Tag Archive | vocabulary
There are many different kinds of laughter. There’s the kind that leaves us clutching our bellies and gasping for air, and there’s kind that barely escapes our lips in restrained titters. The chortle, defined as “a gleeful chuckle,” falls somewhere in the middle. This term was coined by the beloved and whimsical wordsmith Lewis Carroll in his 1871 novel, Through the Looking-Glass, as a blend, or portmanteau, of the words chuckle and snort.
A guffaw is a loud, unrestrained burst of laughter; as a verb, it means “to laugh in a loud and boisterous manner.” The word is of Scottish origin and is thought to be imitative of the sound of such laughter. This word entered English in the early 1700s, around the same time as the similar but short-lived gawf, which means “to laugh loudly.”
When delivering a punch line, comedic performers want nothing more than to elicit a boff. This term, which means “a loud hearty laugh” in the above example, can also mean “to cause to be overcome with laughter” and “a joke or humorous line.” Boff arose in the entertainment industry in the mid-1900s, probably as a shortening of the word boffo meaning “a joke or punch line.” The similar-sounding Italian word buffo translates to “funny; comical” and shares a root with the term buffoon.
Far from a belly laugh or a hearty guffaw, a titter is a nervous or self-conscious laugh. To titter is “to laugh in a restrained, self-conscious, or affected way as from nervousness or in ill-suppressed amusement.” The origin of this word is unclear, but etymologists point to the Swedish term tittra meaning “to giggle,” as well as the word tittle meaning “to whisper” or, more specifically “to tell on or whisper gossip” as possible linguistic ancestors.
Before English speakers were tittering, they were giggling. A giggle is “a silly spasmodic laugh, especially with short, repeated gasps and titters, as from juvenile or ill-concealed amusement or nervous embarrassment.” The word is thought to be imitative in origin, echoing the sound of such laughter. Be careful not to confuse a case of the giggles with a case of the giggs; the latter has been used to describe a mouth disease in horses.
The origins of the word yuk, as in “The audience really yukked it up at the movie,” are a bit of a mystery. The similar-sounding yock, theater slang for “a laugh,” appeared in the US in the late 1930s. The comedic yuk, sometimes spelled yuck, meaning “to laugh or joke” appeared in the 1960s, right around the time that English speakers began using it as an exclamation of disgust.
The word snicker, meaning “to laugh in a half-suppressed, indecorous or disrespectful manner,” has been around since the late 1600s. Like many words on this list, this one is thought to be imitative of the sound of laughter. It is one of several words beginning with s used to refer to laughter more mocking and suppressed in nature than gleeful and boisterous; others include snirtle, snigger, and sneer.
If the words we use to describe laughter are any indication, it would seem that a good episode of laughter reduces us to our animal natures, leaving us howling, snorting, and roaring. The term heehaw entered English in the early 1800s as a term for the loud braying sound a donkey makes and shortly thereafter picked up the sense of “a loud laugh reminiscent of a neighing horse.”
If you (or someone you know) consistently turns heads with your stentorian laughter, you may be a cachinnator. To cachinnate is “to laugh loudly or immoderately.” The term is thought to be imitative in origin, and can be traced to the Latin cachinnāre. The similar-sounding cackle, meaning “to laugh in a shrill, broken manner” is etymologically unrelated to cachinnate. It first entered English as a word for the sound a hen or goose makes, later picking up a sense of “to laugh in a shrill, broken manner.”
Not all boredom is created equal: some of it is fleeting and circumstantial, and some of it teeters on existential crisis. Ennui tends toward the latter–or at least it used to. Derived from the French verb enuier meaning “to annoy,” its peak usage was in Victorian and Romantic literature to express a profound sense of weariness, even a spiritual emptiness or alienation from one’s surroundings and time. Nowadays it’s used at both ends of the boredom spectrum, but its deep literary history lends even the most shallow disinterest a grandiose air.
Bromide is a chemical compound that was commonly used in sedatives in the 1800 and 1900s. It took on a figurative sense to mean a trite saying or verbal sedative, or a person who is platitudinous and boring, in the early 1900s with help of the U.S. humorist Frank Gelett Burgess, who published a book titled Are You a Bromide? in 1907. The next time a particularly bland work meeting lulls you into a near coma, remember to mentally log it as bromidic just before nodding off.
