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It’s always interesting to find out some people’s nicknames that they used to or still have and what is the story behind these names. Having this in mind, one Twitter user called @Lapsedcat decided to share the story of how he became known as “Mr Words” in the office by using the word “trebuchet”. This tweet that received more than 12K likes encouraged other people online to share some bizarre yet hilarious reasons that they got teased for and “earned” some funny nicknames. A lot of these people got their nicknames because of the wording they used in their speech that seemed too complicated for others to understand and rather became a perfect way to tease them for knowing some more complex words.
Which one of these stories did you appreciate the most? Do you have your own experience to share? Don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comments down below!
More Info: Twitter
Image source: strudelt
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#1
Insert Generic Username 3 years ago
I had my English 101 professor tell me that "amongst" was not a word. She actually marked points off my essay because I used it several times.
M O'Connell 3 years ago
My local airport has its very own "Recombobulation Area" for putting yourself back together after going through security! It's much better than other airports which just kick you out into the terminal with no place to sit down and put your shoes back on.
GoddessOdd 3 years ago
I told my boss that I was flummoxed by a glitch in our software and she thought I was "so creative" for making up that word.
Eileen Clarke 3 years ago
"Developmental "kindergarten examiner placed my daughter as less mature than I knew she was. The reason? "She named fictitious animals". Sorry that my five-year-old knows what a Zebu is and you don't.
Lord Mysticlaw 3 years ago
Some teachers are horrible people. I'm in year 3 of home teaching my daughter and there's a math teacher at her old school that i still hate with the fury of the deepest pits of hell.
The_fox_girl 3 years ago (edited)
Some schools don't hire teachers that are actually qualified to teach, so that could be the reason
John Baker 3 years ago
They can't afford to, because our government would rather spend on bombs and bullets than education.
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MilaFi 3 years ago
Oh, this reminds me of a time when at an English class the teacher said that "pick-up" does not mean e.g. to pick someone up from somewhere or something etc. I was stunned, I tried to argue, I said to him, well if you drop your pen to the floor, what would you do? Would you....pick it up? He just ignored me.
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#2
Pheebs 3 years ago
I had a coworker who could tell you practically anything about certain topics. We called him the Archives. Another coworker would help if you had questions, but tended to only answer the exact question you asked. He was the Oracle. Another coworker was jealous of the other two, and tried to be a know it all. He was the Encyclopedia - correct up to a point, but frequently in need of an update.
Auntriarch 3 years ago
Ah, I've been called oracle as well, at least I think that's what they were saying
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Rebecca Lee 3 years ago
I’ve meet a number of people who speak English as a second language and their grammar is spot on.
Marco Conti 3 years ago
Same here. I use to proofread copy for my entire office (when I worked in one). My guess it's because I read a lot. I may not pronounce some words correctly because I never heard them sounded off, but I know them. My PhD educated daughter still tries to find words I don't know and fails 99% of the time. I think it frustrates her a bit, but also makes her proud.
Narwhal Blast 3 years ago
How would this be shameful?! Shame on you for knowing and using better grammar than I am???
Martha Higgins 3 years ago
I have worked with a great many people for whom English is not their first (or even second or third) language and most of them have a better grasp of English grammar and spelling than native English speakers.
#3
Jo Johannsen 3 years ago
Just getting in my quotidian ration of sesquipedalian verbage. I love words! Not to impress, but to enjoy.
adiiantryx 3 years ago
to all you sialoquent flibbertigibbets out there all this malarkey is really starting to activate my hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
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Troux 3 years ago
I have a cat named Weyshus because he's super talkative, especially with Loki (other kitty, who is more low key).
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Parthania Dawson 3 years ago
I told a therapist I had been feeling a sense of ennui. Therapist was confused and made me clarify. I kept it simple from then on.
Robin DJW 3 years ago
And did the therapist's confusion give you schadenfreude?
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Marcellus II 3 years ago
They're quite old words tho! But "verbose" is often used in programming (meaning: with a lot of info, useful in tracking down bugs); and the latin word Garrulus is the family name of some (garrulous!!) birds in the crow family like the eurasian jays (starlings would fit but they have another name!).
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Claire Stanfield 3 years ago
When you hear "if you're so clever" or "if you're so smart", buckle up - it's about to get wild.
Marcellus II 3 years ago
Just... don't, like the (apocryphal) Mark Twain quote, “Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.”
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Lingon 3 years ago
A yes, just like Denmark are the capital of Sweden. Just a few days ago, a person online told me she loves our (Sweden) Alps and chocolate.
Ozacoter 3 years ago
My belgian partner was told once in USA "Ah, Belgium. Thats the capital of Paris, no?". Its been years and we are still in shock.
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Amy Pattie 3 years ago
Me, a non-American, concerned that these two facts about basic geography are a bragging point.
