Comments by pedalinfaith

  • You may enjoy this article.

    December 19, 2006

  • I mean 'grammatolatry' in the legalistic sense, not the word worshipping sense. The latter is nothing to scoff!

    December 19, 2006

  • I mean 'grammatolatry' in the word worshipping sense, not in the legalistic sense.

    December 19, 2006

  • Do you want to count Southernisms? If so, you gotta pay attention when you hear a sai-REEN because that means there's a firetruck coming.

    December 19, 2006

  • Oh, the inhumanity! Oh, the opprobrium! Definitely goes on the list.

    December 19, 2006

  • curwhibble

    December 19, 2006

  • That list is spun gold! I'm heretofore pimping it in the list description. And, of course, you've just created another hour or two of pleasure reading for me. Hooray for PBS.

    December 19, 2006

  • Or, what's even worse, the egregious 'inner-resting'.

    December 19, 2006

  • I haven't heard that one blundered. How have you heard people misusing 'comprise'?

    December 19, 2006

  • It's a transliteration for the Hindi word for 'heartbeat'. Reference is here.

    December 18, 2006

  • So, she sheepishly admits, I had to look it up and--gack--I've been pronouncing Porsche incorrectly all these years and thinking it was the "POR-sha" people who were being pretentious!

    December 15, 2006

  • I could probably live with jagwire because I'm first generation Yankee and it makes up for all of the Southerners who pronounce "ire" words as "ahr" (for example, squire is pronounced squahr, which of course rhymes with square. :) I could probably go with sment too since it counteracts all of my relatives who pronounce it CEEment. :)

    But ashfalt is unforgiveable. And that's definitely going on the list. In fact, maybe we need a list of the words with their mispronunciations spelled phoenetically (e.g., ashfalt, febbuary, reelator, and so on).

    But, uselessness, I think you are the odd one out when it comes to salmon, though. Both the pronunciation guides for m-w and dictionary.com have the 'l' as silent.

    This reminds me ... pronunciation is often mispronounced as pronounciation.

    Thanks for the suggestions!

    December 15, 2006

  • Incorporated them. Thanks!

    December 15, 2006

  • whangdoodle

    December 15, 2006

  • Thanks, kad, for 'uninalienable'. It also opened up an avenue to a few more gems.

    December 15, 2006

  • Yes, sadly, these come from actual quotes. You can find the references for them all over the web. The only exception is strategery, which was coined by Will Farrell in a send-up of W on SNL. It's rumored the the president loved it so much, he adopted it and it became part of the White House vernacular.

    December 14, 2006

  • Love the user name. I'm adding it my favorite words list.

    December 14, 2006

  • Thanks, inkhorn. I'll take that compliment in stride. :)

    December 14, 2006

  • Thanks, uselessness. 'subliminable' led me to finding a few others as well!

    December 14, 2006

  • Thanks to doctorfad for this one.

    This one wasn't made up by Bush himself, but by Will Farrell, playing Bush on SNL. However, it's rumored that Bush loved it so much that he adopted it into his vocabulary, and it became commonplace around the White House.

    December 14, 2006

  • This one goes on my list of misused words in honor of President George W. Bush, who said, "We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur."

    Ummmmm, how can one be ready for unforeseen events?

    December 14, 2006

  • Yes! You've inspired me to start a list of Bushisms.

    December 14, 2006

  • ruly

    December 13, 2006

  • Hi, pamelad. I work in the computer world and study the history and psychology of religion as a side interest. So, yeah, I see icons too. Everywhere. But do you find that people use this word to mean something other than what it is?

    December 13, 2006

  • Which begs the question: how is it that no one has yet listed the verb "to smurph"? :)

    December 13, 2006

  • A most exemplary example of battology. ;)

    December 13, 2006

  • Just kidding about the maenad. Just checking to see if you were paying attention. ;)

    December 13, 2006

  • Well, if you get tired of all of the typing, you could just use the word pantophobia and be done with it. :)

    December 13, 2006

  • peccable

    December 13, 2006

  • If you can't find these in any of the usual dictionaries, try the Worthless Word of the Day site or answers.com.

    December 13, 2006

  • This one is hard to find in dictionaries. So, here's Worthless Word of the Day's take on it:

    doctrine marked by arbitrary often ruthless disregard of individual differences or special circumstances

    December 13, 2006

  • OK, I might have made that word up. But it is meant to be "of or relating to poliosis". If anyone knows the right word for that, please send it my way.

