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.
Recent Entries:
- 01 Jun 2025: Overton window
- 24 May 2025: 86
- 22 May 2025: habeas corpus
Tag Cloud
spoonerism
A spoonerism is a slip-up in speech in which the person talking transposes the first part of two words. For example, saying "shake a tower" instead of "take a shower." The word is named after Reverend William Archibald Spooner (1844–1930) who, apparently, this happened to often.
I came across this while listening to an episode of The Allusionist which discussed an old puzzle novel called "Cain's Jawbone." Among the many word-based challenges in this puzzle novel are spoonerisms which the player must identify in order to put the pages in the right order.
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References:
- Definition: spoonerism
- Wikipedia: Spoonerism
- Podcast: The Allusionist - Episode 195: Word Play 5: 100 Pages of Solvitude
Date Added: 29 May 2024
Date Modified: 30 May 2024
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!"
From Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky," a poem in "Through the Looking Glass."
The poem was about the capture and killing of a creature called the "Jabberwock" and is filled with many other nonsense terms.
The word "jabberwocky," itself, has come to mean something meaningless in writing.
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References:
Date Added: Unknown
abrogate
I won't abrogate my duties as a journalist...
I heard the above while listening to the news and had to look up the word abrogate. By context clues, it's obvious that one meaning of this word is to abandon one's responsibilities.
The more common use is in a legal context and here it means to abolish a law.
And there's also a medical use, where it is used in the context of suppressing an immune response (...strategies to abrogate antibody production...).
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References:
Date Added: 29 Jul 2024
Date Modified: 21 Dec 2024
anathema
An anathema is something or someone that is abhorrent or extremely disliked.
I came across this word while reading an essay, "'Weird' Should Not Be An Insult."
Using “weird” as an insult ought to be anathema to Democrats.
Leading up to the 2024 presidential election, Democrats took to calling Republicans (especially Donald Trump and his VP candidate JD Vance) weird. (And the Republican retort seems to be: "I'm not weird, you are.")
While writing this, it's too early to know whether or not this tact will pay off.
The word anathema has its origins in the Greek word anatithenai, meaning "to dedicate." In the "Old Testament" of "The Bible," the word anathema is sometimes used in this way. Interestingly, the meaning of the word shifted to mean something accursed or repulsive and translated into Hebrew as herem. We see this meaning in the "New Testament" of "The Bible."
The ecclesiastical meaning of the word still exists today (it's the second definition in Merriam-Webster's dictionary). A more prominent use in English, though, is something that is vehemently disliked.
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References:
- Definition: anathema
- "Weird" Should Not Be An Insult
- 'Anathema' has had opposite meanings since its Greek birth
Date Added: 03 Aug 2024
argy-bargy
Argy-bargy is British slang for the kind of back-and-forth that accompanies a vigorous argument.
When my brother and I discuss politics, there's always a bit of argy-bargy.
Argy-bargy and the similar argle-bargle appear to have originated in Scottish slang. One can clearly see that the first part of the rhyming pair is formed from the word argue and the second is nonsense... or mumbo-jumbo. This type of word is what's known as a rhyming reduplication (other examples are mumbo-jumbo or okey-dokey).
I first encountered this term while listening to the Aussie host of the podcast Risky Business (#758).
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References:
- The Atlantic: The Brouhaha Behind 'Argle Bargle': A Linguistic Explanation
- Definition: argy-bargy
- Risky Business #758
Date Added: 18 Aug 2024
broligarchy
Broligarchy is a portmanteau of "bro" (slang for brother or close male friend) and "oligarchy" (a system where power rests with a small number of people).
After the inauguration of President Donald Trump in 2025, this term has been in the media a lot. The three richest men in the world, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk, and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos have seemingly moved into Trump's inner-circle (with Musk heading the "Department of Government Efficiency").
Interestingly, broligarchy doesn't seem to have been coined recently. The Urban Dictionary entry dates back to 2011.
Broligarchy was a 2024 American Dialect Society "Political Word of the Year."
