Your Vocabulary

[Shuckle]

Perfect 100% for number one! \o/ 95 to the second test, which is alright. #39 had the answer choice "highly complicated or developed" that was the right answer to the definition "not naive; sophisticated", though, which was stupid.

Some of those were oddly specific. "Actuarial" is a really really obscure term and one I only heard at some bygone overheard dinner conversation, and there was another that was a real head-scratcher over just how specific the word was.

Course, I guess if you are going to have a large vocabulary you had better know all kinds of stupidly specific terms like pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis :P Or black lung disease if you're hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobic.

[Jerichi]

>"Actuarial"

As in dealing with actuaries and the study of actuarial science?

Is that obscure?

[Jerichi]

Took Talon's links, 93/100 on the first, 90/100 on second (though that one had a glitch one one question and I made a stupid mistake on a second).

Not bad.

[Talon87]

I wouldn't boast about knowing made-up words that aren't even medically accurate. ^^; You may as well brag that you know about deoxyriboflavinoids and pneumocraniogastrohepatorenal syndrome. (Hey look at me I can link a bunch of medical greek prefixes and stems together too!) Pneumoconiosis is what you're referring to, alternatively known as anthracosis or anthracosilicosis depending on the stage of the disease and the nature of the particulate inhaled. What you've mentioned, were it even a real word, would be a very, very, very small subset of all pneumoconioses.

This is also the second time this thread you've messed up how to spell sesquipedalian (embedded in your hippopoto word) which again means you shouldn't be trying to brag about the big words you know. Not if you can't even spell them right! ^^; I didn't say anything the first time because "you're being mean to the kid, Talon, lay off " but this is twice now you've tried to show off knowing this word and you've messed it up both times. There aren't two p's there. The prefix is sesqui meaning 1½ and the root is ped meaning foot with two adjectival suffixes (first the -alis, and then the -alian modification of that) combined to form the word. sesquipedalio-, not sesquippedalio-. That's what you get for copying and pasting off Dictionary.com and not knowing your Greek and Latin. -.-; And if you don't believe me, Wiktionary even quips "(common misspelling, perhaps on purpose, to make the word even longer)". (Speaking of Wiktionary, I doubled back around to see what they had to say for you on the first one. You don't have to take my educated word for it -- here's what these guys had to say! "This word was invented purely to be a contender for the title of the longest word in the English language, comprising forty-five letters. The word is not in official medical usage, and textbooks refer to this disease as pneumonoconiosis, pneumoconiosis, or silicosis.")

Anyway, just to show I'm not being all mean, some sincere kudos for doing well on the two vocab tests provided. I've still yet to look at and subsequently take the second one. Can do it tomorrow real fast if I remember to. Regardless, good for you scoring so very well. But Jeri's right: actuarial isn't exactly an obscure term to anyone over the age of 20 even if it may not be a word most people -- including many actuaries I've known -- are able to define.

[The Morg]

You want to talk about made-up words? Let me read off some of my supplement labels. It's an entire industry built off the fact that people will buy anything with big, important-sounding words!

Standardised to contain 24% Flavone Glycosides

Scientifically designed with lean mass activators

Isolated through a series of micro- and ultra-filtration steps and instantized for ease of mixability

State of the art manufacturing processes are used to retain the active Whey Protein Peptides and Microfractions

Ultimate Vaso-Flow Booster

Nom. Delicious.

[tau]

I got 39,000. Does anyone know the margin for error in this thing, because that seems a tad high to me o.o

[Haymez]

>Tau

To find margin of error, take the test multiple times and see how your score changes. If it stays fairly similar, you can conclude it is pretty accurate. If it changes wildly, it probably isn't.

