Sesquipedalian, Eggcorn, and Denominalisation

So, uh... 3 words this weeks. They're words with relatively short backstories, so I figured I should give a few.

A Sesquipedalian has two meanings.  One of the meanings can be applied to about 75% of the words I have so endearingly taught you, because it means "A long word, a word with many syllables."  I really like this definition, because it comes from the Latin word, sesquipedalis, which means "A foot and a half, 18 inches." So basically, a word that is Sesquipedalian is 18 inches long.  The other meaning of Sesquipedalian is, simply, one who likes long words.  A good example of this is Josh.  Josh is a Sesquipedalian who likes Sesquipedalian words.

Eggcorn. This word, coming to me from one of my friends, and is a real word, sounds a lot like acorn, right? Oddly enough, that's how it got its name. Because it sounds like another word.  Eggcorn is a typo that makes sense, though the wrong word was used.  For example, if someone is hitting on you, they are also hotting on you. (This happened to me a few weeks ago... The typo, not the being hit on. When does that ever happen?)  Anyways, Eggcorns are a lot like other sesquipedalian words, like Mondegreen, (A misheard lyric in a song), and Malapropisms. (Using words incorrectly, because they sound alike.)  My favorite example of a mondegreen is "Sunday Monkey Won't Play Piano Song.*"  A malapropism is something like "He put out the fire with a fire distinguisher." It's basically an Eggcorn, but auditory.

I must admit, I find myself Denominalising words a lot.  Denominalisation is "Using a word that is a noun as a verb." I really only use this when talking about the computer. "Yeah. I Facebooked for only about 5 hours today.  "New Record: Low!"

I'll probably do a few words next week, but I'm not sure what all of them will be. But I know for a fact that one will be Lethologica.

*I will give you extra points if you can name the song this actually is, without looking it up.

More Words for Singles' Awareness Day...

So, as a continuation of last week's blog... I give you more words to use on your significant other this "Fake Attention and Friends" Day:
    Forelske: A Danish word, meaning To Fall in Love. I love how it's a single word, as opposed to English, where we need 4 words to get the point across.  (I forelskede (past tense) with food a few days ago.)
     This next really wonderful word comes from the Hindi Language.  Jaaneman (जानेमन) is a gender-neutral word that is the equivalent of Honey, or Sweetheart. It's a term of endearment that literally means "Soul of Me," rather, Soulmate.
     Everybody knows that French is an incredibly romantic language. And that's pretty much proven in the phrase, la douleur exquise, literally, the Loving Pain. And that's basically what it means. "The Heart-wrenching pain of wanting the affection of someone unobtainable."
     The Yiddish language gives us the word b'shert:

    So, the Portuguese have this whole Love thing down. Saudade, which literally translates to yearning, is given a much deeper meaning. Used in context correctly, it can mean "A nostolgic feeling of wanting someone who has gone and lost. A love that remains."  I think America needs to get their act together when it comes to romantic words.

   I don't know where this word comes from, but to Mimp is to talk affectionately, or to purse the lips.

And, just to relate to anyone lonely this Friday:

    A Boreist is someone who could make you fall asleep on a first date. Someone really boring. Going on and on and on and on about their lives. Never going into detail. Not forming full sentances. People who spell "sentences" wrong.  People that resemble this definition.
     Accismus is when you pretend to not be interested in something or someone, when really, you can't imagine a life without them in it.
     And, many lonely people will be Heimgangers on Friday night. Yes. They are the people that stay sitting at home.

OKAY. SO I FOUND THIS WORD. IT'S COMPLETELY UNRELATED TO THIS WHOLE SUBJECT, BUT I WANT TO SHARE THE SHORT DEFINITION WITH YOU.
 To Quagswag (Which is really the best part of the word...) something means you shake it back and forth.


