Whoever invented this word, he didn’t do it extemporaneously, because this word is totally ridiculous and that’s why I love it. It’s too long, it’s cumbersome, too complicated, and when you use it you’re pretty much guaranteed to end all conversation. You may get your shins kicked and your throat slashed. But your options are [...]
Words I Love
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Category Archives: Pretentious
Replete
If there is a heroin for word junkies like me, it is “replete”. This word makes me feel so GOOD when I’m using it, and could I shoot it directly into my veins I would. It contains an adorable echoing long-E sound and the playful and flirty diblend P+L (stay tuned for plenipotentiary). And this [...]
Ersatz
The ugly duckling that grew up to be a beautiful word. It’s hard to say, it’s ugly to look at, and anyone who uses it is instantly declared a pretentious cock. And such a useful word for pretentious, ivory tower cocks such as myself! It just floats off the tip of the tongue like a [...]
Festooned
A festoon is a festive ornament. So to be “festooned” means to be decorated in festive ornaments. A festoon used to be a specific kind of ornament, in which flowers, foliage, and fruit were fastened to and suspended by long ribbons. It has now come to mean any type of celebratory ornamentation. Considering how our [...]
Coterie
The French know how to party, or possibly how to enslave people. If you ever wanted solid evidence look at the following words, all from French or Old French: escort entourage attendants retinue cortege A coterie is a “group of people who associates with one frequently”, and is my favorite of the lot, although “cortege” [...]
Agency
The OED has the definition of “agency” I’m interested in listed first: The faculty of an agent or of acting; active working or operation; action, activity. In typical OED style, I can’t fucking understand that. God bless you, Random House (def. 10): a means of exerting power or influence; instrumentality I did not know this [...]
