Ask Lemmy @lemmy.world Volkditty @lemmy.world 2 wk. ago

What's the weirdest word or turn of phrase you've used recently?

Inspired by something I said last night when complaining about an achievement at work and the only way I could think to describe it was "pure frippery."

45 comments

Last week a coworker described a restaurant as being "kitty-corner" from our office. Took me forever to figure out what they meant
- I occasionally hear "catty-corner" too.
  
  I was always under the impression that was a similar expression to 'dog-eared', i.e. a bit beaten up. But maybe I'm conflating it with another phrase
I used the phrase "tilting at windmills" when discussing current politics and got looked at like an insane person.

No one reads anymore, apparently.
- Aww I loved that book when we read it in school
Heh. Back in my youth in the 1990s I used dated slang ironically and now it is part of my daily vocabulary. Neither myself or anybody else can tell if it is ironic or not. Now I'm just a middle aged man speaking in a weird capitol city dialect in the second largest city, which by the locals is a crime on its own.
- That's shits tubular, yo!
Yesterday I learned the word Steez from my son in high school.

Still not completely sure what it means, but I believe it's something between a dork and a douche.
- So back in the 90s "steez" was your overall style. Like "this dude's steez is off the chain." But it's not just style but also hutzpha, so "check this steez yo, fresh shells smoking a blunt on the street"
  
  Idk what it means today but this old head used to have steez but then I got old and now I just sneeze rimshot I'll be here all night folks.
  
  Long post just to ask, is that still what it means?
  
  Edit: forgot a part
  
  I’ll be here all night folks.
  
  In your bed, snoring, right?
  
  Punchline
  
  Because you are old
  
  I think it does still mean that, but, not in a good way.
  
  The 90s celebrated Steez (which I personally never heard of back then) then it's definition today is essentially "The 90s called and they want their style back."
  
  Definitely explains why he had to borrow some of my clothes for it. 🤦🏻‍♂️
  
  You know my steez
  
  True indeed
  
  Say it loud
  
  Black and proud
  
  Ain't no time to hesitate at the gate
  
  Do it now!
- I've heard steeze in snowboard / Park rat culture. Though it's a bit dated it means like, style/vibe/look
My parents emigrated from Aus/NZ just before I was born, so I inherited a bunch of weird down-under, outdated vocabulary.

"What are you fossicking around in the pantry for?" "Did you find a few skerrigs of chocolate?" "I need to use the dunny." "That guy in car dealership was apoplectic."

Lots of other turns of phrase, but - with the possible exception of "dunny" are legit words.

EDIT: OK. A few others, I still use 'blasted' as an adjective. If my kids do something ridiculous, "Jesus wept, child," sometimes comes out of my mouth. Then a bunch of, "running around like a sprayed blowfly," or, "wandering around like a lost soul."
- I'm a cultural Kiwi and don't recognize half of these.
  
  In the case of dunny, I was trained on calling it the loo.
  
  Fossicking and skerrig are related to mining activities, so may be more localized to areas were the gold rush was big. I confirmed they're actual words.
  
  My kids and I use dunny now because of Bluey.
- apoplectic
  
  Legitimately one of my favourite words.
I don't personally think it's wierd, but my partner told me I sounded like an old for using the word "flummoxed"
- "an" old?
  
  Today you may be a youth, but you will be an old someday.
I used rigamarole in an email to a colleague today. And I regularly use kerfuffle.
Peripatetic = walking person. By "use" i mean read and looked it up im dictionary
- No fair if you're a nurse
One of my new favorites when trying to decide if something is worth doing - “Is the juice worth the squeeze?”
- That’s gotta be very old
Dropped a Tom Swifty on my wife... the other day.

"They want me to check in at the hospital..."

"She said admittedly."

I got "the look".
Shit of a beast
To use the word cozy as a verb. To coze or to be cozed.
- Cozy is already a verb
  
  verb
  
  INFORMAL
  
  give (someone) a feeling of comfort or complacency.
  
  "she cozied him, pretending to find him irresistibly attractive"
  
  Sure but that’s not coze or cozed.
I use the phrase "wide-awake nightmare" kind of a lot.

At least I know where I picked it up from, the Screaming Skull episode of MST3k.
'Spasmodic'. A boy walked in the sidewalk and he showed signs of having cerebral palsy.. Somehow that word popped up and it surprised me how topical that word was and that I don't realize how I know the word.
jimmanuel centennial carter

You've viewed 45 comments.