8 definitions by DrSJohnson
adjective
(BrE) Tremendous. Via BoJo, connoting a similar capacity for uncertain, quasi-populist misgovernance and general demagoguery as this favourite Trumpian term.
(BrE) Tremendous. Via BoJo, connoting a similar capacity for uncertain, quasi-populist misgovernance and general demagoguery as this favourite Trumpian term.
We have had so much doubt and dubitation for such a long time, and the people of this country have given us tonight, I mean, this morning, a huge great stonking mandate because they want us to do one thing that you all know—they want us to get Brexit done.
—Boris Johnson (quoted accurately, without falsification!) on the UK general election and a hard Brexit
—Boris Johnson (quoted accurately, without falsification!) on the UK general election and a hard Brexit
by DrSJohnson December 24, 2019
A linguistic phenomenon whereby a word constitutes its own antonym depending on context. English, being widely spoken and/or occasionally mangled in the United States and recalcitrant parts of the commonwealth (i.e., Canada), features many enantiosemic words, including inflammable, nonplussed, and restive (with the latter meaning "impatient and fidgety" when applied to people and, owing to its French roots, "stubbornly refusing to move" when applied to horses).
From Gr. enantios ("opposite") + semasia ("meaning").
From Gr. enantios ("opposite") + semasia ("meaning").
Gord: HOW DO MOUNTIES MANAGE TO BE NONPLUSSED ALL THE TIME, ANYWAY? THERE ARE GUYS WITH RACCOONS IN THEIR JACKETS AND STUFF—
Nigel: Actually, its prefix notwithstanding, and despite plussed's non-status as a word, "nonplussed" means the opposite of what it's commonly thought to mean.
Gord, nonplussed: OKAY, SO WE'RE TALKING ENANTIOSEMY, BUT LOOK, THE HORSE IS RESTIVE, AREN'T YA, BUD?
RCMP Thoroughbred: <snorts and offers an impregnable stare>
Inflammable means flammable? What a country! What enantiosemy!
―Dr. Nick Riviera, whose doctorate is in linguistics, not medicine
Nigel: Actually, its prefix notwithstanding, and despite plussed's non-status as a word, "nonplussed" means the opposite of what it's commonly thought to mean.
Gord, nonplussed: OKAY, SO WE'RE TALKING ENANTIOSEMY, BUT LOOK, THE HORSE IS RESTIVE, AREN'T YA, BUD?
RCMP Thoroughbred: <snorts and offers an impregnable stare>
Inflammable means flammable? What a country! What enantiosemy!
―Dr. Nick Riviera, whose doctorate is in linguistics, not medicine
by DrSJohnson November 26, 2019
noun {C} or adjective
The antithesis of sapiosexual—that 2010s shibboleth of Doctor Who fanboys and Dunning–Kruger effect case studies—a stultosexual is a person who is aroused by or attracted to stupidity. The heart (or sex drive) wants what it wants, and sometimes that want has precious little to do with the brain.
From L. stultō ("foolish, fatuous, generally stupid as fuck") + -sexual.
Cf. "I Never Said I Was Deep" by Jarvis Cocker for the dipshit debauchee's perspective.
The antithesis of sapiosexual—that 2010s shibboleth of Doctor Who fanboys and Dunning–Kruger effect case studies—a stultosexual is a person who is aroused by or attracted to stupidity. The heart (or sex drive) wants what it wants, and sometimes that want has precious little to do with the brain.
From L. stultō ("foolish, fatuous, generally stupid as fuck") + -sexual.
Cf. "I Never Said I Was Deep" by Jarvis Cocker for the dipshit debauchee's perspective.
A: "I read that Bitcoin is fungible. Is that why you can use it to buy shrooms on the dark web?"
B: "Well, sort of, but that's not entirely it... Hey, come to my place and I'll show you my portfolio, maybe?"
Posse of wingmen and wingladies: "That bastard's without a doubt a stultosexual."
Jenna's formidable intellectual acumen, which her command of all the Finno-Ugric languages evinces, means that her prodigious carnal activities are, from her perspective, inherently stultosexual.
B: "Well, sort of, but that's not entirely it... Hey, come to my place and I'll show you my portfolio, maybe?"
Posse of wingmen and wingladies: "That bastard's without a doubt a stultosexual."