So, enjoy your Forced Romance Day. I wish you many good Red Paper Crap days in the future.
I'd like to thank this site right here: Valentine's Day Alternatives, along with other-worldly.tumblr.com

Some Lovely Words for Singles Awareness Month

In celebration of Valentine's Day next week, I figure that both this and next blog posts should revolve around love words.  Because I can.
So, here are a few words you can use on your significant other on the Artificial Holiday with very strong commercial overtones:

Koinoyokan, sometimes Koi No Yokan, is a Japanese phrase with no literal English translation, but I really wish there was.  It translates directly to Feeling of Love, but I think Japan has it stated in a better way. Koinoyokan is that sense inside you that, when you meet someone knew, you perhaps will fall in love with them uncontrollably. And I think that's deserving of putting in this blog.
Sphallolalia is a word that I think we can all relate to at some point or another. "σφάλλω", in Greek, means to stumble or trip up, and λαλιά means "To talk". So, sphallolalia is a flirtatious talk that leads nowhere.  <<See: 85% of Men in Bars>>

Twitterpated was a word first used in the Disney movie Bambi, simply meaning "Love-struck." "Nearly everybody gets twitterpated in the springtime. For example, you're walking along minding your own business, you're looking neither to the left, nor to the right, when all of the sudden, you run smack into a pretty face." -The Owl from Bambi

And just some quick definitions:
Redamancy, an English word, gives a "return-the-favor" meaning, actually, Loving back the one that loves you.  Can we start using this one more often?
Forelsket is a Norwegian word, describing the jubilant, euphoric feeling that you get when falling in love.
Cafune is a Brazilian word for running your fingers through your lover's hair. Man, Brazilians are smooth...

Floccinaucinihilipilification! (Flock-i-now-sini-heeli-pili-fication)

This weeks word is really hard to pronounce, and I will probably never use it in conversation, because it is so long.  This word is Floccinaucinihilipilification. and, though difficult, is incredibly fun to say. Try it.
When I asked other people in the general vicinity what they thought it means:
Mom: The act of Plucking out eyebrows
Dad:
Jessie:  Shaving a poodle

So, Floccinaucinihilipilification actually is a word that means "The estimation of something as worthless." So, if you thought that all the letters in this word are pointless, then you are Floccinaucinihilipilificating it. I know. It's weird.

The word Floccinaucinihilipilification is relatively new, from a few years ago.  Some students from Eton College, in England, created the word as a joke, and as an autological word. An autological word is a word that means exactly what it describes. ("Noun" is a noun, the word "short" is a short word.) So, all the letters in Floccinaucinihilipilification are worthless, unneeded, and pointless.

As previously stated, the word originated in Eton College. Students created the word, mainly just because they could. They took a phrase from the Eton Latin Grammar book, which read "Flocci, nauci, nihili, pili, assis, hujus, teruncii, his verbis, aestimo, pendo, facio, peculiariter adduntur.*" They added on -fication to the end, and entered it into the dictionary!

To use it in a sentence:
"He Floccinaucinihilipilificated my art and took it out of the museum, even though it was made from bottle caps, cans, and locks of hair!"


*According to Google, this means "Tuft, of no account, of no account, the hair, halfpenny, of this, at a farthing, in these words, I imagine, to value, I do, that are added to a particular way to"

Nudiustertian, along with Overmorrow.

Nudiustertian:
To be very stubborn in your views, an act of stubbornness  -Kimmery
The Day before yesterday  -Mazha
A green Lettuce Salad served with Fresh fish  -Popsarooni
Morning  -Jessers

Overmorrow:
To reconcile a difference, to settle an argument between to people  -Banana-nana-fo-Kim
The Day after tomorrow  - Moooommmm
A Chocolatey dessert served after a Nudiustertian.   -Pop-corn
Nighttime  -Jessie


Goshdangit, Mom...  Why? And apparently, Dad had the same idea, but didn't want to copy mom...
Nudiustertian is a very convenient, yet incredibly difficult to pronounce, word that simply means the day before yesterday.  It comes from the Latin Phrase Nudius Tertius.  But wait! I can break those terms down!
Nudius is a combination of the roots Nunc, meaning "Now" + Dies, which is just another word for "Today", and + -Est, meaning "It is".  So Nudius literally means Today is the Day.  When this is combined with Tertius, simply meaning 3rd, Nudius Tertius is synonymous with Today, it is the Third Day.

So, there was this Puritan Minister, and his name was Nathaniel Ward. He lived from the 1570s to 1852. He is credited with writing the first constitution in the place we now call America.
Anyways, Ward wrote a book called The Simple Cobler of Aggawam in America.  This "book", which was actually "a vigorously written pamphlet defending the status quo and attacking, tolerance."  -Britannica.
The reason I bring this up is because Ward was the first person, that we know of, to use the term Nudiustertian.