[Shuckle]

Originally Posted by Talon87

I wouldn't boast about knowing made-up words that aren't even medically accurate. ^^;

JOKING TALON, JOKING

This is also the second time this thread you've messed up how to spell sesquipedalian (embedded in your hippopoto word) which again means you shouldn't be trying to brag about the big words you know. Not if you can't even spell them right! ^^; I didn't say anything the first time because "you're being mean to the kid, Talon, lay off " but this is twice now you've tried to show off knowing this word and you've messed it up both times. There aren't two p's there. The prefix is sesqui meaning 1½ and the root is ped meaning foot with two adjectival suffixes (first the -alis, and then the -alian modification of that) combined to form the word. sesquipedalio-, not sesquippedalio-. That's what you get for copying and pasting off Dictionary.com and not knowing your Greek and Latin. -.-;

Really? Learn something new every day, then. I have always heard and seen it spelled with two p's, personally, but your explanation makes sense, too. I never tried breaking it down to learn how to spell it, I just split it up into hippopotomonstro and sesquipedalio and phobia and therein lies my mistake.

and

but this is twice now you've tried to show off knowing this word

JOKING TALON, JOKING

[Sneaze]

>Talon's tests

39/40 on the first (missed odious)
40/40 on the second

...but these words aren't all that uncommon... =/

[Talon87]

re·con·noi·ter
/ˌrēkəˈnoitər/
Verb
Make a military observation of (a region): "they reconnoitered the beach before the landing".
Noun
An act of reconnoitering.
Synonyms
verb. reconnoitre - scout - explore
noun. reconnoitre - reconnaissance

It's not every day I come across reconnaissance's verb.

[Shuckle]

IS THIS THREAD BECOMING THE WORD OF THE DAY THREAD BECAUSE I AM TOTALLY OK WITH THAT

[Amras.MG]

Word of the day: CAPSLOCK

[Ethereal]

"word of the day" sounds fun
me-lis-ma noun \mi-ˈliz-mə\
plural: me-lis-ma-ta \mi-ˈliz-mə-tə\
1: a group of notes or tones sung on one syllable in plainsong
2: melodic embellishment
3: cadenza

pretty common in church songs/etc, but you'll hear examples in a lot of contemporary music too.

Contemporary song @ 00:50
Church Song @ 00:40

this year's acadec music resource has some pretty interesting vocab because it's russian (zapev, podgoloski, peremennost', etc), but here's an english word.

[Lady Kuno]

If this is going to become a word of the day, then one word per day and have different people submit words each day (ie take turns).

[Sneaze]

in·su·lar   [in-suh-ler, ins-yuh-]
adjective
1. of or pertaining to an island or islands: insular possessions.
2. dwelling or situated on an island.
3. forming an island: insular rocks.
4. detached; standing alone; isolated.
5. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of islanders.
6. narrow-minded or illiberal; provincial: insular attitudes toward foreigners.
7. Pathology. occurring in or characterized by one or more isolated spots, patches, or the like.
8. Anatomy. pertaining to an island of cells or tissue, as the islets of Langerhans.
noun
9. an inhabitant of an island; islander.

I really do like the latter meanings.

[Mercutio]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19929249

A beeb article about britishisms in America. Any of you lot use any of these?

Totally was not aware that 'mate' is a British thing.

[The Morg]

I wasn't aware some of those were considered "British" either.

Doppleganger should appreciate this one:

'Shag' is such a brilliant word and Brits cringe because of the vulgarity of it, while Americans don't realise exactly how rude it is and run around saying it like a toddler repeating Daddy's accidental swear word slip.

[Mercutio]

See I would aee shag as not being offensive. It's worse than 'sleep with' though I guess.

[Concept]

Originally Posted by Mercutio

Totally was not aware that 'mate' is a British thing.

"Mate" is very much an Australianism isn't it?

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by dosuser

I wasn't aware some of those were considered "British" either.

Doppleganger should appreciate this one:

Thaaaaaaaat's Doppel!

Going through the list, I'll offer whether I use it and how commonly I think it is used by Americans at large.

01. autumn. I use it interchangeably with fall. In writing, I think I use it more because fall can be mistaken for "to fall" while autumn clearly means the season. In speaking, I'm pretty sure it's the reverse trend. As for Americans' usage, I'd rate this as common.

02. bloody. I use it rarely (certainly less than once a month, probably less than once every six months) and feel fairly "Britaboo"ish when I do use it. As for Americans' usage, rare amongst the population at large but those few who do use it (like Doppelganger) use it feverishly.

