The Joy of Learning New Words

[Mike]

Posted by Mark (Star Mariner) (here)

Posted by Mike (here)
sh!tgoblin

If we're doing slang, I'd like to add two (British) variants of the above. We Brits are world experts in creative slurs and profanity.

May I present the:

Cockwomble
and the
Wankpuffin

Excellent.

I've always been envious of British slang words, particularly the insults. Your list is endless (and hilarious) whereas ours mostly just consists of idiot, a$shole...er, have I mentioned idiot yet?

I can't wait to deploy these at some point.

[Mike]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
When my father swore (RIP: 1902—1986; he was an Irish-Canadian), every time he would yell:

Curuckabonyetta!!

That's phonetic. He never wrote it down. I have no idea what it means, or where it came from. I wish I'd asked him!

This actually, literally made me laugh out loud. I love it

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

It sounds vaguely Italian to me. Bill, you should consult Grok or ChatGPT. Get it to analyse the phonetics to see if it can come up with a source.

[Open Minded Dude]

One of the German words for the infamous "" / "Snowflake" is "Warmduscher" (literally 'warm showerer' = someone who only takes warm showers). I always wondered why there was no literal corresponding English expression. The one that approaches it would be 'toe dipper'.

Here's more English translations of 'Warmduscher': https://www.dict.cc/?s=Warmduscher

pantywaist, mollycoddle, wimp, milksop, and many more

I also like the German "Weichei" for that which literally translates to 'Soft(-boiled) Egg'.

And then we have 'Schlappschwanz' in German but I will refrain from literally translating that here.

https://www.dict.cc/?s=schlappschwanz

However, a more narrow (and correct) translation for "Snowflake " describing an easily offended and over-sensitve person (also in the context of modern day wokeness) would be "Mimose".

https://www.dict.cc/?s=Mimose

This term comes from Botany describing a plant that is also called a sensitive plant or even 'touch-me-not'.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimosa_pudica

Btw, 'pudica' in Latin means 'shame', 'bashful', or 'shrinking', alluding to its shrinking reaction to contact. But now I digress.

[rgray222]

A fun little video appropriate for this thread. Certainly not difficult words, but words to make you sound a bit sophisticated when describing something annoying.

[Kryztian]

You know how when one talks about the horror and senselessness going on in Gaza, and you talk in terms of well grounded information about the targeting of journalists and deliberate bombing of hospitals and the number of starving children, and then there are these people who accuse you of "antisemitism" for talking intelligently? Well there is a word for those people:

[Matthew]

I bought a thesaurus the other day. It's nothing to write house about.

The below is a quote from The Meaning of Liff:

Ahenny (adj.): The way people stand when examining other people’s bookshelves.
The Meaning of Liff, by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd:

[Johan (Keyholder)]

SOPHROSYNE or "In how far are you a sophron individual?"

Sophrosyne (Ancient Greek: σωφροσύνη) is an ancient Greek concept of an ideal of excellence of character and soundness of mind, which when combined in one well-balanced individual leads to other qualities, such as temperance, moderation, prudence, purity, decorum, and self-control.

Sophrosyne encompasses a range of qualities, including:

Moderation: Finding the right balance in all things, avoiding excess or deficiency.
Self-control: Managing one's impulses and desires, exercising restraint.
Prudence: Acting with wisdom and caution, considering the consequences of one's actions.
Temperance: Maintaining a balanced and virtuous life, avoiding extremes in both pleasure and pain.
Self-knowledge: Understanding one's own strengths and weaknesses.
Self-restraint: Controlling oneself, especially in situations that could lead to excess or recklessness.

Sophrosyne was a highly valued virtue in ancient Greece, often contrasted with hubris, which refers to excessive pride and arrogance. It was seen as a key element of a well-rounded individual and a healthy society.

It looks like sophrosyne as a goal for a/our society is not attainable (anymore). But we can at least do our personal best to be as sophrosyne as possible.