Lexiphanic Words
The use of pretentious terminology to befuddle the ordinary.Archive for March, 2008
Encephalalgia (noun)
Ever need to call in sick, simply because you don’t want to go into work. Try saying that you’ve come down with a terrible case of Enchephalalgia. Unless you work in a hospital, they’ll think you’re on death’s door, when in truth you only need an aspirin. The root encephalo comes from the Greek enképhalos that mean brain (literally inside the head). Basically Encephalalgia is a ten-dollar word for headache. (Source: Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary)
Vade Mecum (noun)
“You never see that man without his Blackberry. It’s his vade mecum.” At least if you include the word Blackberry, your listener will have a clue as to what vade mecum means. It’s Latin for go with me. It used to refer to manuals or guidebooks carried in the pocket. But now, it can easily be a cell phone or an iPod. Anything that seems permanently attached to someone can be his or her vade mecum. (Source: Merriam-Webster’s 365 New Words Calendar)
Fungible (adj)
“Don’t ever forget that your position at this firm is fungible.” This word is great for its association with fungus, to which, by the way, it has no relation. It derives from the Latin verb fungi, which means to perform. The present meaning is to make something replaceable, in other words, something that will perform just as well. Thus you could say that your friend’s twenty dollar bill is fungible. She’ll think that something is growing on the bill, but you really mean that you could substitute another bill to work just as well. (Source: Merriam-Webster’s 365 New Words Calendar)