    December 13, 2006

  • Not to be confused with oriental cooking.

    December 13, 2006

  • I'm all about stylish comfort. So, I can't thank feminist Amelia Jenks Bloomer enough for the eponymously named garment that broke us girls out of the hoop skirt trap. And I'm telling you I was way ahead of my time as a 2nd grader in my ever-so-fashionable gauchos. (They were almost as cool as my Garanimals outfits.) Nowadays, I step out in salwar and churidhar that I found on my shopping sprees in India.

    December 11, 2006

  • Wonderful! Thanks, kad and angharad, for the additions and the pointer to Kaichi's list.

    December 9, 2006

  • Big Rio Grande River,

    It flows down to the sea,

    Bringing back my memories of the past.

    High up on Table Mesa,

    I feel her nearness close to me

    As the evening sun sets in the West.

    - from "Big Rio Grande River" by Austin Lounge Lizards

    December 9, 2006

  • Please RSVP. :)

    December 9, 2006

  • A foot stomps.

    A head turns.

    The house crumbles.

    December 9, 2006

  • Don't forget the 'br' in 'February'. I like it when you to pucker up to say my birth month. ;)

    December 9, 2006

  • Completely different from a pointsetta, which, from the sounds of it, must be a mixed breed dog found in a Georgia pound. I suppose those could make nice Christmas presents too, but they require a bit more than watering.

    December 9, 2006

  • It would be mischievous of you to pronounce this word miss-CHEE-vee-us when you know how much I hate that.

    December 9, 2006

  • OK, I'm having one of those "if I don't know what in the hell they are talking about, then they must be talking about me" moments. Either I'm completely oblivious to my blunders or I'm living in a pronunciation safe zone. Seriously, how does one mispronounce "Vietnamese" and "realtor" and "spaghetti" and "macrame"?

    December 8, 2006

  • Anything that ends in -ectomy would have me looking for the exit!

    December 8, 2006

  • OK, I know its use as a colloquial synonym of 'excellent' has been around since the early 80's, but I still need a word that only means 'inducing terror or unbounded awe' because when I get that feeling (which happens more often than you'd think), using an adjective that implies anything less would just sacrilegiously cheapen the experience.

    So, my two euros (since pennies aren't worth much these days): If your breath hasn't been taken away or your perception of reality hasn't been turned on its head or you aren't quaking with terror, then perhaps what you've encountered is something merely hawesome. :)

    December 8, 2006

  • When spechifying spechific, spechious spechimens, it can be espechially helpful to regard the lack of 'h' in the word 'species'. Unless, of course, you do your research in Yiddish. :)

    December 8, 2006

  • So, then 'expresso' would be one who cannot resist the urge to run his mouth when hopped up on caffeine?

    December 8, 2006

  • Dear George, there is only one 'u' in nuclear. Adding more does not endear "u" to me. That is all I have to say about that.

    December 8, 2006

  • Does not rhyme with 'axe'. That said, if you insist on 'axing' me for something, you're probably going to get it. That is, until I buy a longer flail and take back what you axed me for. :)

    December 8, 2006

  • If I may, I nominate pulchritude.

    December 8, 2006

  • For something to be ironic, it must be both coincidental and paradoxical (or at the very least counterintuitive). Not just coincidental or even coincidental and unfortunate. To say, "Ironically, we arrived at the same time," would be incorrect unless, perhaps, both of you left from the same point at the same time but one of you headed West by donkey and the other traveled by plane, heading East.

    Personally, I like an element of poetic justice as well. So, if the donkey rider also sat atop an animal named "Glider" and the plane passenger had acted like an ass, well, that's ironic.

    December 8, 2006

  • Listen up, peeps. Unique means "unparalleled, one of a kind". So, something is either unique or it isn't. It's never is "most unique" or "very unique" or "pretty unique". Uniqueness cannot be qualified. If you ever feel compelled to do so, you are probably searching for the word "unusual" instead.

    December 2, 2006

  • Thanks, John. Credit duly goes to The Shakespearean Insult Kit (which has been turned into a fun, automated insult generator here).

    December 1, 2006

  • This is a hoot. I'm definitely going to keep a watch on this list. And I'm going to find some opportunity today to use at least one of these words, just 'cause.

    Perhaps I will make a salubrious meal of rhododendron goulash and rutabaga marmalade (fried using a spatula, of course) and feed it to my troglodytic doppelganger to help her get rid of her carbuncles.

    November 29, 2006