cacoethes
It's possible I've heard this one before, but I like it too much to pass it up, and I don't think I ever knew what it meant before. A "cacoëthes"...
Archive for New-to-me Words
has the hump
Apparently, in British slang, to "have the hump" is to be "annoyed or upset with someone," according to The Free Dictionary. I wonder if the phrase derives ultimately from Kipling....
lolest
In a comment thread for a YouTube video, someone named "DarthMauricius" wrote (on December 19, 2007): "This is the lolest video ever" The meaning is obvious; I'm just pleased and...
mulligrubs
In a comment on a journal entry a few years back, Sarah P introduced me to the term "mullygrubs," which turns out to be an alternate spelling for mulligrubs, which...
skewwhiff
When I read this word in Perdido Street Station, I assumed it was a misprint; but I looked it up, and sure enough, "skewwhiff" is an adjective or adverb from...
bunny boiler
According to Wikipedia, a "bunny boiler" is "an obsessive and dangerous individual, most commonly referring to a jilted lover who is stalking the person who has spurned her or him....
mani-pedi
I heard someone say on the phone recently that they were going to get a mani-pedi. At first I thought they'd said "Moneypenny," but then I parsed it correctly as...
vaticination
I had originally intended this blog to focus primarily on new coinages, to be a resource for early citations for dictionary makers and such. 'Cause, y'know, I figured I already...
can of corn
In a submission, I encountered the phrase "can of corn" as a baseball term; hadn't heard it before, so went and looked it up. Apparently it refers to a baseball...
Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP)
Apparently the term "UFO" is out; in its place, "UAP," for "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena," is gaining popularity. Jon Hilkevitch of the Chicago Tribune says: The Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (the term...