Dictionary.com’s word of the day today is taradiddle, apparently meaning “1.A petty falsehood; a fib. 2.Pretentious nonsense.” It’s a gorgeous word to say - anyone got any fascinating words they’d like to share? Even in another language, maybe?

i think my favorite word has got to be sünnipäevanädalalõpupeopärastlõunaväsimus. its estonian for ‘the tiredness one feels on the afternoon of the weekend birthday party’. youve gotta rate a language that can make words like that!

apparently the word ‘kiplefiti’ is swahili for ‘traffic island’, which comes from the english phrase ‘keep left’. which is just fascinating because it’s quite odd.

My current favourite interesting word is

‘whigmaleerie’.

1.  a whim; notion.
2.  a whimsical or fanciful ornament or contrivance; gimmick.

I keep wanting to say something like ‘a whigmaleerie for a whirligig’ but I never get the opportunity :’(

I like ‘houlihan’ - ‘A roping term. This throw can be made either from the ground or on horseback. The roper carries the loop in his hand, and when the chance presents itself, he swings one quick whirl around in front of hi, toward the right, up over his head, and releases the loop and rope in the direction of the target. Asd it comes over, it is turned in a way to cause it to flatten out before it reaches the head of the animal to be roped. It lands straight down, and so has a fair sized opening.’

I don’t think ‘taradiddle’s a very good word for pretentious nonsense because it sounds so pretentious when you say it. ‘McEwan’s latest book is pure taradiddle’.

Ah, John, but I think that’s the appeal of it!  What would be the point in having a word that means pretentious nonsense if it were not in itself pretentious?  It wouldn’t be anywhere near as fun! :)

interesting word: apparently when wagner first heard a saxophone he said that it sounded like “Reckankreuzungsklankewerkzeuge”. pretty sick word, imho, tho it sounds nothing like a saxophone