Marco Conti 3 years ago
I cannot even count how many people I have met that think Canada is in the United States.
Brian Bennett 3 years ago
Yep and we all live in igloos and travel by dog sled. We are covered in snow all year. And the capital is Toronto!
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QuotedPrawn7490 3 years ago
as a geography and vexillology buff, this pains me on an emotional and physical level
#5
Marcellus II 3 years ago
The village is depriving a lot of other villages of their idiots?
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Dash Blue 3 years ago
Interesting. When I was in college I was known as Mr. Village, because I was a guy among big city folks who was from a small village. Okay. I made that up.
Marcellus II 3 years ago
Nope, insult is an intent not a meaning. If I call you a cauliflower it's an insult, whether you (or I) like cauliflower or not. Here it will be added to every perceived shortcoming, especially in the manliness department; "that went to college and can't even adjust a carburettor!", etc.
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#6
Marcellus II 3 years ago
Who are the others, mr Grunts and mr Knuckledragger?
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Pezor Zass 3 years ago
last month one of my co-workers thought i was being uppity or something by using the word "disheveled". He's also the one who was in his 40s and didn't know what a mosque was.
The Queen Of Upper Butt Crack 3 years ago
Even if you live in the city you must have seen mosque by the age of 40 ! I see mosque on rocks and trees pretty regularly.
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Petra, princess of Brigid 3 years ago
I thought it was workers. I'm an idiot.
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Earl Grey 3 years ago
Sorry. The position of Mr. Words has already been filled.
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SykesDaMan 3 years ago
Yeah, they didn't go for Mr Vocabulary/Crosswords/Scrabble... You shouldn't have used a "Word" with them...
Tom Bolton 3 years ago
Use of ballast is the biggest difference. A catapult stores potential energy in coiled ropes, whereas a trebuchet stores it in a raised counterbalance to the throwing arm.
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#7
Henry Russell 3 years ago (edited)
so ooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh so topographical and so feature
SykesDaMan 3 years ago
OK! It's cute and funny and all... But what conversation led to the "Curragh is a topographical feature"? Reminds me of when Captain Holt talks about basketball: "A shot is part of basketball action"
GoddessOdd 3 years ago
I drew maps for 40 years. A new hire was very impressed that I not only used the word topological, but spelled it correctly. This was someone who was employed drawing maps. It makes me sigh loudly.
Alexandru Bucur 3 years ago
That's called a "currach" - close, but with a "ch" instead of "gh"
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IrrelevantNonsense 3 years ago (edited)
So…their husband is a former coworker? Or they new each other? Can anyone clear this up for me bc the og person who posted this cant really see this-
Cuppa tea? 3 years ago
It take sometime to drive past, because it's a rather prominent topographical feature, as a big long flat place full of sheeps.
#8
DUN DUN (she/her) 3 years ago
Honest question, have they, umm... heard of "school"? I swear it's not a made-up word.
Chinmayee Kalghatgi 3 years ago
Stop using words that dont exist dun dun. School is a made-up word and u are showing off/s
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HarriMissesScotland 3 years ago
My husband and his brothers had their own language which they taught me. One day I called in sick, and when they asked what was wrong, I told them I had hydrillican flips. They didn't ask what that was.
My O My 3 years ago
Aaaand what are the hydrillican flips? Sounds like sth I'd integrate into my vocabulary
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Wondering Alice 3 years ago
Was in a class of 11/12 year olds today learning about this. Almost half knew all the names of moon phases already. Not many were sure about gravity and atmosphere - but now they do.
#9
T. D. Bostick 3 years ago
In Germany some people get mad if you use words with more than seventeen syllables.
Albert 3 years ago
I've been told that was the reason Twitter doubled the max. number of characters to 280, because with 140 the Germans could only fit in 3 words... :)
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Nannychachi 3 years ago
While having an argument one time my idiot ex-husband said, "You just think you're Miss Goody Tissues!" 😂 I was so mad that I got in his face, pointed my finger at him and yelled, "It's TWO SHOES!" He said that I was a regular smart ass. I said, "Nope. I'm an outstanding one!"
Gaspode the Wonder Dog 3 years ago
With people like this,all you need to do is say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,then sit back and watch them spontaneously combust
Marcellus II 3 years ago
Why she married him was a mystery, but when you married him too it was a bigamistry.
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Agnes Jekyll 3 years ago
an ex got mad when I used the word "incongruous." He asked me when it meant, and I said, that "it doesn't fit with the rest of the houses on the block," and he yelled that I should just say that from then on. In retrospect, I should have walked away then.
SS 3 years ago
My mum and dad told me that I was condescending and arrogant for using big words. They literally paid to send me to private school and Cambridge.
