Lexical Compendium

Wait... what is this? Sometimes I come across a word, phrase, idiom, quote, reference, bit of slang, person of interest, etc that either I don't know or I find amusing, interesting, etc. This is a collection of those items so that I can refer back to them in emails, texts, etc.

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compunction

Compunction is the feeling of guilt that follows the doing of something bad.

The word comes from the Latin compungere, meaning "to prick severely," i.e. a prick of conscience.


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References:

  1. Definition: compunction
  2. Etymology: compunction

Tags: tipofmytongue , vocabulary

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defenestration

Defenestration is the act of throwing someone or something out of a window.[1]

The word comes from the Latin de ("down from") + fenestra ("window"). It originated in the early 1600s when people were writing about the Defenestrations of Prague.[2]

Today the word tends to not be used in the literal sense but more metaphorically, i.e. "a defenestrated prince."[3]


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References:

  1. Definition: defenestration
  2. Wikipedia: Defenestrations of Prague
  3. The Guardian: Not in this together: King Charles cuts Andrew loose to save royal family’s repute

Tags: politics , vocabulary

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devour feculence

Devour feculence is a "big word" way of saying eat shit.

The phrase was used in S2E9 of the Apple TV+ show Severence. Earlier in the show, the character Mr. Milchick receives a performance review that criticizes him for "using too many big words." The character, played by Tramell Tillman, is black and works for Lumon Industries. Lumon is operated like a cult and, as such, it is a very oppressive environment for most employees. Tensions between Mr. Milchick and Mr. Drummond grow to a head and upon being asked to apologize for his use of large words, he replies with "devour feculence."


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References:

  1. IMDB: Severence
  2. Severence Wiki: Lumon Industries
  3. Definition: feculent
  4. Screen Rant blog on "devour feculence"

Tags: television , quote

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diegetic

Diegetic (from Greek diēgēsis, narration or telling a story) describes anything that belongs to the world of the story as the characters experience it, as opposed to elements that exist only for the audience.

The word shows up most often in film criticism. Diegetic sound is audio the characters can plausibly hear (a car radio, a band playing in a bar, footsteps in a hallway). Non-diegetic sound is layered on for the audience alone: an orchestral score, a narrator's voice-over, etc.


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References:

  1. Definition: diegetic

Tags: jargon , movie

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elision

An elision is the omission of a sound or syllable when speaking (i.e. "I'm" for "I am"). It can also refer to the deliberate omission of something.

The word comes from the Latin elisio meaning "a striking out."

Examples:

  • His account of the events was marked by a conspicuous elision of blame.
  • I shoulda called you yesterday.

The Seinfeld episode "The Yadda Yadda" uses an elision to skip over the best part.


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References:

  1. Definition: elision
  2. IMDB: Seinfeld S8-E19 "The Yadda Yadda"

Tags: grammar , vocabulary

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fomite

A fomite is an object or surface that acts as a medium to transmit infection. I became aware of this word during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.


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References:

  1. Tweet: @veshi 11 May 2020 - I think my word of the year is going to be "fomite" this year.
  2. Definition: fomite
  3. ACS Environmental Au: Occurrence of Human Viruses on Fomites in the Environment: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Tags: virus , covid , public_health

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glaze

To glaze is to excessively praise or flatter someone, often in an over-the-top, cringe, or sarcastic manner. The implication is often that the recipient was unworthy of such praise. This slang word was popularized in online spaces like TikTok.

I first heard it when Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI) had the following Tweet exchange:

@sama:
we updated GPT-4o today! improved both intelligence and personality.

