New favorite words, part 2! The best words are those that have more than one definition, and the bestest words the ones that have completely dichotomous definitions at that.
A few sample conversations:
(At a bar in DC, referring to a beer that wasn't mine)
Me: "Wow, that's impressive; the head of that beer is perfectly drawn. Not a drop spilled."
Bartender: "Yeah, gotta watch out for that meniscus, y'know."
Me: "Meniscus? Beers have meniscuses? I had mine removed from my knee in 2000..."
Matt-the-beer-drinker: "Naw, like in graduated cylinders in high school, remember? You gotta always be careful to measure the bottom of the meniscus..."
(Online with my sympathetic home teacher bemoaning the loss of my iPod)
MF: "...well, good luck with that."
Me: "shanks"
MF: "Those are deadly weapons made out of normal objects"
Me: "What? iPods?"
MF: "No, shanks."
Me: "I thought shanks were large thighs of pigs."
*looks up definition of shanks*
"Oh look! They mean both!"
MF: "awesome." *signs off*
(with a fellow Vocabulary Jouster)
Me: "Well I shall have to ruminate upon the definition of that one..."
VJ: "What? You're going to go chew on a cud?"
Me: "No... ruminate. You know, ponder?"
VJ: "No, the definition of ruminate is DEFINITELY to chew on a cud! Like a cow!"
Me: "Dude, it's totally to 'think deeply upon'. Who chews a cud???!"
*discourse continues for several boring minutes until finally a Merriam Webster is procured and subsequent dual definition revealed. VJ and I gleefully revel in finding such a gem of a word and remain close friends to this day.*
Just a few of the marvelous cornucopia out there, I am sure. Which definitions do you prefer? What are some of your favorite crazy words?
*I must throw out a props to 'cusp' because I forgot last year... and cleavage. I haven't had any specific conversations regarding cleavage - other than it might be too PG-13 - but rest assured it's definitely on my list.
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5 comments:
I like words that have two opposite meanings. Asian mentioned cleavage--I was thinking more along the lines of "to cleave," which can mean both to divide and to join.
Also "to dust." You can dust the room and leave it spotless, or you can dust the room and leave it covered in powder that you used to reveal fingerprints.
There are more...
Such as stool.
Stool! Oh. Tears of mirth and joy.
Thanks to your email today I came across "cure," which of course means to take raw food and bring it to a state that physically resembles cooking, but no heat is involved. Like cured meats. And of course the household definition to heal an illness. Awesome!!
Smut.
(Click on the noun entry.)
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