Now, I'd like to share with you this quote from Ward's book:
It is known more then enough, that I am neither Nigard, nor Cinick, to the due bravery of the true Gentry: if any man mislikes a bully mong drossock more then I, let him take her for his labour: I honour the woman that can honour her selfe with her attire: a good Text alwayes deserves a fair Margent: I am not much offended if I see a trimme, far trimmer than she that wears it: in a word, whatever Christianity or Civility will allow, I can afford with Londonmeasure: but when I heare a nugiperous Gentledame inquire what dresse the Queen is in this week: what the nudiustertian fashion of the Court; I meane the very newest: with egge to be in it in all haste, what ever it be; I look at her as the very gizzard of a trifle, the product of a quarter of a cypher, the epitome of nothing, fitter to be kickt, if shee were of a kickable substance, than either honour'd or humour'd.

What I have gathered from this quote is that there is a court. And there is a Queen or just a plain old woman who is dressed oddly.  After something about religion, and the day before yesterday... I don't even understand... Do people actually like to read these?

Mkay. That was the last Blog of 2013. Have a nice holiday! :D

Griffonage (Griff--Un--Nojjjjjj)

I really wish for a specific font right now. I don't know if wordpress allows different fonts, but if they do, I am very jealous. See, I need a specific font for the word Griffonage, which means none of the following:

French word referring to a particular decorating style for Christmas Trees. -Mother Mom

A charge particle effect around a statically charged ball.  Like with that crystal ball, when you touch it and your hair stands up.  -Father Dad

The extent to which a person(s) resemble Peter Griffin, either in demeanor or character-Brother Kevin

...Writing hedgehogs...  -Sister Jessie

A version of something else that has wings...  -Cousin Dan

An indentation on the side of a castle, located outside of a window. -Sister Kimmy

Well, the fact is, Griffonage is a highly messy and illegible handwriting. And now you see why I need a handwriting font on Blogger.

The word Griffonage comes from the French word grifouner, which roughly means to scribble. This is not to be confused with a Griffone, which is an incredibly adorable dog:

Grifouner originates from the French root Griffe-, which is a claw, or a scratch.  In the French language, a griffe can be used as either a claw or a manufacturing label, like a brand.  

So, in that case, translating "The cat's claw ruined my designer label" would be "La griffe du chat a ruiné ma griffe."  Anyways, back to Griffonage...

Griffonage has been mentioned in a few stories and novels. Not many, but books like To the Gold Coast for Gold, where the author talks about his trip to West Africa. He states "The rock is covered in griffonages, and some square-cut legible letters..." 

I know this isn't as sufficient as a blog post as in the past, but I guarantee that next week's will knock your knee-high socks off.

Contranym

So, I'm going to start off here with several words. See if you notice anything they all have in common:
Off                                       Fighting with someone                              Apparent
Unpacked                             Out                                                             Seed
Strike                                   Left                                                            Bolt

Give up?

All these words are contranyms.

I bet you're wondering what a contranym is.  But first...

Jessie: A synonym of an antonym (Kind of ironic. The antonym is the synonym)

Mom: An opposite name, Like Spiderman and Anti-Spiderman/Birdman.

Dad: Censored words.

Actually, Jess was the closest to the real meaning.

A contranym is a word that is the antonym of itself.  "What?! How does that even work?!" I can hear you asking through your monitor. Well, it actually does work.

For example, above:

Off means both deactivated, and activated.  "The light turned off."//"The alarm went off."

Unpacked can mean both empty, like a room after someone moves out, or filled up, like a room after someone moved in.

Strike, in baseball, is a miss of the ball, but also when somebody strikes the ball, hitting it.

If you are fighting with someone, are you fighting on their team, or against them?

So, the XBox One is finally out, but I bet if you go to BestBuy, it'll be all out.

So, I went to BestBuy toget the XBox One, and there was 1 left. Lines were short because everyone left.

She bolted the dog house to the ground so her dog couldn't bolt off.

It is apparent that apparent means both obvious and slightly seeming as if...

Yolanda seeded her garden so she would have plants in a few months. But as she went to seed the apples off her tree, they were all rotten!*

The word contranym was coined by some guy named Jack Herring, in 1962, but when he made it, it was spelled contronym.  Fun fact.

Okay. Next week, I will really try to get a word with more historical references to it.

This is just one of those words that is an interesting word, that just has no history to it.

Here, if you want some fun reading...

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/75-contronyms-words-with-contradictory-meanings/

I think my word for next week will be Griffonage, which is not a mythological figure.

I did some research. This one does have some historical references to it.

*I'm not too sure about these last two. I saw them on multiple websites, but I have never heard seed or apparent in their second forms...