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References:
- Urban Dictionary: Broligarchy
- The Atlantic: The Broligarchs Are Trying to Have Their Way
- The Guardian: Tech broligarchs are lining up to court Trump
- Vox: The broligarchs have a vision for the new Trump term. It’s darker than you think.
- The Cut: The Broligarchy Is Here
- American Dialect Society: 2024 Words of the Year
Date Added: 22 Jan 2025
Date Modified: 28 Jan 2025
chookas
The word chookas is Australian slang and something performers traditionally say to each other to wish luck before a show. It's similar to the expression "break a leg."
Chook is Aussie slang for chicken. One explanation for how chookas came to be used in the performing arts is that if there was a full house, the theater company could afford a chicken dinner.
Other sources seem to indicate that it was originally pronounced choogas was was an abbreviation of the phrase "cheers and good wishes."
I first came across the word chookas while watching Deadloch (S1, E6).
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References:
Date Added: 01 Oct 2024
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:
- IMDB: Severence
- Severence Wiki: Lumon Industries
- Definition: feculent
- Screen Rant blog on "devour feculence"
Date Added: 25 Mar 2025
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:
- Tweet: @veshi 11 May 2020 - I think my word of the year is going to be "fomite" this year.
- Definition: fomite
- ACS Environmental Au: Occurrence of Human Viruses on Fomites in the Environment: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Date Added: 23 Jun 2024
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:
Date Added: 20 May 2025
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:
- Podcast: The Allusionist - Episode 193: Word Play 3: Lemon Demon
- Definition: grumbletonian
Date Added: Unknown
Date Modified: 05 Jun 2024
infinocchiare
Infinocchiare is an Italian word which means to cheat or swindle someone.
The term has interesting origins. The root of the word comes from the term finocchio which means fennel in English. In the Middle Ages, fennel was used as a masking spice. Wine merchants would serve customers fennel before offering them wine, in order to hide defects. In the same way, butchers began to put it in their salami as an alternative to pepper in order to cover up the taste of not very good meat.
Though not for the same reasons, this tradition persists today. When we were in Tuscany, Italy, we discovered finocchiona salami and I became intrigued with this word.
In Italian, the phrase Non farti infinocchiare means Don't be fooled but it translates precisely in English to Don't get fenneled.
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References:
- Definition: infinocchiare
- Wild Sicilian Fennel - An article from a US-based grocer on Italian fennel that has a brief blurb on the etymology of 'infinocchiare.'
Date Added: 22 Oct 2024
metonymy
A metonymy is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is substituted with another closely associated with it. For example, in the sentence "Hey, who are all the suits?" the word suit is a metonymy for "business people."
The word comes from the Greek metōnymía, meaning "a change of name."
I heard the word in an episode of PBS' Otherwords.
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References:
- YouTube: Otherwords - The Ancient Origins of Body Words
- Wikipedia: Metonymy
- grammarly.com blog entry - Metonymy: How to Use This Literary Device
Date Added: 03 Feb 2025
milquetoast
The word milquetoast is used to describe a meek or timid person.
It originated from the comic strip character Caspar Milquetoast, created by Harold T. Webster in 1924. The character was known for his timidity and refusal to participate in controversial discussions. Some time after the character's debut, the term "milquetoast" began to be used to describe people with similar characteristics.
Caspar's last name is derived from "milk toast," a breakfast food that was thought to be easy to digest and was a popular food for convalescents in New England (USA) in the 19th and early 20th century.
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References:
Date Added: 18 Jul 2024
Date Modified: 19 Jul 2024
neologism
A neologism is a newly coined word or expression.
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References:
Date Added: 30 May 2024
orthosomnia
Orthosomnia is an obsession with getting "perfect" sleep. The word was coined in a 2017 article in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine titled Orthosomnia: Are Some Patients Taking the Quantified Self Too Far?
We termed this condition “orthosomnia,” with “ortho” meaning straight or correct, and “somnia” meaning sleep, because patients are preoccupied or concerned with improving or perfecting their wearable sleep data. We chose this term because the perfectionist quest to achieve perfect sleep is similar to the unhealthy preoccupation with healthy eating, termed orthorexia.