03. bum. I hardly ever use "bum" for butt but my parents both use it almost to the exclusion of "butt." Chalk it up to one of those crazy examples of kids learning language from their home nation instead of their parents, I guess. As for most Americans, rare again. When people say "bum" here 99.9% of the time they're talking about a homeless person (i.e. a bum) or someone who wastes time unemployed (e.g. bumming around).

04. chav. Never even heard the term before. O_o Well, that's probably not true. I've probably heard it before but just never learned what it meant. And heard it seldom. As for American usage, I'd chalk this one up to borderline non-existent if I could. No one here says chav.

05. cheeky. Here we see the opposite phenomenon from #3. I use this word pretty frequently, probably on the order of at least once a week (only if and when appropriate to use though; I don't force it). Grew up hearing this word all the time and it's pretty much part of my own personal vernacular. Friends occasionally give me playful hassle for it; strangers usually smile and wonder where that word just came from. As for overall American usage, I guess I'm going to have to go with uncommon on this but I may be overestimating and it could very well be rare. It's certainly not common though.

06. cheers. In the context of being used in a toast, I never use this word because I don't drink or go drinking with others. In that same context, I think the American usage ranges from common to uncommon. It feels like it used to be a lot more common in the past, the opposite of what the article seems to be suggesting.

07. fancy. How is this a Britishism? O_o Personal usage is very common, overall American usage is likewise common.

08. flat. This is the sort of thing that if someone said it over here he's being a Britaboo. No one says "flat" for an apartment over here. Not even my parents! This is a word that most educated adult Americans are familiar with, though, along with things like "lorry" for truck or "biscuit" for cookie. So while I'd say we as nation have a common awareness of the term's usage in the UK, our own use of the term is borderline non-existent.

09. frock. I never use this term. I think it used to be more common in American usage but today I'd rank it as rare to uncommon. It's certainly not something I'd associate with the UK though. It's just a term that has fallen out of use.

10. gap year. Come again? This is the second term in the list now I have never heard before. Personal usage zero, national usage borderline non-existent.

11. gobsmacked. I think I use this one pretty rarely but I still use it (anywhere from once to ten times a year). I'd say for Americans the usage is likewise rare but not altogether unheard of.

12. holiday. I never use this term the way you guys do ("to go on holiday") nor would I say most Americans do. I'd say overall American usage is rare with the clear preference being for "to take a vacation" or "to go on vacation."

13. innit. The list is being dumb now. -_-; This is the third term I've never, ever heard of. Suffice to say American usage is borderline non-existent.

14. kit. And now we swing full the other way and I have to ask, "How is this a Britishism? O_o" We use kit all the time. Surgical kit. Sports kit. Travel kit. Toolkit. (Hell, the latter is a compound word!) Personal and national usage is common for context and uncommon for general speech since, let's face it, how often does one find oneself discussing kits? ^^;

15. knickers. Another Britaboo term. My parents use this interchangeably with "underwear." I exclusively use underwear. I'd say American usage is rare and fairly marked as evidence of the speaker being either a UK expat or else a Britaboo.

There's half the list. Will report in with the other half later.

[Mercutio]

A gap year is where you take a year out from education, either to work or to travel, with the intent of going back in. Commonly done stereo high school and university.

Only chavs say innit, don't worry about it.

[Talon87]

16. loo. Personal usage nil, parental usage rare, national usage rare.

17. mate. Personal usage very rare, national usage rare outside of the compound word "classmate" or similar (schoolmate, workmate, etc).

18. mobile. In the context of "slang for cellular telephone," this is a pretty big hallmark of someone being a Britaboo. Personal usage nil, national usage rare to uncommon. I would have to say the usage does seem to be on the rise; however, unlike with most of the other terms I've labeled as being black spots which identify one as a Britophile, this is one where I think Americans just find it very, very cute that you guys say "mobile" (and the way you pronounce it too, the -ile sounding as in mile and not as in Hull) and they like saying it now. But I'd still say it's rare. Everyone here says cell phone or even just cell.

