Friday, June 21, 2013

Failstrom

So... owing to one of the more bizarre and hilarious Facebook exchanges it's ever been my privilege to be a part of, I have been introduce to a new word: failstrom. It's a portmanteau of "fail" and "maelstrom". An entire storming vortex of fail. Very much like Jon Stewart's term for such situations, the always-useful "catastrof*ck", which is also a personal favorite.

I mention this not because it has anything to do with the way my afternoon is going - strangely enough, it doesn't - but by way of wondering if anybody else has some favorite obscure words that really ought to see more use. Consider this an open thread...

3 comments:

  1. After a few years on the Internet, I have no idea what's obscure and what isn't anymore. Plus, when faced with linguistic gaps I tend to resort to conlang loanwords rather than working with what I'm given. I'm going with "idiolect", which is a bit meta.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Verb, meaning to mindlessly go with the crowd: "lem." The present progressive is, of course, "lemming."
    Phrase, meaning to agree denotationally but object connotatively: "only literally."

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like 'em. I don't do a lot of open threads because I don't usually get a lot of responses, so it's good to get some real replies!

    ReplyDelete

Feel free to leave comments; it lets me know that people are actually reading my blog. Interesting tangents and topic drift just add flavor. Linking to your own stuff is fine, as long as it's at least loosely relevant. Be civil, and have fun!