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submitted 11 months ago by BevelGear@beehaw.org to c/chat@beehaw.org

What nonsensical words do you like to use in your not so everyday speech?

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[-] idiomaddict@feddit.de 3 points 11 months ago

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 11 months ago

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

this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2023
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