I first encountered this term while listening to an episode of The Guardian's Science Weekly podcast called Is sleep perfectionism making us more exhausted?
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References:
- Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine; Volume 13, Issue 02
- Science Weekly: Is sleep perfectionism making us more exhausted?
- Wikipedia: Orthosomnia
Date Added: 22 Oct 2024
phononics
Phononics is the study of the behavior and control of mechanical vibrations and acoustic waves in materials.
The word is derived from phonon (a quantum of vibrational energy in a crystal lattice, analogous to a photon in light). It seems to be a relatively new neologism, as it doesn't have an entry in conventional dictionaries.
I first came upon this word in a Science magazine article titled Does the mantis shrimp pack a phononic shield?. The study provides experimental proof that the mantis shrimp’s club acts like a biological shock absorber, using phononic filtering to prevent damage.
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References:
- Does the mantis shrimp pack a phononic shield? - Science, 387, 659–666, 2025.
Date Added: 07 Feb 2025
pogrom
A pogrom is an organized (i.e. mob) attack of a particular ethnic group. Historically the word has been used to describe ethnic cleansing of Jews, but it can apply to any instance of violent, organized persecution against a specific group.
The word originates from the Russian word "погром," which means "to wreak havoc." It was first used in reference to the violent attacks on Jewish communities in the Russian Empire.
In 2024, as the Israel–Hamas war wages on, the word appeared in the news when on Sunday, 23 June, a protest turned violent in Los Angeles.
Demonstrators were protesting a real estate fair at a synagogue. The Pro-Palestinian protesters have been criticized as antisemitic as violence broke out and CNN's Van Jones called it a pogrom. And this rhetoric seems to be spreading.
The reason for the protest appears to be because the real estate event was promoting the sale of land located in the illegally-occupied Palestinian territories and restricting those sales to Jews. It's unfortunate that this hasn't been the headline in the news. How is this type of event even be allowed to happen??
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References:
- LA Times: Protest violence outside L.A. synagogue spurs widespread condemnation. Bass vows quick action
- Wikipedia: Pogrom
- Definition: pogrom
- CAIR: CAIR-LA Condemns Events Promoting Real Estate Sale of Occupied Palestinian Land
- Van Jones - homepage
- Mediaite: CNN’s Van Jones Calls Protest Outside Synagogue That Turned Violent a ‘Pogrom’ - including clip
- NYT: Biden and Democratic Leaders Condemn Protest Outside L.A. Synagogue as Antisemitic
Date Added: 26 Jun 2024
pulses
The dried seeds of legumes (beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils, etc). This seems to be a word that is commonly used in the UK. In the US, I don't think I've ever heard it.
I looked this up after watching a YouTube show: Food Tours: Finding the Best Cheeseburger in Los Angeles. The two hosts (popularized on Food Wars) are from the US and UK. In the US, if I were eating chickpeas and lentils I'd say that I was eating "chickpeas and lentils," while in the UK it seems like it might be common to say that one is "eating pulses."
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References:
- YouTube: Food Tours: Finding the Best Cheeseburger in Los Angeles
- Definition: pulses - (third definition)
Date Added: 21 May 2024
specious
Something that is specious is superficially plausible, but actually wrong.
You know how there are some words that you know would fit exactly what you're trying to communicate, but you can never remember them? This is one of those words for me.
The Latin speciosus means "beautiful" (or "plausible"). According to Merriam-Webster, in Middle English the word specious was used to mean "attractive." Over time, however, the word was used to denote a fake or superficial beauty.
I don't usually hear this word being used to represent a false-beauty, but more in rhetoric. A specious argument is a type of argument that seems to be good at first glance, but is actually fallacious.
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References:
Date Added: 20 Aug 2024
stochastic parrot
Stochastic parrot is a term coined by Emily M. Bender, Timnit Gebru, et al. in a 2021 paper on the ethical risks of large language models called "On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big? 🦜."
It refers to how large language models generate text by probabilistically predicting the next word based on patterns learned from massive datasets, rather than understanding or reasoning like a human. The metaphor highlights how such systems mimic language without genuine comprehension.