If your personal brand of boredom stems from a deficit of literal or figurative poetry in your life, this is the word for you. Now commonly used to mean dull, matter-of-fact, or unimaginative, prosaic entered the lexicon as the adjectival form of the word prose–as in not poetry. Its evolution to mean uninspired and commonplace in a broader context feels in many ways like a love letter to the oft-neglected literary genre.
Much like bland and flavorless, insipid is commonly used to describe food that leaves your tastebuds wanting more, but it’s also used in an abstract sense to describe a person, place or thing that lacks distinction, depth or intrigue. Its versatility can be attributed to its root word, the Latin sapidus, which translates to well-tasted, wise, or prudent. The next time you find yourself surrounded by droning company and uninspired cuisine (perhaps on your next flight?) liven things up with this handy twofer.
Stemming from the French word for flat, plat (think plateau), platitudinous is used most frequently to refer to lackluster or trite use of language. A political speech brimming with tiresome rhetoric and cliches can be said to be platitudinous, but with this illuminating descriptor in your word arsenal, your bemoaning of the speech doesn’t have to be.
9 Ways to Laugh
1. Chortle
[chawr-tl]
There are many different kinds of laughter. There’s the kind that leaves us clutching our bellies and gasping for air, and there’s kind that barely escapes our lips in restrained titters. The chortle, defined as “a gleeful chuckle,” falls somewhere in the middle. This term was coined by the beloved and whimsical wordsmith Lewis Carroll in his 1871 novel, Through the Looking-Glass, as a blend, or portmanteau, of the words chuckle and snort.2. Guffaw
[guh-faw, guh-]
A guffaw is a loud, unrestrained burst of laughter; as a verb, it means “to laugh in a loud and boisterous manner.” The word is of Scottish origin and is thought to be imitative of the sound of such laughter. This word entered English in the early 1700s, around the same time as the similar but short-lived gawf, which means “to laugh loudly.”3. Boff
[bof]
When delivering a punch line, comedic performers want nothing more than to elicit a boff. This term, which means “a loud hearty laugh” in the above example, can also mean “to cause to be overcome with laughter” and “a joke or humorous line.” Boff arose in the entertainment industry in the mid-1900s, probably as a shortening of the word boffo meaning “a joke or punch line.” The similar-sounding Italian word buffo translates to “funny; comical” and shares a root with the term buffoon.4.Titter
[tit-er]
Far from a belly laugh or a hearty guffaw, a titter is a nervous or self-conscious laugh. To titter is “to laugh in a restrained, self-conscious, or affected way as from nervousness or in ill-suppressed amusement.” The origin of this word is unclear, but etymologists point to the Swedish term tittra meaning “to giggle,” as well as the word tittle meaning “to whisper” or, more specifically “to tell on or whisper gossip” as possible linguistic ancestors.5.Giggle
[gig–uhl]
Before English speakers were tittering, they were giggling. A giggle is “a silly spasmodic laugh, especially with short, repeated gasps and titters, as from juvenile or ill-concealed amusement or nervous embarrassment.” The word is thought to be imitative in origin, echoing the sound of such laughter. Be careful not to confuse a case of the giggles with a case of the giggs; the latter has been used to describe a mouth disease in horses.6. Yuk
[yuhk]
The origins of the word yuk, as in “The audience really yukked it up at the movie,” are a bit of a mystery. The similar-sounding yock, theater slang for “a laugh,” appeared in the US in the late 1930s. The comedic yuk, sometimes spelled yuck, meaning “to laugh or joke” appeared in the 1960s, right around the time that English speakers began using it as an exclamation of disgust.7. Snicker
[snik-er]
The word snicker, meaning “to laugh in a half-suppressed, indecorous or disrespectful manner,” has been around since the late 1600s. Like many words on this list, this one is thought to be imitative of the sound of laughter. It is one of several words beginning with s used to refer to laughter more mocking and suppressed in nature than gleeful and boisterous; others include snirtle, snigger, and sneer.8. Heehaw
[hee-haw]
If the words we use to describe laughter are any indication, it would seem that a good episode of laughter reduces us to our animal natures, leaving us howling, snorting, and roaring. The term heehaw entered English in the early 1800s as a term for the loud braying sound a donkey makes and shortly thereafter picked up the sense of “a loud laugh reminiscent of a neighing horse.”9. Cachinnate
[kak–uh-neyt]
If you (or someone you know) consistently turns heads with your stentorian laughter, you may be a cachinnator. To cachinnate is “to laugh loudly or immoderately.” The term is thought to be imitative in origin, and can be traced to the Latin cachinnāre. The similar-sounding cackle, meaning “to laugh in a shrill, broken manner” is etymologically unrelated to cachinnate. It first entered English as a word for the sound a hen or goose makes, later picking up a sense of “to laugh in a shrill, broken manner.”Source and images
Six words that can ruin your sentence
Crutch words are words that we slip into sentences in order to give ourselves more time to think, or to emphasize a statement. Over time, they become unconscious verbal tics. Most often, crutch words do not add meaning of a statement.
