OT: Lame Words

[Squids]

Man, I only read a few pages of this thread but I have to disagree with 90% of the submitted words here on the basis that they all make me laugh my ass off.
How bad can they be?

Anway, how about
offspring
bedpan
pedophile
plagiarism
miniscule
iota
cleavage
camel-toe
flambe'
sincere
sanctimonious
salutation
floppy
cremate
and last but not least, a word that is forever ruined for me...bush. That also includes all its offspring , such as bushleague, bushel, bushed, etc...

Bush and camel-toe?

[Squids]

N I C E

One of the most annoying overused and misused of the English language. The original meaning of nice is to describe something that is neat and precise...like the nice crease in a pair of crisply ironed trousers.

But, nice is now used to convey pleasantness and mediocrity. He is a nice guy...shall we go for a drink ? yeah, that'll be nice. Lame.

Nice one! Wooops. Sorry.

[Meffy]

The original meaning of nice is to describe something that is neat and precise...like the nice crease in a pair of crisply ironed trousers.

Well... no. The original meaning of "nice" is "silly or foolish." :-) Meanings and usages change with the years. (In this case, about 700 years.) This word has changed more than most, and taken on a wide range of meanings between the late 1200s and the present -- including the "overly neat, fussy" that you mention.

[edit] It's been used in the sense of "pleasant" for about two and a half centuries, so that usage is nicely established. ;-)

Another word that's shifted rather a lot: "girl." Originally just meant a child. At one time "nice girl" could mean "stupid little boy."

Meffy

[Meffy]

The above post demonstrates the problem I have with "lameness" as applied to words. Being an amateur etymologist, I'm familiar the origins and derivations of most of the words mentioned, so they don't sound funny or weird to me. (Most, not all!)

And that, good Squids, is why I must rely on you to say what's lame and what's not. To me most words are... erm... just words, be they ever so nice (or lame).

Not to say I won't join in the reindeer games, or help with the web thingy! I also participate in musical discussions despite being unskilled and unlikely to get much better. :-D

Oh, BTW: "nice" derives from Latin "nescius," meaning "ignorant" -- "ne-" (not) + some form or other of "scire" (to know/understand; think of "science"), through the Old French. *hem* Sorry. *blush*

Meffy

[Lunch Money]

Ah, but it's so EASY to identify lame words when you merely take a step back from linguistics and entomology (sic).

"Fancy" is a lame word, when used in certain contexts. If I show up somewhere in a suit and somebody says "Oh, how FANCY," it drives me nuts. Also, on a recent suit I ordered, I had to specify "Fancy" buttons, when in fact all I wanted was brown wooden buttons instead of black plastic. Brown wood doesn't seem all that "fancy" to me, but that's what I had to write on the form. The only time it should be used is as the Brits use it-- "Do you fancy a walk in the park?"-- even though I never really use it here in Canada.

[Squids]

At one time "nice girl" could mean "stupid little boy."

Meffy

Especially in John Lennon's lyrics.

[Meffy]

Ever read Lennon's book "A Spaniard in the Works," Squids? John had a very playful sense of language; used it like plasticine, like Dali watches, like Ken Nordine does in his "Word Jazz."

Meffy

[Squids]

Well, true, there is a certain definition of "lame words" that I am referring to. Perhaps, ironically, lame isn't even the best word for it!!!! But, words that are annoying or uncomfortable is basically the thing it's all about. Words that maybe have some flaws because they sound too much like another word that already is popular and means something completely different (which makes it uncomfortable to say because you think of the other thing... take angina and vagina for example or corroborate and collaborate, laboratory and lavatory etc. ).

Then there are words that phonetically disturb a bit or conjure up disgusting imagery (like regurgitate). Perhaps it is just hard to pronounce or spell like onomonopea or has an annoying silent letter (like "debt").

But, typically, the word is something that comes up in conversation though. If it doesn't then it isn't annoying because you never hear it! So, some of you guys that pull out these SAT words... maybe they're lame but if we're not used to hearing them then they haven't had a chance to annoy yet.

This is all born from me and a friend of mine cringing when we hear a word that just rubs the wrong way (like a cat whose hair is stroked backwards... or like a cat tied to a stick or a pig on antibiotics- if you are a Radiohead fan ).

So, we'd be hanging out and the TV or a girlfriend or wife will say a lame word. When comes up we instantly look at each other to acknowledge (also a secret form of entertainment in a normally rather boring society of ritualistic behavior We also have a whole "code" for talking about a girl that walked by... sort of like rhyming slang- great set of bacons kind of thing. Ironically the code is in talk about the third side of the Lamb...so "nice slubberdy gullions" for example).

Lost? Okay, sorry. To get back. Words that just inspire you to make a face. "I don't like this word, it bothers me".

But, that's a sensibility that not everyone has. I can see that some people totally get it in this thread though. In fact, I'll go through it and do my compiled "best of" lame words we have so far (or ones that me and my friend would consider lame by this definition described above).

Eventually on lamewords.com people will be able to enter their own value 0-100 on how lame they think it is and it will be more democratic. You'll see the list from lamest to least lame according to popular opinion (not just mine). But, it is good if everyone is thinking of the same reasons words may be lame so it's consistent.

