Hambone v3.0

A Perfectly Cromulent Way to Embiggen Your Vocabulary

Just one of the many ways in which English, especially the American (US) variant) is superior to most all other languages, is its ability and zeal to incorporate new words. French has L’Academie Francais to maintain the purity of the language; US American English has neologisms to keep it real and fresh.

The two in the title to this post come from our friends, the Simpsons:
Cromulent, n: Fine, acceptable or normal; excellent, realistic, legitimate or authentic
Embiggen, v, tr: To make or become bigger

Another from the Simpsons that I particularly like is:
Meh, interjection: Expressing indifference or lack of enthusiasm

Others I have recently run across include:
Pornstache, n: An especially thick, bushy mustache favored in 1970’s-era porn
Unfriend, v, tr: To sever a “friend” arrangement on a social media website, e.g., Facebook
Cankle, n: A thick lower leg, especially on a middle-aged woman, where it is difficult to determine the boundary between the calf and ankle
Spork, n: A disposable plastic eating utensil that is intended to be a combination spoon and fork, which combines the worst qualities of both. See also foon.
Fauxtography, n: Misleading presentation of images for propagandistic or otherwise ulterior purposes, involving staging, deceptive modification, and/or the addition or omission of significant context
Truthiness, n: In satire, truthiness is a “truth” that a person claims to know intuitively “from the gut” without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts
Kevork, v, tr: To kill off or otherwise artificially and prematurely stop

Many more can be found here.

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38 responses to “A Perfectly Cromulent Way to Embiggen Your Vocabulary”

  1. Super Dave Avatar
    Super Dave

    I noticed on checking the link that there is nothing for words beginning with the letter “O.” In fact, the letter “O” is not included along with all the other letters in the alphabet for which there are words. That can only mean that they know that big brother will sick the hounds of hell on them and take away their web site if they don’t like something beginning with the letter “O,” or that they are a liberal site and do not want to defame their Messiah and fearless leader.

    I guess I’ll take the hint and not post any “O” words either. Now, I’m off to see what they might have under the letter “N.” More later.

  2. El Gordo Avatar
    El Gordo

    I noticed on checking the link that there is nothing for words beginning with the letter “O.” In fact, the letter “O” is not included along with all the other letters in the alphabet for which there are words. That can only mean that they know that big brother will sick the hounds of hell on them and take away their web site if they don’t like something beginning with the letter “O,” or that they are a liberal site and do not want to defame their Messiah and fearless leader.

    I guess I’ll take the hint and not post any “O” words either. Now, I’m off to see what they might have under the letter “N.” More later.

  3. Dooood Avatar
    Dooood

    The Second Edition of the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary contains full entries for 171,476 words in current use, and 47,156 obsolete words. To this may be added around 9,500 derivative words included as subentries. Over half of these words are nouns, about a quarter adjectives, and about a seventh verbs; the rest is made up of exclamations, conjunctions, prepositions, suffixes, etc. And these figures don’t take account of entries with senses for different word classes (such as noun and adjective).

    This suggests that there are, at the very least, a quarter of a million distinct English words, excluding inflections, and words from technical and regional vocabulary not covered by the OED, or words not yet added to the published dictionary, of which perhaps 20 per cent are no longer in current use. If distinct senses were counted, the total would probably approach three quarters of a million.

    As a point of comparison, I believe there are slightly less than 100,000 words in Spanish.

    No other language on earth is as expressive, precise and yet flexible as the English one. This is why it is the dominant language of the 21st century among 6 billion people.

  4. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    The Second Edition of the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary contains full entries for 171,476 words in current use, and 47,156 obsolete words. To this may be added around 9,500 derivative words included as subentries. Over half of these words are nouns, about a quarter adjectives, and about a seventh verbs; the rest is made up of exclamations, conjunctions, prepositions, suffixes, etc. And these figures don’t take account of entries with senses for different word classes (such as noun and adjective).

    This suggests that there are, at the very least, a quarter of a million distinct English words, excluding inflections, and words from technical and regional vocabulary not covered by the OED, or words not yet added to the published dictionary, of which perhaps 20 per cent are no longer in current use. If distinct senses were counted, the total would probably approach three quarters of a million.