Actually
[ak-choo-uh-lee]
Actually is the perfect example of a crutch word. It is meant to signify something that exists in reality, but it is more often used as a way to add punch to a statement (as in, “I actually have no idea”).
5 Fun Ways to Say Boring
Ennui
[ahn-wee, ahn-wee]
Not all boredom is created equal: some of it is fleeting and circumstantial, and some of it teeters on existential crisis. Ennui tends toward the latter–or at least it used to. Derived from the French verb enuier meaning “to annoy,” its peak usage was in Victorian and Romantic literature to express a profound sense of weariness, even a spiritual emptiness or alienation from one’s surroundings and time. Nowadays it’s used at both ends of the boredom spectrum, but its deep literary history lends even the most shallow disinterest a grandiose air.Bromidic
[broh-mid-ik]
Bromide is a chemical compound that was commonly used in sedatives in the 1800 and 1900s. It took on a figurative sense to mean a trite saying or verbal sedative, or a person who is platitudinous and boring, in the early 1900s with help of the U.S. humorist Frank Gelett Burgess, who published a book titled Are You a Bromide? in 1907. The next time a particularly bland work meeting lulls you into a near coma, remember to mentally log it as bromidic just before nodding off.Prosaic
[proh-zey-ik]
If your personal brand of boredom stems from a deficit of literal or figurative poetry in your life, this is the word for you. Now commonly used to mean dull, matter-of-fact, or unimaginative, prosaic entered the lexicon as the adjectival form of the word prose–as in not poetry. Its evolution to mean uninspired and commonplace in a broader context feels in many ways like a love letter to the oft-neglected literary genre.Insipid
[in-sip-id]
Much like bland and flavorless, insipid is commonly used to describe food that leaves your tastebuds wanting more, but it’s also used in an abstract sense to describe a person, place or thing that lacks distinction, depth or intrigue. Its versatility can be attributed to its root word, the Latin sapidus, which translates to well-tasted, wise, or prudent. The next time you find yourself surrounded by droning company and uninspired cuisine (perhaps on your next flight?) liven things up with this handy twofer.Platitudinous
[plat-i-tood-n-uhs, –tyood-]
Stemming from the French word for flat, plat (think plateau), platitudinous is used most frequently to refer to lackluster or trite use of language. A political speech brimming with tiresome rhetoric and cliches can be said to be platitudinous, but with this illuminating descriptor in your word arsenal, your bemoaning of the speech doesn’t have to be.Source and images
Talk English by colors
WHITE
|
 |
|||||
| a white lie | a harmless lie/ a lie to spare someone’s feelings | |||||
| white noise | static noise | |||||
| white as a sheet | scared, sick, surprised | |||||
| white as a ghost | scared | |||||
| white-collar | related to “desk jobs” | |||||
| a white flag | surrender | |||||
| to whitewash something | to mask the negative parts | |||||
| white wine | wine from green or yellow grapes | |||||
| a white Christmas | snow on Christmas day | |||||
| a white wedding | a traditional western-style wedding where the bride wears a white gown | |||||
| a white person | a person of Caucasian race | |||||
| white-hot | extremely hot OR popular | |||||
| a white paper | an authoritative report on a issue | |||||
| a white elephant | a useless knick-knack OR an expensive, useless thing | |||||
| white as the driven snow | innocent (often used sarcastically about corruption) | |||||
| white with rage | extremely enraged | |||||
| to bleed someone white | to take everything someone has, esp. money | |||||
| showing the white feather | acting cowardly | |||||
| a white-knuckle ride | a dangerous, nerve-wracking, scary ride | |||||
| that’s mighty white of you (old-fashioned) | that’s good of you | |||||
| lily-white | unmistakably Caucasian OR blameless, goodly | |||||
| white horses (surfing) | patches of white foam made by breaking waves | |||||
| white trash (American) | (offensive) uneducated, socio-economically disadvantaged Caucasian people | |||||
| whiter than white (British) | righteous, innocent | |||||
