Pronounced SHIB-ol-eth. A shibboleth is a word, phrase, or mannerism that a group of people uses as a test to see if other people are members of that group. It might also be a joke. For example: There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those that understand binary code, and those that don’t. […]
MadMania
Faith, Books, and Stuff
Tag: words
German word, pronounced “SHAHD-n-FROID-uh.” The literal translation is “shameful laughing,” and it means laughing at the misfortunes of others, kind of like I do in that story about Timmy’s cough.
No, it has nothing to do with smokin’ the reefer; the guest of honor at a hemp party is someone about to be hanged. And yes, the past tense for execution by hanging is hanged, not hung (hung is used for other forms of hang, like hanging your coat up or hanging out).
slang for ‘breakfast.’
Several years ago Jimmy, Timmy, and I were discussing profanity. Jimmy, who almost never uses profanity, mentioned this: “I don’t like to swear; however, I really like the word ‘#$@*!‘ It just sounds cool.” Later in the day while we were getting ready to leave for lunch, Jimmy was taking a long time and we […]
So I’m working and I hear this guy use the word ‘afterneath,’ as in “there is some stuff afterneath this other stuff.” I’ve never heard that word beforeneath now.
There is an infrequently used word that describes someone who is stingy or miserly. You logophiles out there probably know the word I am talking about. For the rest of you, here it is: niggard If this word is new to you, it has no racial connotations. After the definition, the New Oxford American Dictionary […]
n. the epithet ‘jerk’ when pronounced with a non-rhotic accent; rhymes with ‘buck.’ Example: “Pahk the cah in the Hahvad Yahd, ya juhk.”
We had been out of town for a couple of weeks due to a death in the family, and as we heard later, our daughter’s best friend took the absence kind of hard. Finally one day she sat down mopily and said: “I’m friendsick.”
I was sending a text to my woman, and I was in the process of typing “nuh-uh.” I got as far as “nu-” and my Razr suggested this word: nugatory. I thought some funny programmer had inserted his favorite duuuuude-speak version of negatory, but I was wrong. It’s an adjective of Latin origin meaning “of no […]