- 3 years ago
Sending you to Cambridge sounds like the erudite version of kicking one's kid out of the house. There you go, children, it pays to improve one's vocabulary, it annoys the f**k out of your folks, and it's much safer than doing drugs!
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Lollipop Girl 3 years ago
And it's not a 4 syllable word, so luckily he can understand it! For example, if she asked for a "separation", he would've been soooo confused (you know, becuse BiG wOrDs)
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DUN DUN (she/her) 3 years ago (edited)
I just read "antidisestablishmentarianism" and "twat" in one thought-process and that somehow de-escalated something in my brain from a 100 to 0 real quick.😂
Tom Bolton 3 years ago
Considering you were probably only using it sound verbose and not because you were discussing the Church of England, you had it coming.
Narwhal Blast 3 years ago
Maybe they were discussing the Church of England, how do you know they weren't?
Load More Replies... Monkey Spunk 3 years ago
Are you sure that was why they called you twat? It might be that you steered the conversation around so you could say it, because let's be fair, it's not a word that comes up in normal conversation and I can't see that any topic where you'd use it would be had in normal discourse while cutting cauliflower.
May 3 years ago
Probably discussing the longest word in the English language, which is the only context I've ever heard it used
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Rijkærd 3 years ago
If only twat wasn't an insult then it sounds justified...Cauliflower is a big enough word ...twat
Annie Bieber 3 years ago
I hate that in the US we don't use the word T**t...I think it's Fabulous. 😁
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SykesDaMan 3 years ago
There's a freestyle rapper (Harry Mack, you can find him on YouTube) who either walks to people on the street or (since Covid hit) connects with people through a site/app called Omegle, asks them for random words and raps using them. He has one where he used "antidisestablishmentarianism".
Eat Dirt Crow 3 years ago
It was popular in the 60s because it was given to a black girl named Gloria Lockerman on the game show $64,000 question. They tried to slip her up by giving her , they thought, an impossible word to spell. [the memory palace] Episode 133: Antidisestablishmentarianism #theMemoryPalace https://podcastaddict.com/episode/129245581 via @PodcastAddict
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Sky Render 3 years ago
Apparently any syllable count greater than 2 leads to cognitive shortcomings in certain individuals. Or to put it in simple terms, big words make their brains hurt.
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Pezor Zass 3 years ago
"naughty speeding course"? like they teach you how to drive fast in lingerie?
Kookamunga 3 years ago
It's sad that people are impressed by what is seemingly common conversational English.
LazyPanda 3 years ago
After reading that post about the women who gave reasons for their singleness in the 1880s, I realized just how much we lack in our current use of English
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Maria 3 years ago
If you get caught speeding too many times in the UK, you have to attend a course or forfeit your license.
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chaotic_gay 3 years ago
that's not even a fancy sentence, some people really act like they just never graduated highschool
L.a. Williams 3 years ago
Had someone impressed with my vocabulary a teacher(I am an adult) she said I sounded much smarter than my g.e.d. education.
Phill Healey 3 years ago
Are you a teacher? Coz I normally work in the office and get made to do this shitty course every other month. Nobody asked me if I wanted to do it and all I get for doing is the ability to slink off half an hour early. So chop chop let's get this s**t over with. It's nearly 3.30.
Farmboyatheart 3 years ago
From bad to worse to down right stupid. Poor man got stuck with a bunch of idiots.
#12
cybermerlin2000 3 years ago
I went into s hop, paid by contactless and the cashier said "I bet you will be glad when you can start folding money again" and I replied "Not really, the coins are a hell of a challenge"
Sue User 3 years ago
So true. And dont even try 57.15 for a 17.65 total . They give the change back because it is not enough.
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RatherLoopy 3 years ago (edited)
This is a bit easier in countries where sales tax isn't added to the posted price of the items. Try adding up your three items, then multiplying the total by 1.0825 in your head.
Rose Romano 3 years ago
I love living in a country where the sales tax is already added to the posted price. I'm terrible at math and having the tax already added gives me a fightin' chance of figuring out what my final total will be. And I usually get pretty close, too!
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Twodogsandapicnictable 3 years ago
That's not as easy in the US. Taxes aren't added until check out. And it's not a whole number. Ithink it's 6.5% in Ohio on most non food products which aren't taxed. But it's higher for alcohol and tobacco. And it varies state to stay and sometimes by county.
#13
Annie Bieber 3 years ago (edited)
I had to pretend I couldn't read or write in 2nd grade...the teacher was angry child hating HAG who paddled me in front of the class because she caught me reading & writing cursive & we "weren't Doing That Until third grade"...literally ruined my education...I was afraid to be smart. Welcome to PS circa 1966 in Arkansas...
Paul Davis 3 years ago
I had the same experience in Texas...a lunatic teacher who got angry at me for knowing how to read in first grade. Yelled that I needed to forget how so she could teach me to do it "right".