BLACKa white pointer (Australian) |
 a topless female sunbather |
|||||
| to blackmail someone | to threaten to reveal secrets unless payment is made | |||||
| to black out | to lose consciousness | |||||
| a blackout | a loss of electricity in an area | |||||
| the blackout | during wartime, extinguishing or covering lights | |||||
| black magic / the black arts | magic used for malevolent purposes | |||||
| the pot calling the kettle black | someone criticizing someone else for a quality they themselves possess | |||||
| the black market | illegal/underground sales and purchases | |||||
| little black book | book of contacts, esp. past or potential dates | |||||
| a black sheep | the outcast or disgrace in a group | |||||
| black gold | oil / petrolium | |||||
| black tie | formal clothing e.g. a tuxedo | |||||
| black humor | jokes about death or illness | |||||
| a black day | a day when something bad happens | |||||
| to be in black and white | to be written down officially | |||||
| to be black and white (a situation) | to be clear | |||||
| in the black | profitable | |||||
| a black mood | a bad, grumpy mood | |||||
| a black eye | a bruised eye | |||||
| to blacklist someone | to prevent someone from being hired | |||||
| to blackball someone | to shut someone out from group participation | |||||
| black and blue | bruised | |||||
| a black look | an angry/disapproving facial expression | |||||
| as black as night | very dark black | |||||
| pitch black | very dark black | |||||
| a black person | a person of African heritage | |||||
| black ops | extralegal covert activity, done in the dark (military/politics) | |||||
| black-hearted | cruel, evil, mean | |||||
| a black mark | an indication of wrongdoing | |||||
| to blacken someone’s name | to suggest/indicate a person’s wrongdoing | |||||
| the Black Death | The Bubonic Plague | |||||
| a black rat (British) | a traffic police officer | |||||
| Black Friday (U.S.) | The day after American Thanksgiving when many stores have sales | |||||
| the black dog (Irish) | a bad mood | |||||
| beyond the black stump (Australian) | the back of nowhere, far from anything | |||||
RED
in the red |
 unprofitable OR negative financial balance, owing money |
|||||
| a redhead | a person with orange-colored hair | |||||
| red light district | area with prostitutes | |||||
| to see red | to be furious | |||||
| red with rage | furious | |||||
| to turn/go red | become embarrassed | |||||
| a red herring | a false clue | |||||
| to paint the town red | to dine, dance, experience fun in a town or city | |||||
| a red flag | a signal that something is wrong | |||||
| roll out the red carpet | give a big welcome | |||||
| red tape | unnecessary/excessive bureaucracy | |||||
| not one red cent | no money at all | |||||
| a red letter day | a special day | |||||
| a scarlet woman | a sinful woman | |||||
| scarlet fever | an infection with group A streptococcus bacteria. | |||||
| red-hot | very hot OR very popular | |||||
| red card | a sanction for a soccer player | |||||
| red alert | a serious warning of danger | |||||
| a red-blooded male | a virile, manly male person | |||||
| like a red rag/flag to a bull | provoking/aggravating anger | |||||
| red (adjective) | communist | |||||
| bleed red ink (British) | debt | |||||
| red in tooth and claw (British) | the wild, violent aspect of the natural world | |||||
| redshirting (U.S.) | delaying an athlete’s participation in sports order to lengthen his/her period of eligibility | |||||
| a red state (U.S.) | a state whose residents are politically more Republican | |||||
| a redneck (U.S.) | an uneducated, rural white American | |||||
| a red-bone (U.S.) | a light-skinned black woman | |||||
| the red scare (U.S.) | (historical) the worry that society would be infiltrated by communists and communism | |||||
| the red eye (U.S.) | the overnight flight between west and east coast | |||||
GREENgreen with envy |
 very envious |
|||||
| the green-eyed monster | jealousy | |||||
| to give the green light | to give approval to proceed | |||||
| to be green (in a position) | to be inexperienced, a rookie | |||||
| to be green (policy) | to be environmentally aware | |||||
