More Unusual Definitions, courtesy of yours truly:

demonstrate, v.

of a werewolf: to shapeshift into human form. (contrast remonstrate.)

"Allow me to demonstrate."

disgavel, v.

of a judge: to remove from office; to defrock.

palimpsest, adj. /pæˈlɪmpsɛst/

most resembling an elephant.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the palimpsest one of ( Read more... )

Some more shameless wordcoinery. First of all, from the list of Words That Don't Exist But Should™:

highfalute, v.

to hold oneself in unduly high regard.

"Lookit them turkeys, all highfalutin' as highfalute can."

And from the list of Unusual Definitions™:

carnie, n.

a meat lover.

monastery, n.

1. 
   the quality of receiving mostly 1-star ( Read more... )

More on unusual Verwandtschaftsbeziehungen... the German word for "brother-in-law" is "Schwager", and there's also a word for the sibling or spouse of one of those, namely "Schwippschwager".

Now when I was little, the grown-ups would occasionally speak of not just the "Schwippschwager" but also the "Schwappschwager", supposedly "removed" by one ( Read more... )

In Icelandic, the words for "grandfather" and "great-grandfather" are "afi" and "langafi", respectively (compare German "Opa" and "Uropa").

It turns out you add additional "langa-" prefixes to zip back through the generations, just like you can slap on additional "great" or "Ur-" prefixes in English and German. The longest example I've found is ( Read more... )

I was talking to a friend recently about how English can be rather counter-intuitive at times when it's not your native language. For instance, consider the following Words That Don't Mean What You Think They Should:

• "invaluable" sounds like it should mean "worthless", but doesn't.
• "inflammable" is not the opposite of "flammable".
• "sanction" can ( Read more... )

Words That Should Exist But Don't™:

grftjx n
the utterly useless letters you inevitably draw when playing Scrabble.

From the list of Words That Should Exist But Don't™:

bauchery /ˈbɔː.t͡ʃə.ɹi/ n
modesty, restraint, pudency; specifically chastity, sexual abstinence.

Give it a try some time - walk up to, say, a church and exasperatedly exclaim "a... a den of bauchery!". :)

New entries for the list of Words That Don't Exist But Should™:

didymogamous /ˈdɪdɪməˌɡəməs/, /ˈdɪdɪmoʊˌɡəməs/ adj
duogamous with partners that are twins.

didymogamy /ˈdɪdɪməˌɡəmi/, /ˈdɪdɪmoʊˌɡəmi/ n
The state of being in a didymogamous relationship.

And just for the sake of completion:

duogamy /ˈdu.oʊˌɡəmi/, /ˈdju.oʊˌɡəmi/ n
The ( Read more... )

Some new words for your delight, from the list of Words That Don't Exist But Should™:

duogamous /ˈdu.oʊˌɡəməs/, /ˈdju.oʊˌɡəməs/ adj
Polygamous with two partners.

quarryette /ˌkwɒriˈɛt/ n
A small quarry.

pickpocketeer /ˌpɪkpɒkɪtˈɪɹ/ n
Someone who pickpockets; a pickpocket.

The first one I've seen in use on the Internet; the second one is ( Read more... )

From the list of Words That Don't Exist But Should™:

bien·a·pro·pos /ˌbjɛ̃.æp.ɹəˈpoʊ/ adv
Appropriate, fit, suitable.

There's malapropos, after all, so why not bienapropos as well?

Also, two more, because why not:

alpacino /ˌælpəˈtʃiːnoʊ/ or /ˌælpæˈtʃiːnoʊ/ n
A male baby alpaca.

alpacina /ˌælpəˈtʃiːnə/ or /ˌælpæˈtʃiːnə/ n
A female baby ( Read more... )