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Are you a word nerd? I receive daily emails from dictionary.com. Do you? If yes, then you can definitely claim the distinction of word nerd!
Here are ten fun words that are writing/reading/grammar-related, and I hope some of them are new to your vocabulary!
anacoluthon [an-uh-kuh-LOO-thon], noun.
1. A construction involving a break in grammatical sequence. Example: It makes me so—I just get angry.
2. An instance of anacoluthia.
2. An instance of anacoluthia.
anopisthograph [an-uh-PIS-thuh-graf], noun.
Manuscript, parchment, or book having writing on only one side of the leaves.
apophasis [uh-POF-uh-sis], noun.
Denial of one's intention to speak of a subject that is at the same time named or insinuated. Example: “I shall not mention Caesar's avarice, nor his cunning, nor his morality.”
biblioklept [BIB-lee-uh-klept], noun.
A person who steals books.
catachresis [kat-uh-KREE-sis], noun.
Misuse or strained use of words, as in a mixed metaphor, occurring either in error or for rhetorical effect.
litotes [LAHY-tuh-teez], noun.
Understatement, especially that in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary. Example: “not bad at all.”
parturient [pahr-TOOR-ee-uhnt], adjective.
Bringing forth or about to produce something, as an idea.
pseudology [soo-DOL-uh-jee], noun.
Lying considered as an art. Pseudology comes from two Greek roots, pseudo- meaning "false" and -logy meaning "study of." The word does not literally mean "the study of lying" but has come to embody the sense of "the art of lying."
sententious [sen-ten-shuhs], adjective.
1. Abounding in pithy aphorisms or maxims: a sententious book.
2. Given to excessive moralizing; self-righteous.
3. Given to or using pithy sayings or maxims: a sententious poet.
2. Given to excessive moralizing; self-righteous.
3. Given to or using pithy sayings or maxims: a sententious poet.
zeugma [ZOOG-muh], noun.
The use of a word to modify or govern two or more words when it is appropriate to only one of them or is appropriate to each but in a different way. Example: to wage war and peace or On his fishing trip, he caught three trout and a cold.
Are any of these words new to your vocabulary? Hope you learned something today! Have a happy weekend, Zigzaggers!!!
Want more writing/reading/grammar-related definitions? See these past two Word Nerd posts:
18 comments:
Those are awesome!! I use the first one a lot :)
I could only imagine my family's faces if I tried to use those words in my every day conversations. Not that they would understand it. I have a habit of mutilating words.
HA! Those are awesome. Some even sound made up like the biblioklept.
Absolutely wonderful. I am a fellow unashamed word nerd. :)
Those are really cool words. I need to up my vocabulary.
I only knew parturient, since I'm a huge birth nerd. I've heard parturient used to refer to a pregnant woman, and it's obviously related to the word parity and its various forms, like grand multipara and multipara. I love unusual words myself, and the chance to use them.
I'd never heard of any of those words. My husband is always using big words that I have to make him define.
I signed up to receive daily dictionary emails the last time you posted a nerd alert. They're awesome!! :)
Dude these are some serious words. Ha, ha. Maybe I'm a retired word nerd -- nerd in waiting? I used to get daily words. Don't know why I stopped. Maybe I should try again!
Jemi- Words are so fun! Especially big long ones no one knows the meaning of except you. Heehee!
Stina- LoL! It's great to know them for awesome Scrabble possibilities, though!
Holly- I like that one! It's fun to say. And I may or may not be one. ;)
Faith- I'm happy to hear that!!! Welcome to the Word Nerd Club!
Clarissa- It's good to do that especially if you play Scrabble, Words with Friends, or Bananagrams!
CarrieAnne- That is true! Parturient's main definition is: about to give birth, in labor. But I didn't include that part of the definition since the second part, birthing an idea, went with this list of writing-related words!
Diane- Now you can use these words and he'll have to ask you define them!
DL- That makes me so happy! I'm glad you're enjoying it. You probably recognize most of these words because the dictionary.com emails is where I got the majority of them.
Karen- You should definitely try again! Words are so fun. :)
I used to get alerts but I don't anymore. When I'm in the mood for new words now, I just go to freerice.com and start at the highest level. Fun stuff.
I only knew two of these. I guess I'm not the word nerd I thought I was. :)
Now I realize how behind I am on my vocab...and I subscribe to dictionary.com for daily words too!
I am a word nerd. I only use two of these, but I loved the post and always love learning new words.
I read your comment on another blog about Scrivener and that your husband finally had to buy you a copy of Scrivener For Dummies. I had the same problem when I first started using Scrivener and now I don't know how I ever wrote anything without it. It is amazing and it is actually much easier to learn than the manual indicates.
My saving grace was a book I read on my Kindle, called Writing a Novel With Scrivener, by David Hewson. It was a relatively short e-book, with very simple and easy to follow instructions. You don't need to already possess elaborate computer skills or be versed in computer lingo to follow it. I highly recommend this book. It changed the way I use my Scrivener and now I can't manage without Scrivener. It is truly amazing. Good luck with it. Once you get it, you will love it.
Hannah- I never heard of that site so I just checked it out! How cool. Thanks for sharing it!
Medeia- LoL, I only knew a few, too! True word nerds are always open to learning new words, so you definitely qualify! :)
Cynthia- I got most of these from my daily dictionary.com emails!
Melissa- Hello and welcome to Wavy Lines! Thank you for sharing this information. I appreciate it! I hope you're having a great weekend. Thanks for visiting and commenting!
This is fun. Usually when I learn a new word I try to use it immediately.
Hahaha all of them are. Going to read through them again and see if I can't remember. :-D
Rachna- So do I! I love learning new words and being able to use them. :)
Misha- Good! I hope you get to use of these and puzzle everyone around you, heehee! ;)
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