19. muppet. In the context given by the article, personal usage is nil and national usage I'd assess as borderline non-existent. Muppet is too entrenched in our national psyche as the cute little furry puppets of Sesame Street so when we do use the term as slang we use it in a similar way to how you guys say moppet. (Probably no accident that the two terms conflated like this.)

20. numpty. Is this list even trying anymore? -_-; These are supposed to be British terms on the rise in America? Try personal usage zero, national usage borderline non-existent. I have never in my life heard "numpty" before today. Even chav I think I've probably come across before in the past maybe. But numpty? Wtf is this neologism?

21. pop over. Personal usage next to never, national usage uncommon but not rare. Entirely up to personal preference. Would not associate American usage with the UK.

22. proper. What. the fuck. is this word doing on this list? -_-; Personal usage common, national usage very common. How is this a Britishism? This is as common as "large" or "small"!

23. queue. Here we have another word my friends rib me for. Personal usage is common -- just search the forum for uses by Talon87, I think you'll find some hits -- but national usage is certainly rare to uncommon. When I say "queue" my friends ask if I'd like tea and crumpets and the like. But to me, this is the word. My parents, obviously, use the term as well.

24. roundabout. And another one. These are becoming increasingly common in the US and since the only name we've got for them is "roundabout" the term is becoming more common in American usage. I'd say overall the national usage is uncommon but certainly not rare and will perhaps soon be common as more and more state departments of transportation are phasing out four-way stops in favor of roundabouts. Personal usage, likewise, is dead common when discussing the entity -- it's the only name I know for it -- but is generally uncommon because how often does one discuss roundabouts? ^^;

25. row. Personal usage is rare to uncommon, perhaps closer to uncommon than I think it is. National usage though is definitely rare. "Fight," "argument," "spat," all manner of terms come to mind for American usage before "row" ever would and the term is certainly clearly British.

26. shag. Oh, the Britaboo term of Britaboo terms. Personal usage nil, parental usage nil (afaik ¬_¬), national usage rare and only popularized to even that extent owing to Mike Myers' Austin Powers films.

27. skint. Another term I've never heard before today. Personal usage nil, national usage borderline non-existent.

28. sussed. Personal usage nil, national usage rare.

29. twit. Personal usage rare, national usage rare. The variant "nitwit", however, is quite common.

30. wonky. Personal usage uncommon, national usage uncommon. Not rare.

[Concept]

Originally Posted by Talon87

22. proper. What. the fuck. is this word doing on this list? -_-; Personal usage common, national usage very common. How is this a Britishism? This is as common as "large" or "small"!

I think this is meant here specifically as it's usage for emphasis as opposed to its usual meaning (for example, it's quite common to here "that's proper shit man" or something similar when hearing about something really bad happening).

[Tyranidos]

Some of the words are Britishisms depending on the context of usage rather than the word itself (such as proper or fancy).

I wouldn't personally say "I would fancy a spot of tea" nor do I know anyone IRL who would.

EDIT: Concept beat me to it.

[Talon87]

I'm aware, guys. But the article very clearly lays out its case with:

proper, adj. Appropriate or suited for some purpose. "I picked up the British use of 'proper' (as in 'a proper breakfast') while completing graduate work at Oxford in the mid-2000s. I hadn't realised just how prevalent it was in my own speech until a coworker asked me this year if it was a North Dakota thing, as that is the state where I grew up. It's definitely not a North Dakota thing." Jacquelyn Bengfort, Washington, DC, US

And I'm saying that we all say this. A proper meal. A proper husband. A proper job. A proper night's rest. So on and so forth. This isn't something I just heard growing up in my own home -- this is something you find on American airwaves, in American films and television, in American books and comics, anywhere you look you can find Americans using the word "proper" in this context.

As for Tdos' post about fancying things, again, I'm pretty sure you can find posts where I've used it myself. (Just searched myself. Loads of use of expressions like "tickle one's fancy" or using fancy in the commoner American way to mean "advanced, polished, special", but here's the first example I just found of me using it the stated way.) Personally, I think a lot of people use fancy this way. But maybe it's speaker's bias. *shrug* "I'd fancy a nice a car." "I'd fancy a good meal." And so on.