Wordsmith.org
Posted By: tsuwm totally useless words - 08/24/11 07:51 PM
here's one (maybe):
frobnicate

[perhaps fr. frobnitz, a thingname] abbrev. as frob
slang to manipulate or adjust; to tweak the controls
Posted By: Avy Re: totally useless words - 08/25/11 01:47 AM
What does a slubberdegullion frobnicate?
(We could build this sentence up as in a game maybe using hogwash words.)
Posted By: Candy Re: totally useless words - 08/25/11 09:00 AM
I have vague recollection of the word slubberdegullion in a childrens story I used to love, Avy.

I have looked for it on internet, but not remembering the title, its been a difficult search.

From memory, the story was about a girl who had gold (maybe) coins, spilling from her mouth when ever she opened it and (maybe her sister) who wasn't so nice...when she opened her mouth, foul word spilled forth....like slubberdegullion etc. I wish I could find it again!
Posted By: Avy Re: totally useless words - 08/25/11 09:04 AM
I am sorry to have mentioned it if is a foul word. It just sounds nice.
Posted By: Candy Re: totally useless words - 08/25/11 09:12 AM
Oh no...its not a foul word.
Sorry I said that.

I think its a great word, rolls so well off the tongue.
Posted By: tsuwm Re: totally useless words - 08/25/11 01:06 PM
yes, not a foul word at all; but a very useful word, withal.

I'm thinking more along the lines of..
paradiorthosis
obs. rare a false correction
Posted By: tsuwm Re: totally useless words - 08/25/11 02:07 PM
or abashance

obs. rare abashment, dismay
Posted By: tsuwm Re: totally useless words - 08/25/11 06:12 PM
here's one that's full of awfulness

abhorfulness
obs. rare abhorrence
Posted By: tsuwm Re: totally useless words - 08/25/11 08:36 PM
here's one which actually has great potential!

debellish

obs. rare
to rob of beauty, disfigure (as opposed to embellish)
Posted By: BranShea Re: totally useless words - 08/25/11 09:13 PM
Originally Posted By: Avy
I am sorry to have mentioned it if is a foul word. It just sounds nice.
The slubberdegullion is a frog of a pale non identifiable color. Not foul, but not fair either.

paradiorthosis: obs. rare a false correction
This must be about dental corrections, when something goes terribly wrong.
Posted By: tsuwm Re: debellish - 08/25/11 10:27 PM
>potential

contrary to the above OED info, some olde dictionaries give debellish == embellish.

bummer.
Posted By: Jackie Re: totally useless words - 08/26/11 12:29 AM
Was this it by any chance, Candy?
Maiden Bright-eye
Posted By: Candy Re: totally useless words - 08/26/11 10:38 AM
Originally Posted By: Jackie
Was this it by any chance, Candy?
Maiden Bright-eye


It certainly sounds like it, Jackie....though it didn't mention the word!

How clever of you to find it, you'er a

And Bran....slubberdegullion being a frog, makes even more sense to the story.
Posted By: tsuwm Re: totally useless words - 08/26/11 03:24 PM
pactitious

obs. rare
Characterized by being agreed upon or stipulated
Posted By: Jackie Re: totally useless words - 08/27/11 12:35 AM
I like debellish; embark, debark; embellish, debellish.

Candy, I googled Maiden Bright-eye and found a couple of fuller versions of the story; neither had the word, though. Perhaps yours was an older version or a different story altogether.

Edit: I believe I have somewhat frobnicated this thread; sorry, tsuwm. I shall (most likely) desist. (Is there emsist? Or just sist?)
Posted By: LukeJavan8 Re: totally useless words - 08/27/11 02:11 AM
There's cyst, but that is not part of the story here, is it?
Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: totally useless words - 08/27/11 03:30 AM
and one can insist.
Posted By: Tromboniator Re: totally useless words - 08/27/11 06:13 AM
Michael Quinion at worldwidewords.org has an article concerning slubberdegullion, among other other epithets, as occurring in Gargantua and Pantagruel, by François Rabelais, as translated by Sir Thomas Urquhart.

Anyone not familiar with Quinion should browse through his site. It is fascinating and delightful, as well as scholarly.