    As a point of comparison, I believe there are slightly less than 100,000 words in Spanish.

    No other language on earth is as expressive, precise and yet flexible as the English one. This is why it is the dominant language of the 21st century among 6 billion people.

  5. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    2 Tex

    Pero Texpat mi viejo amigo, los 100.000 palabras se puede hablar con un estilo mucho más

    Simple

  6. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    2 Tex

    Pero Texpat mi viejo amigo, los 100.000 palabras se puede hablar con un estilo mucho más

    Simple

  7. Katfish Avatar
    Katfish

    No other language on earth is as expressive, precise and yet flexible as the English one. This is why it is the dominant language of the 21st century among 6 billion people.

    Don’t forget the lasting aftereffects of the British Empire, upon which the sun never set. With relatively few exceptions, when colonists from Mother England colonized a foreign land, they pretty much took over and anglicized the new colony and its indigenous peoples (viz. US, Canada, Australia). The other European powers tended to simply install a colonial government to allow them to control the populace and extract wealth from the colony (viz. Belgian Congo, South Africa, most of South America).

  8. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    No other language on earth is as expressive, precise and yet flexible as the English one. This is why it is the dominant language of the 21st century among 6 billion people.

    Don’t forget the lasting aftereffects of the British Empire, upon which the sun never set. With relatively few exceptions, when colonists from Mother England colonized a foreign land, they pretty much took over and anglicized the new colony and its indigenous peoples (viz. US, Canada, Australia). The other European powers tended to simply install a colonial government to allow them to control the populace and extract wealth from the colony (viz. Belgian Congo, South Africa, most of South America).

  9. Dooood Avatar
    Dooood

    #3 Simple

    Hay desacuerdo aquí.

  10. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    #3 Simple

    Hay desacuerdo aquí.

  11. Dooood Avatar
    Dooood

    #4 WB

    It’s always been instructive to look at the former British colonies and the impact they have had on the modern world: Singapore, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Australia, India, Canada and that little place just south of it.

    No other European colonial empire can boast of that sort of offspring and legacy. Much of it can be traced to the British insistence on setting up school systems to both educate and civilize natives people. Even in Africa, the more advanced nations have been the ones educated in the old British colonial school systems.

    The Germans were abject failures at empire building, the Belgians were just murderous thieves and the French came in and ate all the food, drank all the wine, raped the women and took all they could carry.

  12. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    #4 WB

    It’s always been instructive to look at the former British colonies and the impact they have had on the modern world: Singapore, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Australia, India, Canada and that little place just south of it.

    No other European colonial empire can boast of that sort of offspring and legacy. Much of it can be traced to the British insistence on setting up school systems to both educate and civilize natives people. Even in Africa, the more advanced nations have been the ones educated in the old British colonial school systems.

    The Germans were abject failures at empire building, the Belgians were just murderous thieves and the French came in and ate all the food, drank all the wine, raped the women and took all they could carry.

  13. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    5 Tex

    No hay desacuerdo. Sólo hay una falta de garbo!

  14. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    5 Tex

    No hay desacuerdo. Sólo hay una falta de garbo!

  15. OletimerLin Avatar
    OletimerLin

    Yet another bill to make English the official language of Texas has been filed. If it becomes law, will George Bush be required to learn it?

  16. bob42 Avatar
    bob42

    Yet another bill to make English the official language of Texas has been filed. If it becomes law, will George Bush be required to learn it?

  17. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Two more words need to be on that list:

    1. “Beclown” as in “Joe Biden just beclowned himself with that statement.”

    Most important new word is:

    2. “Refudiate” as in “Obama’s agenda was refudiated on November 2, 2010.”

  18. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Two more words need to be on that list:

    1. “Beclown” as in “Joe Biden just beclowned himself with that statement.”

    Most important new word is:

    2. “Refudiate” as in “Obama’s agenda was refudiated on November 2, 2010.”

  19. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    Sarge,

    Let’s not forget Stategery!

  20. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    Sarge,

    Let’s not forget Stategery!

  21. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    Sarge,

    Didn’t Sister Sarah regurgatweet the first use of “refudiate”?