@StockLizardKing:
It’s been feeling very yes-man like lately

Would like to see that change in future updates

@sama:
yeah it glazes too much

will fix


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References:

  1. @sama Tweet
  2. Definition: glaze
  3. The Verge: New ChatGPT ‘glazes too much,’ says Sam Altman

Tags: slang , vocabulary , netspeak

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groyper

A groyper is a member of a loosely organized far-right, predominately male, online subculture centered around nationalist, reactionary, and often overtly extremist ideology (antisemitism, neo-Nazism, etc). [3]

In the fall of 2025, this term has been in the news because of an interview that Tucker Carlson gave to Nick Fuentes.[6] Nick Fuentes is considered to be the front man of the groyper group.[7]

The word groyper comes from the name of this group's symbol or mascot -- a cartoon frog. In 2005 Matt Furie created the character Pepe the Frog for his "Boy's Club" comic, which he originally published on his MySpace page.[8] This character became memeified and many variants arose -- one of which was Groyper. The groyper movement is internet-native and this frog is used to signal membership and to mark online posts as “in-group” communications.

How prevalent is this community? In November 2025, conservative writer Rod Dreher made the claim that 30-40% of conservative Gen Z staffers on Capitol Hill and in the Trump administration are Groypers on his Substack and then later in a published piece for The Free Press.[2]

I was inspired to write this entry after listening to Ezra Klein interview John Gan in a piece he called The ‘Groyperfication’ of the G.O.P..[1]


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References:

  1. NYT: The 'Groyperfication' of the G.O.P.
  2. Substack: Rod Dreher - What I Saw And Heard In Washington
  3. NYT: Who Are the 'Groypers'?
  4. The Atlantic: The Nick Fuentes Spiral
  5. Richard Hanania's Newsletter: Groypers Are Just More Honest MAGAs - right-wing personality and contributor to "Project 2025"
  6. YouTube: The Tucker Carlson Show - The Nick Fuentes Interview
  7. Wikipedia: Nick Fuentes
  8. Wikipedia: Pepe the Frog

Tags: politics , slang , internet

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grumbletonian

This archaic word was used to describe someone who was discontent, i.e. someone who grumbles a lot. The origins of the word are in 17th century English politics.

I heard the word in an episode of the podcast The Allusionist.


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References:

  1. Podcast: The Allusionist - Episode 193: Word Play 3: Lemon Demon
  2. Definition: grumbletonian

Tags: vocabulary , slang , podcast

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humanic

For a while now, I've been searching for a term that captures human-made creativity -- as opposed to something created by an LLM. Occasionally I see the word organic used in this context. [3] It works, but it feels a little off. Organic implies something that happens naturally, often without human involvement.

Here I'd like to proffer humanic: a word meaning pertaining to or originating from human agency or creativity, particularly in contrast to work produced by AI. An appropriate antonym in this context might be synthetic. So: humanic and synthetic. I like the symmetry.

The word humanic isn't actually new. Historically, it referred to the study of human nature.[4] But let's reclaim it to also denote cultural artifacts made by humans in a world where if feels like we're just moments away from being saturated with purely synthetic content. Maybe others will organically come upon this usage. I'll use this space to record any sightings.

The word humanic is not necessarily anti-AI, it is descriptive of origin, not ideology. We may need another word to convey sentiment and preference.

Example:

"Oh, I love the theater. It's so refreshing to see content that is entirely humanic."

Note: Anthropic might have also been a good choice, but this, ironically, is already the name of a popular LLM.[5]

Other contenders: anthrogenic, anthropogenic

Updates:

  • In Nov 2025 YouTuber/filmmaker Thomas Flight published a thought-provoking piece on art versus artifice [6]
  • In Nov 2025, a song made by AI topped Billboard's "Country Digital Song Sales" chart [1]
  • In Feb 2026, an AI bot tried to submit a PR, got rejected, and wrote a blog in retaliation. [2]

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References:

  1. The Independent: The most downloaded country song in the US right now was made by AI
  2. Mastodon Toot @anderseknert - highlighting an interaction between an AI bot and a human with a rejected pull request
  3. Stat Significant: How Much AI Will Audiences Accept in Music and Movies?
  4. Definition: Humanics
  5. Wikipedia: Anthropic
  6. YouTube: Thomas Flight - Why AI "Art" Feels So Wrong

Tags: technology , ai , vocabulary , neologism

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