Increase your vocabulary

If you have picked up a new word post it here. Feel free to include a definition or leave it to people to look it up themselves (which may help them remember it).

Today I have learnt (from the book I'm reading, JG Ballard's Cocaine Nights) the words:

tocsin
subaltern

stet.
(from TheorySwine, today)

I lived many years without ever hearing 'tardy'. Had no idea what it meant, which when voiced placed me well in the minority. But what can you do - I'd just never heard it, so couldn't imagine it existed. Now I hear it quite often, and realise it's not even that peculiar.

spigot

Not really new but I've never thought about it or used it until tester mentioned it.

Yes tardy was fairly common, A teacher word when I was at school.
Stet is useful. Thanks

One of my ex-girlfriends was half Greek. Every now and again she'd say an English word that she'd clearly read, but never heard, so she pronounced it as if it was a Greek word.

Was quite fun sometimes, trying to reverse engineer the pronunciation in your head in order to work out what the word was, fast enough to not derail the conversation.

Stet was one word I thought I'd get a break from. A word I saw almost hourly on horrendous shoddy Engineers mark-up drawings.

In the last month in the job I even had one drawing come back to me with "STET STET" over one design amendment.... enough to drive you mad

imbroglio

Natalie?

indeed. It was new to me when someone used it the other day.
An extremely confusing situation.

I lived many years without ever hearing 'tardy'. Had no idea what it meant, which when voiced placed me well in the minority. But what can you do - I'd just never heard it, so couldn't imagine it existed. Now I hear it quite often, and realise it's not even that peculiar.

Reminds me of when I introduced a couple of people to 'mardy'

Is it really that regional or were they just slow?

Mardy is northern isn't it?

It's a midlands word. They're sullen around there

then made nationwide by the arctic monkeys

Now then Mardy Bum
I see your frown
And it's like looking down the barrel of a gun
And it goes off
And out come all these words
Oh there's a very pleasant side to you
A side I much prefer

Apposite lyric

Plappermouthing.

Tautalogical

Tautological

Tautalogical

Tautological

Sounds like a pleonasm.

i came across merkin not so long ago and had never previously heard it. it's a public wig. probably not so fashionable these days.

pubic wig

A Pubic public wig

A merkin is more a pubic 'shield', isn't it? My mum has one, but doesn't use it.

Back on track, anachronistic.

imbroglio

Not Ingrish.

Oh, and symbiotic. It means 'working in harmony', or some such.

Like we all do.