| the green room | room in a theater or studio where guests/performers wait to go on | |||||
| to turn green | to be nauseous | |||||
| green around the gills | sick-looking | |||||
| a greenbelt | an area of nature around a city | |||||
| greens | vegetables | |||||
| a green | a golf course | |||||
| a greengrocer | a person/store that sells vegetables & fruit | |||||
| the grass is always greener on the other side | other people’s possessions/situations always seem better than your own | |||||
| greener pastures | a better situation | |||||
| to greenwash something | to deceptively make practices/policies seem more environmentally friendly | |||||
| little green men | stereotypical/humorous description of space aliens | |||||
| as sure as God made little green apples | very certain | |||||
| colorless green ideas sleep furiously | (Linguistics) Noam Chomsky’s oft-quoted example of a sentence with good grammar but no meaning | |||||
| to have green fingers (British) | to be good with plants/gardens | |||||
| to have a green thumb (U.S.) | to be good with plants/gardens | |||||
| a greenie (Australian) | an environmentally aware person | |||||
| a green card (U.S.) | legal residency status | |||||
| a greenhorn (U.S.) | an inexperienced or young person | |||||
| greenbacks (U.S.) | dollars | |||||
YELLOWyellow |
 cowardly |
|||||
| a yellow streak | cowardice | |||||
| yellow-bellied | cowardly | |||||
| yellow journalism | disreputable, sensationalistic journalism | |||||
| a yellow card | (soccer) to give someone a first warning | |||||
| the yellow peril | (offensive, archaic) the fear that Asian people will outnumber/displace Caucasian people | |||||
| yellow fever | an acute viral haemorrhagic disease | |||||
| yellow fever (Nigerian slang) | traffic police | |||||
| a yellow dog Democrat (U.S.) | a voter who always votes Democrat in every election | |||||
BLUEout of the blue |
 suddenly, unexpectedly |
|||||
| a bolt from the blue | a sudden/unexpected thing | |||||
| to be blue | to be sad | |||||
| a blue funk | a feeling of melancholy | |||||
| the blues | sadness OR a 3 chord style of music | |||||
| once in a blue moon | infrequently | |||||
| blue-collar | related to manual labor or the working class | |||||
| a blue blood | an aristocratic person | |||||
| to talk a blue streak | to talk a lot | |||||
| to turn blue | to have difficulty breathing | |||||
| blue with cold | feeling very cold | |||||
| until you’re blue in the face | having lost your patience | |||||
| blue chip stock | stock of an established/financially sound company | |||||
| working blue | performing using foul language | |||||
| a blue movie | a pornographic film | |||||
| a blueprint (for something) | a design, a guide | |||||
| true blue | faithful | |||||
| blue on blue | in military: friendly fire | |||||
| into the wide/wild blue yonder | to an unknown/faraway place | |||||
| blue balls (lewd) | male sexual frustration due to unfulfilled sexual urges | |||||
| to turn the air blue | to swear a lot | |||||
| between the devil and the deep blue sea | a dilemma | |||||
| the boys in blue | the police | |||||
| the thin blue line | the police | |||||
| a blue state (U.S.) | a state whose residents are politically more Democrat | |||||
| a blue (British) | a Tory | |||||
| to scream blue murder (British) | to express yourself angrily | |||||
| a blue-eyed boy (British) | a male who can do no wrong, who is favored by authority | |||||
| having a blue (Australian) | having a fight | |||||
| make a blue (Australian) | make a mistake | |||||
BROWNa brown-noser |
 a sycophant |
|||||
| in a brown study | being contemplative; daydreaming | |||||
| browned off (British) | annoyed | |||||
PURPLEpurple prose |
 flowery, romantic writing |
|||||
| born in the purple | born into a high ranking/aristocratic family | |||||
| the Purple Heart (U.S.) | a U.S. military honor badge | |||||
| a purple patch (British) | a period of exceptionally high achievement | |||||
ORANGEagent orange |
 a defoliant used in herbicidal warfare |
|||||
| Orangemen (Irish) | Protestant fraternal organization | |||||
PINKin the pink of health |
 very healthy |
|||||
| tickled pink | very pleased | |||||
| a pinko | a communist | |||||
