markhavemann 189 Report post Posted August 6 floccinaucinihilipilification (often humorous) The act or habit of describing or regarding something as unimportant, of having no value or being worthless Also the longest non-technical word in English. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mungouk 889 Report post Posted August 6 OK it's a portmanteau, but possibly of interest when discussing 漫画. Stumbled across it yesterday. Scanlation Quote Scanlation (also scanslation) is the fan-made scanning, translation, and editing of comics from a language into another language. Scanlation is done as an amateur work and is nearly always done without express permission from the copyright holder. The word "scanlation" is a portmanteau of the words scan and translation. The term is mainly used for Japanese manga, although it also exists for other national traditions on a lesser scale. Scanlations may be viewed at websites or as sets of image files downloaded via the Internet. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
roddy 5,348 Report post Posted September 9 The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Demonic_Duck 1,312 Report post Posted September 9 1 hour ago, roddy said: The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters Surely not to their face, though! 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
roddy 5,348 Report post Posted September 9 I did consider an Only Fools and Horses reference. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
889 1,661 Report post Posted September 9 Formication has always been one of my favourite obscure words. No, it's not a typo, and it has nothing to do with redecorating your kitchen. Spoiler It's the feeling that ants are crawling on your skin. When they really aren't. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shelley 1,840 Report post Posted September 9 @889 I guess from the formic acid they use as a defence. Very clever. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mungouk 889 Report post Posted September 9 "formica" is Latin for ant, apparently. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
889 1,661 Report post Posted September 9 According to Wikipedia, the plastic stuff "was originally used to replace mica in electrical applications" thus the name because it was "for mica." 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
matteo 86 Report post Posted September 10 based on my knowledge of italian (which is very closely related to latin) - plus google - my guess is that you are all right at the same time formìca is the insect (from which the name of the acid) and the word derives from latin fòrmica is the material and the word derives from english as 889 says Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Demonic_Duck 1,312 Report post Posted September 10 Courtesy of @Polyhistor in this post moil (archaic, dialect) verb work hard move around in confusion or agitation noun hard work; drudgery turmoil; confusion 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
roddy 5,348 Report post Posted September 24 cinereous - ash-gray in colour. See ceniza, ash, in Spanish, but can't think I can come up with any other English words with the same root. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lu 3,095 Report post Posted September 24 15 minutes ago, roddy said: cinereous - ash-gray in colour. See ceniza, ash, in Spanish, but can't think I can come up with any other English words with the same root. Cinders, perhaps? 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
roddy 5,348 Report post Posted September 24 Hmm. Quote Old English sinder ‘slag’, of Germanic origin; related to German Sinter . The similar but unconnected French cendre (from Latin cinis ‘ashes’) has influenced both the sense development and the spelling. Compare with sinter. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lu 3,095 Report post Posted September 24 1 minute ago, roddy said: Quote Old English sinder ‘slag’, of Germanic origin; related to German Sinter . The similar but unconnected French cendre (from Latin cinis ‘ashes’) has influenced both the sense development and the spelling. Compare with sinter. Okay, well if they say it's really not related, I guess that must be true... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
889 1,661 Report post Posted September 24 Bokeh. It's the effect created in a photo when the foreground object is in sharp focus and the background blurred. Apparently derived from Japanese. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Demonic_Duck 1,312 Report post Posted September 29 This one is kind of cheating — it's Old English (but hey, the thread title never specified modern English...) Anyway, I just found it too delightful not to post: wandeweorpe - mole (animal) 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shelley 1,840 Report post Posted October 2 I had to look this one up - Etiolated Etiolation /iːtiəˈleɪʃən/ is a process in flowering plants grown in partial or complete absence of light.[1] It is characterised by long, weak stems; smaller leaves due to longer internodes; and a pale yellow colour (chlorosis). The development of seedlings in the dark is known as "skotomorphogenesis" and leads to etiolated seedlings. I extrapolated the meaning from context - The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter (sequel to The Time Machine) He used it to describe pigeons living in almost complete darkness - total lack of Sun and only artificial light. Having looked it up I was sort of confused as to whether or not it could be applied to animals. but he did and it made sense. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
