:cool:

Here's something about words that I find interesting, but I'm not sure if you Americans will understand it. When I'm bantering with my brother or my close friends, we will call each other names, and I often reach for American ones like dingus, dweeb, doofus, douchebag/douche, and poindexter (it's not all Ds).

There's an amusing ironic quality to the insults when I use those words, because they're not natural words for us to use with each other. They sound almost corny--we Brits pick them up from old movies and TV, of course--so they undercut the offensiveness of the insults. To use one of those words is to make oneself ridiculous, thereby introducing the classic comedy of a self-righteously angry but ridiculous person.

... I'm not sure if you Americans will understand it — me in this very post

I imagine that Americans might sometimes use British (or Italian or Spanish or whatever) terms in a similar way, but surely the resulting quality, texture, and humour of the insult are quite different?

I hope none of this kerfuffle (kind of a fun word that sounds like it contains popcorn) involves my brobdingnagian appendage. If so, sorry I’ve been dyspraxic (a bad praxis).

Jeeezz, what area of the twilight zone were you trolling when you found that? :yikes:

Has Noble Dust finally left the thread(?)... I regret posting here to the diminishment of anyone's pleasure. :cry: It's therapeutic if also self-indulgent.

I venture an alternative to "dick waving" in the spirit of British humor. This is a knob turning event... not unlike wine tasting and nothing as uncouth as an American circle jerk.

Two words that I've noticed in my first reading of Frank Herbert's Dune that were unfamiliar: covey (n. a group of birds/people/things) and cozen (v. to trick or deceive).

Once you're addicted to the spice melange (French for mixture/medley) in the Dune universe you're in a bit of a pickle. Withdrawal is fatal.

When I'm bantering with my brother or my close friends, we will call each other names, and I often reach for American ones like dingus, dweeb, doofus, douchebag/douche, and poindexter (it's not all Ds).

There's an amusing ironic quality to the insults when I use those words, because they're not natural words for us to use with each other. They sound almost corny--we Brits pick them up from old movies and TV, of course--so they undercut the offensiveness of the insults. To use one of those words is to make oneself ridiculous, thereby introducing the classic comedy of a self-righteously angry but ridiculous person. — jamalrob

As those terms are pretty much passé they could have pretty much the same effect here. For example, I might say something with an English accent like, “Them lot over there is a bunch of bloody dinguses, ay guv’na?”

Dune — Nils Loc

Just reread it in anticipation of the new film adaptation and there’s a word I noticed that Frank used a lot, which is presently. He uses it in narration and in the dialogue of characters. I remember when noticing it that it kind of broke the spell of being lost in the story. I like the word though, and thought to try using it in everyday language, but I haven’t so far. I vow to attempt it presently, however.

melange — Nils Loc

Just a fun fact.
Here in Vienna, Austria a Melange is half a cup of "black coffee" and half a cup "creamy milk", topped with milk foam.

Once you're addicted to the spice melange (French for mixture/medley) in the Dune universe you're in a bit of a pickle. Withdrawal is fatal. — Nils Loc

But they say that the benefits are worth it. Good books the originals by Frank, read them many years ago. Then the son wrote another bunch which I read most of.

Another word from Herbert's Dune, suborn, means to induce or bribe someone to commit an unlawful act . A more legal definition: suborn means to bribe or induce a witness in the court of law to give false testimony.

The tyrant hold-fast had no need to suborn witnesses against his own blatant depravity and corruption. They served as loyal figures in a mock play of justice, theatrical pawns of a kangaroo court, held in check by an atmosphere of absolute terror.

Yet another word from the Dune universe, this one from The Duke of Caladan. While listening to the audiobook last night there was a part in the story where the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen informed a visiting guest that some such thing would be arriving presently. The word 'presently' had apparently triggered in my mind the latent thirst for exotic words and within less than a minute a new beauty blossomed from the narrative.

Feyd-Rautha gave the Baron's guest an insouciant glance as he walked away.

I like the sound of the word, and its meaning, but I can't imagine using it in day-to-day language, unfortunatly.

Topping the thread.

One agent's undesired output is another agent's desired input.

Symbionts, commensals and parasites are all relative qualifications/valuations from an agent's point of view.

I’ve always liked the word schadenfreude. It can be deeply satisfying.

Schadenfreude may emerge from a frustrating envy or a frustrating desire for retribution. There is an possible psychological connection between the two in the way envy-induced resentment might actuate violence in some direction (ex. up or down the social hierarchy). To feel good that a bad actor got their comeuppance by some kind of incidental or intentional harm is an example of schadenfreude. Case example: Reddit's Karmic Justice.

I will now warm my soul by the internal blazing hellfire of envy for what lies on the other side of the proverbial fence.

How do we feel about ouillée? It's pronounced "oo yay!"

Same as ullage?

Long ago I saw a documentary film were a guy on the deck of a ship was cracking open a Roman(?) era amphora of wine and tasting it. The wine was brilliantly colored. Still looking for that scene.

What about a scurrilous 'sapiosexualist' ?
A special sorta smarty-pants ?

Mecachis is the word I use today (well I use it a lot during my life). It doesn’t have English translation. Don’t try to find it because it leads you to weird synonyms. It is a mean word. I can explain it through examples:

1. Imagine you are in a restaurant and you forgot your wallet. You immediately shout: mecachis I forgot my damn wallet at my home!

2. (This is more usual). Imagine you are running fast because the train/bus is already in the station but you don’t approach at time. You would say: mecachis the bus/train leave me in the station like a dumb head.