Peter
Posted By: tsuwm Re: totally useless words - 08/27/11 02:20 PM
Peter, some folks need to be led by the hand..

slub
Posted By: tsuwm Re: totally useless words - 08/27/11 02:25 PM
and then there's this:
the worthless word for the day is: slubber

[prob. from obsolete Dutch slubberen]
1) dialect chiefly English : stain, sully
2) to perform in a slipshod fashion, do carelessly
(cf. slubberdegullion)

"Slubber not business for my sake, Bassanio.."
- W. Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

"You must therefore be content to slubber the
gloss of your new fortunes with this more stubborn
and boisterous expedition."
- W.S., Othello

"..the parking lot had been empty when he
arrived, and except for a chubby, amoebic-looking
family who slubbered in and out of a van.. nobody
but he had stayed for more than two nights."
- Jon Fasman, The Geographer's Library
Posted By: LukeJavan8 Re: totally useless words - 08/27/11 03:44 PM
Originally Posted By: Tromboniator
Michael Quinion at worldwidewords.org has an article concerning slubberdegullion, among other other epithets, as occurring in Gargantua and Pantagruel, by François Rabelais, as translated by Sir Thomas Urquhart.

Anyone not familiar with Quinion should browse through his site. It is fascinating and delightful, as well as scholarly.

Peter


I go there regularly and subscribe to his weekly email.
Great place,Peter.
Posted By: LukeJavan8 Re: totally useless words - 08/27/11 03:56 PM
Originally Posted By: tsuwm
and then there's this:
the worthless word for the day is: slubber

[prob. from obsolete Dutch slubberen]
1) dialect chiefly English : stain, sully
2) to perform in a slipshod fashion, do carelessly
(cf. slubberdegullion)

"Slubber not business for my sake, Bassanio.."
- W. Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

"You must therefore be content to slubber the
gloss of your new fortunes with this more stubborn
and boisterous expedition."
- W.S., Othello

"..the parking lot had been empty when he
arrived, and except for a chubby, amoebic-looking
family who slubbered in and out of a van.. nobody
but he had stayed for more than two nights."
- Jon Fasman, The Geographer's Library




Gee, I guess these are going to become a daily treat - won't
have to go to tsuwm's site any more.

http://home.comcast.net/~wwftd/

unless, of course, the word there differs from the one posted here. Then we can be treated to two wwftd's.
Posted By: tsuwm Re: slubber - 08/27/11 04:22 PM
slubber, in fact, dates from Oct. 26, 2005 as a wwftd.

(not to be confused with slobber, for which see post icon)
Posted By: LukeJavan8 Re: slubber - 08/27/11 04:32 PM
whatever
Posted By: tsuwm Re: totally useless words - 09/03/11 06:42 PM
this, I like..

quagswagging
[fr. quag, to quake + swag, to sway]
n. obs. rare
the action of shaking to and fro
Posted By: LukeJavan8 Re: totally useless words - 09/03/11 09:43 PM
Very Haughty.
Posted By: tsuwm Re: totally useless words - 09/03/11 11:09 PM
radicate
v. obs. now rare
to cause to take root; to plant or establish firmly (in something) Chiefly fig.

Progr. Particle & Nucl. Physics "The amazing success of the static quark model.. undoubtedly contributed to radicate in our minds the idea that proton spin is carried by quarks." [2000]
Posted By: Jackie Re: totally useless words - 09/04/11 12:05 AM
So how come radicate's opposite isn't aradicate?

Edit: Ooh, ooh! Here's one that's almost totally useless: garf (noun) : a cut on the hand of a fisherman caused by the sharp gill plates of a fish, particularly a walleye

(M-W)
Posted By: Candy Re: totally useless words - 09/04/11 04:52 AM
Originally Posted By: tsuwm
radicate
v. obs. now rare
to cause to take root; to plant or establish firmly (in something)


Not so rare downunder!
Someone with a quirky sense of humour has taken the word as name for Footrot Treatment
Posted By: tsuwm Re: totally useless words - 09/04/11 06:39 AM
>taken the word as name for Footrot Treatment

I'd have thought that the much more common Eradicate would work better for that.

edit: ..and I see that their tag line does just that:
A concetrated footbath solution for the control of spread, treatment and progressive eradication of all strains of footrot in sheep.

bah - although they probly thought they were being clever in avoiding trademark issues, they should have LIU first.
Posted By: LukeJavan8 Re: totally useless words - 09/04/11 03:24 PM
Originally Posted By: Candy
Originally Posted By: tsuwm
radicate
v. obs. now rare
to cause to take root; to plant or establish firmly (in something)


Not so rare downunder!
Someone with a quirky sense of humour has taken the word as name for Footrot Treatment



talk about quagswagging, and misspellings.
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