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one of the hoary word riddles one hears (too) often as a word maven is, "What are the four words in the English language ending in -dous?" (you must amend this to 'four common words' in order to avoid a pedantic word dump from some surly word mavens.)
just this afternoon I encountered another such, rescued from the Dustbin of Obsolete Words: jeopardous (last found in the wild by Murray in 1661, but used otherwhence since): jeopardous - Fraught with risk or danger; hazardous, risky, perilous, dangerous.
"In such snow he'd have led us into all sorts of thrilling and jeopardous traps..."
- Leif Enger, Peace Like a River (2002)
Enger actually goes on to use the word again:
"Had the man not opted for a late soak my brother's career might've ended on the spot, but wet feet and wood floors make jeopardous allies..." - ibid
I think it's a word that warrants wider use.
-tsuwm
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Apart from the semi-archaic and now apparently resurrected jeapardous... what are the others?
hazardous you mention, then there would be
horrendous
stupendous
tremendous
...are there really only four plus one?
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did you not note the "common" qualifier? previously..
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old hand
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did you not note the "common" qualifier? previously.. of what? I notice from that list in the link that several of them are in fact myths. I also noticed no 16. "Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable." I wonder if Jackie agrees? 
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formerly known as etaoin...
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What about a word meaning spotty? Leopardous? Or perhaps describing one who is too prone to wearing dancing hose? Leotardous? 
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Disastrous? Calamitous? Both fairly common, I think.
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couldous adj. concerned with possibility or capability: The motivational speaker gave his usual couldous talk.
Forget it; I made it up. Whew, now I don't have to go back and attempt to give the pronunciation.
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Disastrous? Calamitous? Both fairly common, I think. But neither of them end in -dous is the onliest thing.
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What about two candidate words:
propagandous ;(seen on Urban)
gourmandous ; seen in a blog discussion about food
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From amphipodous to vanadous ( link) and back again.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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but still, this doesn't touch the 166 to be found in OED.
-joe (I'm just sayin') friday
NB: there is nothing stupendous (or stupidous) about these; they just happen to be words ending in 'd' which have had the suffix -ous affixed to them.
-ron o.
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Hum, as jeopardous and hazardous are related to the verbs jeopardize and hazardize, I thougt there might be at least some system in this dousness. Not. Arbitrary and random.  Like the weather. BTW, : what's apodous and where can I find those 166? if you please?
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>where can I find those 166? if you please?
not to be ron about it, but in OED.
seriously, have you tried getting online access to OED through a library where you have borrowing privileges?
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Jeeh, now why didn't I think of that all by myself, I wonder.
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While we're making some up: cameleopardous = giraffe-like, e.g. Olive Oyl's cameleopardous neck.
Last edited by Myridon; 05/17/08 06:59 PM.
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Disastrous? Calamitous? Both fairly common, I think. But neither of them end in -dous is the onliest thing. Nice word. I like that word.
Last edited by The Pook; 05/18/08 09:04 AM.
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there is nothing stupendous (or stupidous) about these; they just happen to be words ending in 'd' which have had the suffix -ous affixed to them. "That's not a cat licence, it's a dog licence with the the word 'dog' crossed out and 'cat' written in - in crayon" - Monty Python
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>seriously, have you tried getting online access to OED through a library where you have borrowing privileges?
Serious answer. The main Public Library's computers only give access to the two main Dutch dictionaries, Merriam Webster and the Encyclopedia Britannica. Many books are not available in English. I'm sure though I can live out my life well with 166 words less.
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From Giraffa camelopardalis? I had to look it up, not having many scientific names memorized.
“leopardous” might describe the behaviors of the latest Mac OS, Leopard, which I can't say much about, still enraptored in in the clutches of Tiger as I am.
Last edited by morphememedley; 05/19/08 04:39 AM. Reason: I can't find authority to expand “raptor” beyond birds of prey and certain carnivorous dinosaurs.
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From amphipodous to vanadous ( link) and back again. Does it perchance contain a word that could describe many threads, namely canardous?
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interestingly, neither OED nor OneLook record any inflections for canard(s) [Fr.; lit. ‘duck’], at all.
(I might have expected canardine as well; both of these can be found [rarely] in French.)
-joe (full of canards, then?) friday
edit: but perhaps the -s form in French is just the plural of canardou?
Last edited by tsuwm; 05/19/08 01:19 PM.
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canardou?
Nope, that should be canardoux.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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so, is canardous 'ducklike', then? or am I just being led astray by Google's Book Search?
-joe (faux-naïf) friday
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O Canardoux!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee
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Canada named after a duck?
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is canardous 'ducklike', then?
I thought canardous was a near synonym for obfuscatory.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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From Giraffa camelopardalis? Also a constellation Camelopardalis aka Camelopardis. There used to be a Saturday morning live-action sci-fi show ( Space Academy )where one of the characters constantly exclaimed "Camelopardis!".
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is canardous 'ducklike', then?
I thought canardous was a near synonym for obfuscatory. It is from the Canard duck, yes, but it has a metaphorical meaning. I'm not sure why, but a Canard is a piece of misinformation, a hoax or a 'red herring' that leads people to go off on all sorts of tangents. It could, as Dzhaymz has intimated, have an obfuscatory result. Usually those annoying emails that keep circulating contain one or more canards - you know the ones that end with some kind of guilt trip about passing it on to the rest of the world. Canards also regularly appear in urban myths or incorrect etonyms. Here in Australia we have a slang term 'furphy' that is pretty much a synonym of canard. [Furphy n, pl - phies Austral slang a rumour or fictitious story [from Furphy, an Australian manufacturer of water carts in WW1] - Collins Compact Australian Dictionary A couple of Dictionary definitions of canard: Collins Australian: "A false report" [French: a duck] Concise Oxford: "A false report; hoax..." [F, = duck]
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that's all well and swell, but I was actually enquiring about the French canardous , if it really exists. to wit, does it mean ducklike? - joe (quack) friday
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I was actually enquiring about the French canardous, if it really exists
No, because the examples given in the Google Books results you link to are not from French, but from Provençal (or some other Langue d'Oc). There it seems to be what in French is canardeau which is duckling.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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canardousHe has the head of a bear, the wings of a bird, the feet of a duck, a pig's tail, the body of a dog, the mane of a lion. He eats vegetables, meats. He steals , jumps, walks. He sleeps in the snow. He is pink and violet. [when I was a child I spake like a child]
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thank you jim.. and BranShea!
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