this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2023
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What nonsensical words do you like to use in your not so everyday speech?

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[–] Pons_Aelius@kbin.social 18 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Apparently it was coined in the late 19 century as mock Latin. Making up words like this was popular at the time in the USA.

I assume due to the rise in newspapers and literacy. People were getting all sesquipedalian. ie: Using enbiggened (first use in 1884) words to make themselves seem more educated and perspicacious.

[–] altima_neo@lemmy.zip 13 points 1 year ago

They seem like perfectly cromulent words.

[–] idiomaddict@feddit.de 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There’s a German word, schnabulieren, which, though it has a totally different meaning, occupies the same niche as “to dis’ someone.” If you had to guess when they were from, you’d think the eighties, but it was actually the 15th century. “Schnabul-” comes from “Schnabel,” meaning “beak,” though in this case it’s more like “duckbill”, and basically “izate,” as a suffix. It means to snack, but really it’s more to snarf something. It was invented as a joke, to mix Latin and Germanic roots was considered funny at the time.

[–] jarfil@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

Medicine still thinks mixing Greek and Latin roots is fun, for example: pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.

That’s adorable. I love humans