| to see the world through rose-colored glasses | to see the world through an optimistic filter | |||||
| rosy | positive, optimistic, | |||||
| to get a pink slip | to be fired | |||||
| the pink pound (British) | consumer spending by gay people | |||||
GREYgrey area |
 unclear |
|||||
| grey matter | the brain | |||||
| to give someone grey hairs | to try someone’s patience | |||||
| gray market | sale of products via nonstandard distribution channels or at an unofficial price | |||||
| grey nomads (Australian) | retirees who travel around the country | |||||
| the silver screen | the movies | |||||
GOLDENa golden boy |
 a well-regarded, successful man |
|||||
| a golden handshake | monetary incentive to join a company | |||||
| a golden parachute | money given to an executive leaving a company | |||||
| golden ears | great listening ability to discern quality or commerciality | |||||
| a golden shower (lewd) | urinating on a sexual partner | |||||
| a golden mean | the desirable middle (between extremes of excess and deficiency) | |||||
COLORoff-color |
 inappropriate, crude |
|||||
| to show your true colors | to reveal your true self or feelings | |||||
| a colorless person | a boring person | |||||
| colorful (e.g. tale, history, life) | event-filled and interesting | |||||
| colorful language | vivid or expletive-filled language | |||||
| to pass with flying colors | to do very well | |||||
| local color | having typical characteristics of the local area | |||||
| color commentary | facts & comments about athletes during a broadcast | |||||
| a horse of a different color | a completely different thing/idea | |||||
| a country’s colors | the colors of a national flag |
SOURCE
Contronyms: What did you mean by deceptively smart?
A synonym is a word that means the same as another.
Necessary and required are synonyms.
An antonym is a word that means the opposite of another.
Wet and dry are antonyms.
While synonyms and antonyms are not in themselves interesting, the complexities and irregularities of the English language sometimes make synonyms and antonyms interesting to explore. Many complexities result from words having multiple definitions.
A trivial example is a word with synonyms that aren’t synonyms of each other, the word beam, for example, having the synonyms bar and shine.
Similarly, some words have antonyms that are neither synonyms nor antonyms of each other but completely unrelated: the word right, for example, having the antonyms wrong and left.
A more interesting paradox occurs with the word groom, which does not really have an antonym in the strictest sense but has an opposite of sorts in the word bride, which can be used as a prefix to create a synonym, bridegroom.
The word contronym (also antagonym) is used to refer to words that, by some freak of language evolution, are their own antonyms. Read More…
168 Color terms in English
Compiled by Stephen Chrisomalis
This list contains 168 definitions of obscure colour terms using combinations of ‘normal‘ colours of the rainbow and descriptive adjectives; e.g. cardinal = deep scarlet red; russet = reddish brown. Note that most English speakers outside the U.S. spell colour with the added British ‘u’ rather than the American version color. Don’t worry if the colours (or colors) in your universe don’t match up with the definitions I’ve given for these words, though – I’ve been known to have skewed perceptions of reality … Read More…
8 Ways to Say Congratulations!
Congratulations!
Joyful times go hand in hand with congratulations. When addressing graduates, newlyweds, or anyone with good news, a hearty “Congratulations!” is in order. Congratulants, people who congratulate, have been using this pluralized expression, which stems from the Latin gratus meaning “pleasing,” since the 17th century. The singular noun meaning “the act of congratulating” has been around since the late 16th century.
Felicitations!
173 foreign words and phrases in English language
Over the centuries the English language has assimilated words and phrases from a variety of other languages. In context, those listed here are often printed in italics. Read More…
Top 100 Favorite British Slang Words and Phrases
1. Tosser – Idiot
2. Cock-up – Screw up
3. Bloody – Damn Read More…
AWARDS
Just English 