In December 2022, shortly after ChatGPT was released, Sam Altman of OpenAI tweeted, "i am a stochastic parrot, and so r u."
Stochastic parrot was a 2023 American Dialect Society "Word of the Year."
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References:
- Wikipedia: Stochastic parrot
- WSJ: ‘Stochastic Parrot’: A Name for AI That Sounds a Bit Less Intelligent
- American Dialect Society: 2023 Words of the Year
- Tweet: @sama 04 Dec 2022
- On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big? 🦜 - 2021, Emily M. Bender, Timnit Gebru, et al.
Date Added: 28 Jan 2025
thagomizer
A thagomizer is a bit of paleontology jargon referring to the spikes on a stegosaurian dinosaur.
When I was young, the Stegosaurus was my favorite type of dinosaur. I had no idea what the spikes were called until very recently though. I especially didn't know that the word was coined by none other than Gary Larson of Far Side fame.
In 1982, Gary Larson wrote a comic in which a caveman, perhaps in a teaching role, explains to an audience that these spikes were named "after the late Thag Simmons."
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References:
Date Added: 23 May 2024
tribology
Tribology is the scientific study of friction, lubrication, and wear between interacting surfaces in relative motion. It blends principles from mechanical engineering, materials science, chemistry, and physics.
The word was coined in 1966 by British mechanical engineer Peter Jost in a report to the UK government titled "Lubrication (Tribology) - A Report on the Present Position and Industry’s Needs". The word is formed from the Greek root tribos meaning rubbing.
During a trip with my brother, he told me about a tribological analysis his firm performed along with a write-up they published and this is how I was introduced to the term.
While looking up the origins of the word tribology, I thought it would fit perfect in an episode of Archer. The characters often use absurdly niche references followed by incredulity when nobody knows the reference.
[Scene: ISIS HQ hallway, someone slips slightly on a recently waxed floor]
Lana: Whoa -- can we not buff the floors like an Olympic luge track?
Archer: Who are you, Peter Jost?
Lana: Who?
Archer: Peter Jost? The father of tribology??
[Everyone stares blankly]
Archer (muttering): Seriously guys, read a book! Well, actually an obscure UK lubrication report from 1966.
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References:
- Definition: tribology
- Science Direct: tribology
- Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers: What is Tribology
- "The Invention of Tribology: Peter Jost's Contribution" - by John Williams, Robinson College, University of Cambridge
- IMDB: Archer
Date Added: 13 May 2025
Date Modified: 20 May 2025
interregnum
- A period when normal government is suspended, especially between successive reigns or regimes.
- An interval or pause between two periods of office or other things.
As in:
...the interregnum between the discovery of radioactivity and its detailed understanding.
or:
You are a weak monarch in a dangerous interregnum.
The latter comes from a line of dialog from the character Gerri in the television series "Succession"
(link to this entry)
References:
- Definition: interregnum
- succession-season-4-episode-6-recap - episode recap from thewrap.com
Date Added: Unknown
rhodopsin
I learned, from sort of an unlikely source -- the National Park Service, the reason why "night vision" is reset after exposure to light. That our pupils dilate is probably obvious, but what I didn't know was that the body produces a protein called rhodopsin which, through a series of chemical reactions, gives our rods the ability to "see" in dim light. The protein decays in bright light (though much slower in longer wavelengths, i.e. red light). When depleted, it takes ~30m to regenerate.
(link to this entry)
References:
- Dark Adaptation of the Human Eye and the Value of Red Flashlights - National Park Service blog article
- Wikipedia: Rhodopsin
Date Added: Unknown
stigmergy
From Wikipedia:
Stigmergy was first observed in social insects. For example, ants exchange information by laying down pheromones (the trace) on their way back to the nest when they have found food. In that way, they collectively develop a complex network of trails, connecting the nest in an efficient way to various food sources. When ants come out of the nest searching for food, they are stimulated by the pheromone to follow the trail towards the food source. The network of trails functions as a shared external memory for the ant colony.
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Date Added: Unknown
Date Modified: 30 May 2024