Beware

ADM

Words that took my fancy

The following words are ones that have taken my fancy. There must be many scores more that I have not yet encountered, and I may add at some time in the future. Some of the words are part of my normal vocabulary but I am uncertain of the spelling and I have listed them here for that reason

Académie Français The French body that looks after their language

Algorism a skill of computation using any system of numerals

Algorithm a logical arithmetic procedure that will lead to the solution to a problem

Allelopathy one plant living on another

Ambage(s) not in modern or common use. circumlocution, a devious way of expressing something, hence ambagious , ambagitory

Amice a rectangular piece of white linen worn by priests around the neck and shoulders under the ald. It was formally worn on the head.

Anaphylactic shock a severe, sometime fatal, reaction to a substance to which a person has an
extreme sensitivity

Anilungus sexual stimulus involving oral, anul and penis contact (see cunnilingus and fellatio)

Algorism a skill of computation using any system of numerals

Algorithm a logical arithmetic procedure that will lead to the solution to a problem

Allelopathy one plant living on another

Allotrope a physically different but chemically identical element (or compound)
carbon and diamond are a pair of examples.

Ambage(s) not in modern or common use. circumlocution, a devious way of expressing
something, Hence, ambagious , ambagitory

Angiogenesis the generation of blood vessels, often by way of the growing of a tumour

Anilungus sexual stimulus involving oral, anal and penis contact (see cunnilingus and fellatio)

Aphesis the gradual disappearance of an unstressed vowel at the beginning of a word. Hence
'aphetic' and 'aphetically'.

Apodeictic unquestionably true by virtue of demonstration

Apodosis the consequent of a conditional statement, as “the game will be cancelled in “if it rains the game will be cancelled”.

Apologue an allegory or moral fable

Apophasis the device of mentioning a subject by stating that it will not be mentioned

Aporia a doubt, real or professed, about what to do or say

Aposiopesis the device of suddenly breaking off in the middle of a sentence as if unwilling to
continue

Apostate a person who abandons his religion, party or cause

Apostrophe a punctuation mark. A digression from a discourse, .especially an address to an
imaginary or absent person or a personification.

A priori relating to, or involving deductive reasoning from a general principle to the expected
facts or effects

Apriorism the physical doctrine that there may be genuine knowledge independent of
experience. Archaic: distinguished, eminent

Autarky national self-sufficiency in the production of the country’s needs

Autocidal introducing a sterile or genetically modified creature into the wild population as a
means of pest control

Balaam A Mesopotamian diviner who, when summoned to cure the curse of the Israelites, prophesied future glories for them instead, after being reproached by his ass. (Numbers 22-23)

Balaam                                  Cliff of St Mary’s Church Wollaton told me it is a receptacle that holds items to be
                  looked at later. Collins English Dictionary Millennium Edition quotes: A
                 Mesopotamian diviner who, when summoned to cure the curse of the Israelites,
                 prophesied future glories
                 for them instead, after being reproached by his ass. (Numbers 22-23)

Bathos in speech; a ludicrous change in speech or writing style from exalted to trite. A nadir
in style. Insincere or excessive pathos.

Blepharitis inflammation of the eyelid

Boustrophedon of writing that alternates in direction from line to line. Like ploughing a field

Cacoepy a bad or mistaken pronunciation

Cacography bad handwriting

Cacology a bad choice of words, faulty speech

Calotte a skullcap worn by Roman Catholic clergy

calumet less common name for peace pipe

Catharsis (in Aristotelian literary criticism) the purging or purification of the emotions through
to evocation of pity and fear, as in tragedy.

Psychoanalysis: the bringing of repressed ideas or experiences into consciousness , thus relieving
tensions

Ceilidh an Irish party with music and dancing (pronounced ‘kaylee’)

Censorious harshly critical

Clawking (English Midlands dialect) scratching of the skin; (appears to be a verb derived from
the noun or verb ‘claw’)

Cocoethes an uncontrollable urge or desire for something harmful (eg. “a cocoethes for
smoking”) pronounced ‘kakothis’

Contretemps an awkward ofr difficult situation. A disagreement

Cunnilingus sexual stimulus involving oral, anal or penis contact (see fellatio)

Cuspidor a spittoon

Cutis ansirina medical name for goose flesh

Die a mediaeval word for a sexual orgasm

Disbursement payment of a cost added to a solicitor’s bill

Egregious Outstandingly bad, flagrant. (eg an egregious lie) Archaic: distinguished, eminent

Elenchi a point that relates to the proposition

elenchus                                  refutation of an argument by proving the contrary of its conclusion especially
                   syllogistically. Socratic elenchus is: the drawing out of the consequences of a
                   position in order to show them to be contrary to some accepted position.

