I remember classmates asking the teacher how to say “vorgestern” and “übermorgen” in English.

        We didn’t learn the words “ereyesterday” and “overmorrow” that day, only “the day before yesterday” and “the day after tomorrow”. :(

    • CorrodedOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      163 months ago

      I actually dislike that term a lot.

      It’s like spunkgargleweewee. It seems immature and makes me feel more dismissive towards the argument. Maybe that also has to do with it being a catch all term and people seem less willing to give specific examples of how things are declining in quality.

      • @TrickDacy
        link
        183 months ago

        spunkgargleweewee

        You’re claiming that is a term people use?

        • JWBananas
          link
          English
          243 months ago

          Skibidi Ohio rizz bro.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          23 months ago

          I believe the term originated with Yahtzee during the military and tactical shooter crazy in the 2010s. It referred to games that paraded players through various spectacles and rooms full of chest high walls, until enough time had passed to call it a campaign.

        • CorrodedOP
          link
          fedilink
          English
          1
          edit-2
          3 months ago

          Not commonly but every so often YouTubers I watch will start using it and it sticks for a prolonged period of time.

          It was just the first thing that came to mind. I imagine there are other equally silly internet words out there.

      • TheRealKuni
        link
        English
        23 months ago

        spunkgargleweewee

        Ah, an individual of culture.

    • @TrickDacy
      link
      4
      edit-2
      3 months ago

      Wait did you just coin that? That’s fucking brilliant /s

      Edit: apparently I needed a /s because Lemmy doesn’t use this term constantly or anything?

      • @finestnothing
        link
        93 months ago

        Because there was no /s - no they didn’t, it’s been around for a little while now. It basically means products or services slowly getting worse rather than better - such as adding ads, adding useless or broken ai to everything, switching to a subscription without adding any actual value. This is almost always done in the interest of maximizing profit as much as possible, at the expense of the users (monetarily and experience wise). Basically, see any major company decisions in the last several years, especially at companies with very large audiences (Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Airbnb, Facebook, etc)

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          73 months ago

          Since we’re talking about it, and I really like the guy’s work, I figured I should say who coined it! Author, Cory Doctorow! He has a blog where he (among all the other stuff he writes about) defined the word, and wrote several articles about it.

          pluralistic.net

        • @TrickDacy
          link
          23 months ago

          lol I didn’t think I needed the /s because it was dripping with sarcasm.

          • @spittingimage
            link
            103 months ago

            The issue with pretending to be stupid on the internet to make a point is that there are so many people doing the same thing with no point in mind.

            • @TrickDacy
              link
              -33 months ago

              Sarcasm isn’t “pretending to be stupid” imo

                • @TrickDacy
                  link
                  33 months ago

                  Well ignorance isn’t stupidity, but also it was just SO obvious. Enshittification is one of the most used new words I’ve ever seen.

      • @mystik
        link
        33 months ago

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification

        Writer Cory Doctorow coined the neologism “enshittification” in November 2022, though he was not the first to describe and label the concept.[1][2] The American Dialect Society selected it as its 2023 Word of the Year.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    473 months ago

    Sonder (noun): the feeling one has on realizing that every other individual one sees has a life as full and real as one’s own, in which they are the central character and others, including oneself, have secondary or insignificant roles: In a state of sonder, each of us is at once a hero, a supporting cast member, and an extra in overlapping stories.

    dictionary.com

    • Skua
      link
      fedilink
      293 months ago

      This one always makes me smile, because it’s from the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. It’s just some guy’s blog in which he comes up with new words to express experiences and emotions that are difficult to describe, and that specific one has thoroughly broken containment

      • eightpix
        link
        63 months ago

        Bought the book. It’s the only dictionary I’ve enjoyed reading.

  • @TootSweet
    link
    English
    363 months ago

    “Thrice” is a somewhat obscure word that otherwise fits.

    “Adventitious” is a good one. It means “non-inherent” or “acquired” (as opposed to inherent.)

    • @Num10ck
      link
      English
      113 months ago

      measure thrice, cut twice.

  • @Toto
    link
    353 months ago

    Avuncular - of or having the qualities of an uncle.

    “His avuncular joke was both lazy and sexist”

    • @shalafi
      link
      English
      103 months ago

      That’s the definition but not how it’s ever used.

    • @Godric
      link
      43 months ago

      Yeah, that word means uncle-like, but it’s very much a word for a fun or chill uncle vibe.

      Don’t you slander uncledom like that, you unavuncluar tranch!

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    343 months ago

    Widdershins. It means counter to the sun’s direction , and was seen as inauspicious. Counter-clockwise, before clocks.