  22. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    Sarge,

    Didn’t Sister Sarah regurgatweet the first use of “refudiate”?

  23. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    Sarge,

    Let us not forget the Bush malaprop misunderestimate.

  24. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    Sarge,

    Let us not forget the Bush malaprop misunderestimate.

  25. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    buttgrenadize: What this country did to itself when it elected the foul “O” as president, because ‘he was black’ and never considered anything else.

  26. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    buttgrenadize: What this country did to itself when it elected the foul “O” as president, because ‘he was black’ and never considered anything else.

  27. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    11 Simple Simon says:
    December 1, 2010 at 11:21 am

    Sarge,

    Didn’t Sister Sarah regurgatweet the first use of “refudiate”?

    Yup.

    Which makes it more the sweeter in context.

    It truly was a refudiation.

    buttgrenadize:

    Not really a new word. The first time it was used was during King Arthur’s reign after certain individuals did not follow these instructions properly:

    .

    ..And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, “O LORD, bless this Thy hand grenade that with it Thou mayest blow Thine enemies to tiny bits, in Thy mercy.” And the LORD did grin and the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals, and fruit bats and large chu… [At this point, the friar is urged by Brother Maynard to “skip a bit, brother”]… And the LORD spoke, saying, “First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin, then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it.” Amen.[1]

  28. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    11 Simple Simon says:
    December 1, 2010 at 11:21 am

    Sarge,

    Didn’t Sister Sarah regurgatweet the first use of “refudiate”?

    Yup.

    Which makes it more the sweeter in context.

    It truly was a refudiation.

    buttgrenadize:

    Not really a new word. The first time it was used was during King Arthur’s reign after certain individuals did not follow these instructions properly:

    .

    ..And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, “O LORD, bless this Thy hand grenade that with it Thou mayest blow Thine enemies to tiny bits, in Thy mercy.” And the LORD did grin and the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals, and fruit bats and large chu… [At this point, the friar is urged by Brother Maynard to “skip a bit, brother”]… And the LORD spoke, saying, “First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin, then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it.” Amen.[1]

  29. Dooood Avatar
    Dooood

    Simple and Sarge

    The New Oxford American Dictionary named refudiate its word of the year. I believe the first usage they found of the word was in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram around the turn of the 20th century.

  30. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    Simple and Sarge

    The New Oxford American Dictionary named refudiate its word of the year. I believe the first usage they found of the word was in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram around the turn of the 20th century.

  31. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Simple;

    Pero Texpat mi viejo amigo, los 100.000 palabras se puede hablar con un estilo mucho más

    ¿Eh? Mucho más que? No se puede terminar una oración sin completar la comparación que comenzó.

  32. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Simple;

    Pero Texpat mi viejo amigo, los 100.000 palabras se puede hablar con un estilo mucho más

    ¿Eh? Mucho más que? No se puede terminar una oración sin completar la comparación que comenzó.

  33. OletimerLin Avatar
    OletimerLin

    If it’s actually gonna be a word, shouldn’t it be spelled refutiate?

  34. bob42 Avatar
    bob42

    If it’s actually gonna be a word, shouldn’t it be spelled refutiate?

  35. Adee Avatar
    Adee

    No other European colonial empire can boast of that sort of offspring and legacy. Much of it can be traced to the British insistence on setting up school systems to both educate and civilize natives people. Even in Africa, the more advanced nations have been the ones educated in the old British colonial school systems.

    At least we figured out which side of the road to drive on.

  36. TexMo Avatar
    TexMo

    No other European colonial empire can boast of that sort of offspring and legacy. Much of it can be traced to the British insistence on setting up school systems to both educate and civilize natives people. Even in Africa, the more advanced nations have been the ones educated in the old British colonial school systems.

    At least we figured out which side of the road to drive on.

  37. mharper42 Avatar
    mharper42

    #17 Bob

    If it’s actually gonna be a word, shouldn’t it be spelled refutiate?

    No: it’s a slight slip from repudiate.

  38. mharper42 Avatar
    mharper42

    #17 Bob

    If it’s actually gonna be a word, shouldn’t it be spelled refutiate?

    No: it’s a slight slip from repudiate.

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