Jenna's formidable intellectual acumen, which her command of all the Finno-Ugric languages evinces, means that her prodigious carnal activities are, from her perspective, inherently stultosexual.
by DrSJohnson November 17, 2019
adjective
Literally, being ostrich-headed; figuratively, burying one's head in the sand, or stubbornly refusing to acknowledge a predicament.
From L. strūthiō ("ostrich") + L. cephalicus ("head").
Literally, being ostrich-headed; figuratively, burying one's head in the sand, or stubbornly refusing to acknowledge a predicament.
From L. strūthiō ("ostrich") + L. cephalicus ("head").
That fellow, with his undersized, beaky-featured skull and dour expression, cuts a struthiocephalic profile. Kind of like my FurAffinity profile, in fact.
"I'm perusing Amazon for a desk-sized karesansui that'll abate my anxieties about productivity!"
"Yeah, buy a rock garden and shove your entire fucking head into it. Quit procrastinating and start writing something decent, you struthiocephalic sluggard!"
"I'm perusing Amazon for a desk-sized karesansui that'll abate my anxieties about productivity!"
"Yeah, buy a rock garden and shove your entire fucking head into it. Quit procrastinating and start writing something decent, you struthiocephalic sluggard!"
by DrSJohnson August 25, 2020
noun (pl. hapax legomena or hapaxes)
A word that appears only once in a text corpus or body of writing—be this a particular author's oeuvre, a work of substantial length, or a language's entire collection of writing, including the Twittersphere.
From Ancient Greek hápax legómenon ("thing once said").
A word that appears only once in a text corpus or body of writing—be this a particular author's oeuvre, a work of substantial length, or a language's entire collection of writing, including the Twittersphere.
From Ancient Greek hápax legómenon ("thing once said").
The old Ottoman Governments regarded this clan of manticratic peers with a mixture of reverence and distrust.
—T. E. Lawrence, 1926
Despite the constant negative press covfefe
—Donald Trump producing a hapax legomenon of his own, 2017
—T. E. Lawrence, 1926
Despite the constant negative press covfefe
—Donald Trump producing a hapax legomenon of his own, 2017
by DrSJohnson January 30, 2020
noun {C or U}
Any beer imbibed by a thrift-minded pedestrian en route to a venue (where additional alcohol is likely to be served). In locales with open container laws, street beers are consumed furtively, and disposed of in a similar fashion, when the pedestrian is at a safe distance from lampposts, neon signage, and other treacherous light sources. In places with no such laws, street beers are best swilled in time with the pace of walking and conversation. Often, a person will be forced to chug a street beer outside her destination if the venue does not allow outside beverages. Evidently, street beers are the classiest form of predrinking besides wine kegstands.
Any beer imbibed by a thrift-minded pedestrian en route to a venue (where additional alcohol is likely to be served). In locales with open container laws, street beers are consumed furtively, and disposed of in a similar fashion, when the pedestrian is at a safe distance from lampposts, neon signage, and other treacherous light sources. In places with no such laws, street beers are best swilled in time with the pace of walking and conversation. Often, a person will be forced to chug a street beer outside her destination if the venue does not allow outside beverages. Evidently, street beers are the classiest form of predrinking besides wine kegstands.
Let's stop by the convenience store and grab a street beer for the onerous ten-minute trek from my place to the bar.
by DrSJohnson November 10, 2019
adjective
From Latin pyrum ("pear") and forma ("form, figure, or shape"), pyriform rather literally means pear-shaped. In Commonwealth English, this idiom (of uncertain origin, but perchance from the RAF) refers to a failure, whether catastrophic or piddling. Hence, when a situation or event goes pyriform, things are looking altogether wonky.
From Latin pyrum ("pear") and forma ("form, figure, or shape"), pyriform rather literally means pear-shaped. In Commonwealth English, this idiom (of uncertain origin, but perchance from the RAF) refers to a failure, whether catastrophic or piddling. Hence, when a situation or event goes pyriform, things are looking altogether wonky.
My life has gone utterly pyriform. I've been sacked, I've wrecked my motorcycle, and, despite having broken my pelvis in the aforementioned crash, I've managed to get pregnant by some itinerant wastrel. Curse my pyriform build, which is so amenable to child-bearing and its antecedent activity!
There's something pyriform—and not just visually or figurally—about that prize-winning Izumo Nankin goldfish bobbing belly-up in its tank.
There's something pyriform—and not just visually or figurally—about that prize-winning Izumo Nankin goldfish bobbing belly-up in its tank.
by DrSJohnson February 20, 2020