  • 🔍🦘🛎
    link
    English
    343 months ago

    Gormless - Lacking initiative, foolish

    Copacetic - correct, orderly, good

  • Count Regal Inkwell
    link
    fedilink
    32
    edit-2
    3 months ago
    • Paramour

    It sounds fancy, but means a casual lover. A fuck buddy. A friend with benefits. Though it can also carry the implication of being an out-of-wedlock lover, as it dates back to a time where having a fuck buddy was almost certainly a sign of married infidelity.

    • Kith

    Means one’s friends and other people they are close to that aren’t family. Often paired with “kin”. Kith and kin. Friends and family.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      123 months ago

      A paramour is an “other lover”. Para = beside, amour = love. It’s not a casual fuck buddy, it’s your cheating partner. I’m surprised to hear you say it’s unknown as a word these days? Seems like just a normal word to me, albeit one I’m happy to go without using as cheaters suck.

    • @Today
      link
      93 months ago

      I use paramour, usually to describe an infidelity situation. No one under 35 knows what it is.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      13 months ago

      Interesting. The only two references I’ve ever heard to Paramour are the band and the achievement in Mass Effect. I’m now wondering if the devs of that series knew exactly what it meant (infidelity) because you get the achievement for having any relationship. Maybe it’s because you can’t remain loyal to your original partner to get it in all three games with one playthrough.

  • themadcodger
    link
    fedilink
    283 months ago

    Borborygmus I use often enough, but it’s not widely known. It’s the gurgling sound produced by the movement of gas through your intestines.

    Limaceous I almost never use, but I enjoy it anyway. It means characteristic of or pertaining to slugs.

    And lastly, tawdry is one of my favorites meaning showy but cheap and poor quality.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      83 months ago

      The are all great, but tawdry is fantastic!

      Rolls of the tongue, and we all come across several tawdry things/people in a given day.

    • Drusas
      link
      fedilink
      73 months ago

      I don’t think tawdry is archaic. A little uncommon, but still in use.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    26
    edit-2
    3 months ago

    Not a word, but there’s a specific phrase uttered when you casually pass by someone working, stop for a chat, and then genuinely wish them well with their work as you leave.

    This phrase does not exist in English:

    • Break a leg” is close, but more reserved for some grand performance

    Nor does it exist in German:

    • Viel Spass/Glück” (Have fun, Good Luck) is also close, but has an element of sarcasm and/or success through chance.
    • (Edit) “Frohes Schaffen” (Happy ‘getting it done’) is pretty spot on.

    In Turkish, you just say “Kolay Gelsin”, meaning “May the work come easy so that you finish sooner”.

    Its such a useful unjudgemental phrase, easily uttered, that I’ve seen nowhere else. Maybe other languages have it too.

    • SanguinePar
      link
      83 months ago

      Would “Have a good one” maybe serve that purpose? It’s not exactly the same, but similar sentiment.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        4
        edit-2
        3 months ago

        Very true! At the same time, I feel like you would only say that to something that will happen and not something that is currently happening. Is that right?

        • SanguinePar
          link
          63 months ago

          Yeah, I’d say so. Maybe something like “Take it easy” would fit better.

          • @MutilationWave
            link
            43 months ago

            “… and if that don’t work, take it sleazy.”

    • @FooBarrington
      link
      73 months ago

      “May the odds be ever in your favor” works in almost any situation!

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      53 months ago

      Reminds me of a much abbreviated version of this Irish prayer:

      May the road rise up to meet you.

      May the wind always be at your back.

      May the sun shine warm upon your face,

      and rains fall soft upon your fields.

      And until we meet again,

      May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      33 months ago

      I use “have fun” completely unironically all the time. One time my partner’s (Pakistani) carer thought I spoke Arabic because Afwan is apparently an Arabic salutation meaning approximately the same as “cheerio”, “goodbye”, or “you’re welcome” in English. He also turns up around half one every day for added amusement

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      33 months ago

      “Good luck with/have fun with that!” In a pleasant tone while gesturing towards the act being done is enough, I’ve found

      Unless it’s clearly like, WORK, work, then something like “don’t work too hard, there!” Is common

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        2
        edit-2
        3 months ago

        The tone of it is the same, but there’s also a sarcastic interpretation of it though, and it can be applied liberally to lots of non-work situations

    • @BenLeMan
      link
      33 months ago

      Doesn’t exist in German? What about “Frohes Schaffen”?

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      23 months ago

      “Break a leg” is close, but more reserved for some grand performance

      So in Estonian we have a bunch of those I don’t remember because nobody uses them anymore. But the main one everyone knows is “Kivi kotti” (literally, stone/rock in your bag, but much like with “break a leg”, you actually wish them well). It’s still basically “good luck” but not so much for grand performances, it could just be for your first day of work, or going fishing (the real origin I guess). There’s also “Nael kummi” which is “nail in your tire”, which is reserved for people driving somewhere.

    • @naught101
      link
      23 months ago

      I say “good luck” in a non-sarcastic tone to people whenever they head off on some banal errand. It gets some confused looks sometimes, laughs others.