You know, hospice is a lame word. Pubis bone is just ultra lame!!!! Leotard, gurtle...aweful!

That doesn't mean there aren't tons of words that are either okay to brilliant! There are of course. I love the English language. That's why I enjoy picking these lame ones out too.

[Squids]

Ever read Lennon's book "A Spaniard in the Works," Squids? John had a very playful sense of language; used it like plasticine, like Dali watches, like Ken Nordine does in his "Word Jazz."

Meffy

Cocka Locka Fishwife.

[Lunch Money]

gurtle

If by gurtle you mean girdle, I have to agree.

[Daath Fader]

cleat

[clueless]

The above post demonstrates the problem I have with "lameness" as applied to words. Being an amateur etymologist, I'm familiar the origins and derivations of most of the words mentioned, so they don't sound funny or weird to me. (Most, not all!)

And that, good Squids, is why I must rely on you to say what's lame and what's not. To me most words are... erm... just words, be they ever so nice (or lame).

I have to agree. Most of the words in this list don't strike me as lame or otherwise.

But "flan"...ffs!

a word (or rather its useage*) which really bugs me is 'regular'.

"I'll have a regular coke please"

"Certainly sir. Does every day at 2pm suit you?"

grrrr...


*hmmm....

[clueless]

cleat

that's Spanish for "clit", right?

[Squids]

gurtle

If by gurtle you mean girdle, I have to agree.

I meant that (thanks for the correction) and even if the other existed I think it would qualify too.

Turtle on the other hand is fine, especially with a cockney accent "tur'el" is quite fun.

[Squids]

The words that fit our particular definition of lame from this thread compiled so far:

Lame words

Thwart
Thimble
Leotard
Corroborate (too much like collaborate)
Gurtle
Kudos
Angina
Vomit
Doily
Boil (as in "a boil on the bottom")
slacks
trousers
trunks
thistle
ooze (as in oozing puss wart)
feces (perhaps one of the worste)
hospice (arguably the worste word ever)
Soil (as in “just soiled his pants”)
Couth
Pusilanimous
Yam
Pimple
Coccyx
Yolk
Pep
Tis (as in the Tis the Night)
Twas (as in Twas the Night)
Neuter
shaul
scab (or scabbies!!!)
blister
growth
testes
genitals (why is it plural for a woman?)
perturbed
diareah
corpuscle
amuck
utilize
facsimile
facile
narccisist (to much cicicisss)
sherbet (really needs another R)
homogenize
crotch
loin
fungible
sieve
arrears
squat
gumption (forrest gumption?)
cardigan
collude
fib
panties
quoth
thy
phlegm
pilchard
frank (as in “to be frank”)
globule
fricking
freaking
friggin
cuticle
putrid
girdle
copacetic
vaclempt
conniption
clot
shingles
rigor mortis
cadaver
catharsis
varicose and veins
nougat
acne
period
pants
flabberghasted
anyhoo 95
platter 52
sneaker
plank
flippant
stigma
apt (as in apt natural? name the movie)
virus
pneumonia
scurvy
goitle
cyst
nougat
abstain
stain (as in chocky starfish stain)
ointment
slough
paradigm
plot
plump
testacles
testes
onomatopoeia
pubescent
prophylactic
lame
asinine
contextualise
litigious
‘fess (as in fess up)
fetus
oxymoron
hoax
uterus (anything "ute" works for a lame word I think)
pox (as in chicken pox)
pantry
hunker (as in hunker down- they say this for every hurricane)
gestation
tad
usurp
brittle
blouse
relish (the verb)
parka
rubbers (the shoe coverings)
toiletries (I don't think you use them on the toilet)
unitard (spin off from leotard)
secretions (nothing secret about 'em)
varnish
tarnish
garnish
punctual
fancy
hunky-dory
sponge
moist
plinth
crimp
spatula
flask
pajamas
pith
carbunkle
goiter
cyst
gord
lude
consternation
confounded
follicle
pupil
cuticle
serendipity
regurgitation
vehicular
testicular
couscous
wound
scrotum
urine
wart
fision
mucus
cantalope
elope (any lope)
toddler
curdle
colonel
porridge
guff
nippy
tinkle
potty
dandy
spiffy
neat (and even worse, neat-o)
keen
swell
rambunctious
boisterous
altercation
squabble
scrapple
poach
spouse
loaf
houmous
penis -- 96
limpid -- that is supposed to mean clear?
nutritious -- just don't like the sound *shudder*
gorgeous -- upsetting (as in Peter was gorgeous)
livid -- only used by drama queens of any orientation
competencies -- gaaa!!!
teachings -- only used by insipid new-age types
nozzle
snivel
siblings
debt
debit
squib
quibble
pantyhose
genetalia (the plural version?)
smaritan
offspring
bedpan
plagiarism
miniscule
iota
sanctimonious
salutation
cremate
flaccid
spunk
flan

I'll rate them at some point too so you can see which are technically really lame and which are borderline. The ones left out are either to obscure or just not that lame really. Of course, in my opinion! But, also according to the lame word guidelines.