Elenti refuting an argument by proving the falsehood of its conclusion

Emesis the technical name for ‘vomiting’

Emetogenic the potential for causing vomiting

Enneagram a word relating to the analysis of handwriting

Eponymous named after a person or place

Etor a word coined by Julian Jaynes (Note 1)

Euphemism a word of reduced severity seeking to avoid causing offence

Ex-officio a member of a body who is elected as a result of their status, or position

Exopsychic a word coined by Julian Jaynes (Note 1)

Fellatio sexual stimulus involving oral, anul or penis contact (see anilungus and
cunnilingus)

Gelatology The science or study of laughter

Goatham Various spellings of:

Goatham

Goteham

Gotham the Village of Fools in Nottinghamshire

Heliacal rising the rising of a celestial object at the same time as the rising of the sun

Hendiadys                                a rhetorical device by which two nouns joined by a conjunction (usually ‘and’) are
                    used instead of a noun and a modifier, as in “to run with fear and haste” instead of
                    “to run with fearful haste”

Hypocorism a pet name, a diminutive, a euphemism

Hypostasis the essential nature of a substance as opposed to its attributes

Iatrogenic disease or ailment caused by a doctor’s (or treatment’s) words or action

Ignoratio put simply, refuting a proposition that was not posited, but making a statement
related to the argument

Ignoratio elenchi                   a purported refutation of a proposition that does not in fact prove it false but merely
                   establishes a related but strictly irrelevant proposition. ALSO – the fallacy of
                  arguing this way.

Ignotum per ignnotus an explanation that is more obscure than the thing to be explained

Iinteriorisation another word for internalisation

Isotope a chemically identical, bur nuclear-different substance

Ker a word coined by Julian Jaynes (Note 1)

Koine a language among speakers of different languages. A sort-of lingua franca

Kradie a word coined by Julian Jaynes (Note 1)

Lex loci the law of a place

Lex non scripta unwritten, or common law

Lex scripta written or statute law

Lex talionis law of revenge or retaliation

Lex a system or body of law

Lingua franca (1) A language used for communication among people of different mother
tongues.

(2) A hybrid language containing elements from different languages used in this way.

(3) Any system of communication providing mutual understanding

Llogogriph a word puzzle especially one based on the recombination of the letters of a word

Logolepsy an obsession with words

Logomachy argument about words or the meaning of words

Logomisia a disgust for particular words

Logorrhoea uncontrollable and incoherent talkativeness

Metaphier a word coined by Julian Jaynes (Note 1)

Metaphrand a word coined by Julian Jaynes (Note 1)

Metrology the science of measurement

Metastasis the spread of cancerous cells

Middelmannetjie The name of the raised hump between the ruts in a soft path made by a wheeled vehicle

Nominative having a name that reflects the trade of profession of the person named determinism

Noos a word coined by Julian Jaynes (Note 1)

Oblique stroke other names are oblique, oblique stroke, solidus, diagonal, seperastrix, shilling sign

Obloquy defamatory or censorious statement normally directed against one person

Obsequious acting in a craven manner, or using overly humble language

Octothorpe another name for the hash sign, Often known by Americans as “the pound sign” as it
was an abbreviation for the pound avoirdupois

Oesophagus                             the gullet. A muscular tube about 23 cm long that extends from the pharynx to the
                    stomach.. It is lined with mucus membrane, whose secretions lubricate food as it
                    passes from the mouth to he stomach. Waves of peristalsis assist the lassage of the
                   food.   Diseases of the oesophagus include achalasis, carcinoma, hiatus hernia,
                  oesophageal varices, oesophagitis and peptic ulcer.

Ordnung                                 the unwritten creed of the Amish that stresses simplicity and detachment from the
                   world. It stipulates that personal belongings be plain, decoration minimal, and to rely
                   on simplicity.

Oxymoron self-contradictory word or phrase. eg “a highly educated moron”

Paraphiers a word coined by Julian Jaynes (Note 1)

Pathos speech or writing intended to raise sympathy or sorrow

Persiflage light frivolous conversation or friendly teasing

Pharaoh early Egyptian king

Pharisee in figurative use not generally with a capital letter. A self-righteous or hypercritical
person

Philistine a person who is insensitive to the finer meanings of life

Phrenes a word coined by Julian Jaynes (Note 1)z

Pickelhaube The German WW1 helmet with a spike on top

Pleonasm using more words than are necessary. ‘Tautology’ is one example of pleonasm. ‘A
great big man’ is another example

Prosopagnosia inability to recognise faces

Résistance the principal item if a series of items

Sauerkraut German pickled cabbage

Savant a highly learned person

Schadenfreude taking delight in another’s misfortune

Sciolism The practice of opinionating on subjects of which one has only superficial
knowledge

Shock amounts of histamine from tissue, and swelling may endanger life

Shtreimel a fur hat worn by Hassidic Jews

Sidoo-ism a pithy phrase coined by Siddoo, an Indian cricket commentator

Slash solidus, diagonal, separatrix, shilling mark, slash, stroke, oblique stroke, virgule

Solipcism an extreme form of scepticism

Sortilege the act or practice of divination by drawing lots

Stroke shilling mark, slash, stroke, virgule, solidus, diagonal, separatrix

Syllepsis                                 a form of words in which one word modifies two other words with only one of the
                   two being grammatically correct. Also called zeugma. Example, ‘Mr Pickwick took
                   his hat and his leave’.

Thumos A word coined by Julian Jaynes (Note 1)

Tiananmen Square. A place in Beijing where a massacre took place

Tmesis interpolation of a word, or group of words, within a compound word

Triage sorting according to need. Used in hospital A&E departments to decide who shall be
treated first

Twibil(l) a mattock with an adze-like blade at one end and an axe-like blade at the other end

Vespine of, or relating to, a wasp

Vorführeffekt the chance of a demonstration going wrong is in direct proportion of the number and
importance of the people watching the demonstration

Zeugma See ‘syllepsis’

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Note 1 Julian James is an American author who wrote a book on the rise of intelligence in
man. In his thesis he coined a lot of words. Refer to my page AEF