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Christy C Sims 3 years ago
America. It is in America - where even teachers practice freedom of speech - with no logic. 🙂
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albernistuff 4sale 3 years ago
This is one where I am NOT going to pick on the USA. Growing up in Alberta, Canada, I could read at a college level in grade 6, which was actively punished whenever I wrote essays or reports. I suspect many of the teachers got their degree with a middle school reading skill.
Annie Bieber 3 years ago
My Mom is Canadian...I was reading books on anatomy & genetics at your same age...in high school I got sent to the principals office and they called my mom, who gave them an earful, because in "Family Health" aka Sex Ed I identified the Vas Differns. 🤯🤣✌
Load More Replies... Paul Davis 3 years ago
The kids in my high school were a lot like that. Completely antiintellectual, ignorant, and unethical. And to think the idiot kids of that era largely are the senior people in charge of the planet now.
Annie Bieber 3 years ago
That explains a lot...present company excluded...😁✌
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Brendan Roberts 3 years ago
Well, yeah, obviously that is a sign of being gay. Why else would the word "homosexuality" be such a long word?
BORKADYMUSIC 3 years ago
Yep that makes sense. I’m extremely queer and I got third in the spelling bee in fifth grade. …idk if I can actually count to ten though… that’s iffy because math make brain hurt lol
#14
SykesDaMan 3 years ago
I had a friend like that, but not quite: Every time he learned a new word (by chance in a conversation or on TV, highly doubt through reading) he used that word around 200 times that day and looking at us expecting us to either be impressed or ask him for the meaning. Thing is, they were fairly common words and not really thesaurus hidden treasures...
Sharon Ingram 3 years ago
When our oldest child got new spelling words to learn he taught our youngest. They are 10 years apart. Got huge pleasure when she would use those words correctly. To this day she still loves “bellicose” and “ennui.”
#15
Monkey Spunk 3 years ago
Oh, I like Raoul Dahl, he wrote Carlos and the Churro Factory, Juan and the Giant Paella and Jorge's Marvellous Medicine.
May 3 years ago
Now I'm wondering if the Norwegian name Roald and the Spanish name Raoul are versions of the same name, like William and Guillaume
/bored_as_heck/ 3 years ago
Hahahahah why'd i laugh so hard at this. Well worth the upvote!
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Tobias the Tiger 3 years ago
This reminds me of the parents who named their kid "Clitis", after the famous actor "Clitis Wood" (meant "Clint Eastwood").
Sherbaan Naab 3 years ago
Still, sort of fancy of them, going for Dahl, and not a more accessible name, like Shakespeare, or Tolstoy.
#16
DUN DUN (she/her) 3 years ago (edited)
I'm really trying hard to imagine a "plate" face 😂 [Edit: FOUND IT FOUND IT!! https://preview.redd.it/72djloglrtf81.png?width=960&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=79b225a7b2111ca68cd66d1db9948b4a772b572c
Jelly the Bean 3 years ago
To anyone who will have that face in their nightmares forever, have some unsee juice: D7Mc16BUYAA9gMY.jpg 
ZAPanda 3 years ago
Thanks, I knew someone would point this out so I read all the comments to make sure.
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High Mamii Melo 3 years ago
We had "Phone Boy." His dad dropped him off for school every day in his AT&T telephone pole truck.
HarriMissesScotland 3 years ago
related to the notorious Roman. His nose roamed all over his face
Gaspode the Wonder Dog 3 years ago
They tease,but can they pick up satellite tv for free from their face?
#17
Annie Bieber 3 years ago (edited)
I love it when people ask "Is that really a word"...no Sparky...just me and my invisible friends having a convo...🙄
Kookamunga 3 years ago
WTF is that about? Unless you sat next to the guy in vocabulary class, how would you know what words he knows? I would of smacked him with a dictionary.
Marco Conti 3 years ago
Story of my life. Being Italian, Latin and Greek loan words are easy for me, even many medical terms are just what we italian use in normal speech to describe anatomical parts (like "renal failure" instead of "kidney failure", "Rene/reni" is kidney in Italian), but normal people and even doctors are always so impressed when I use them. I hate to tell them that it's not because of my stellar education, but just a linguistic coincidence.
Remi 3 years ago
Let's not call people with a micro p idiots. They, like the ppl with a jumbo come in all smartness varieties.
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Slick 3 years ago
Why are people getting triggered over words they don't even know ? Like bro, when i learn english, almost everything about it is new, does that mean i should have gone ape s**t crazy and plan to punch people ? What is this about ? I'm just so perplexed !
SoozeeQ 3 years ago
He probably wouldn't even know that word, either! ;oP
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#18
DrBronxx 3 years ago (edited)
That's not necessarily because he thought she was too smart for him. I have known plenty of people who I couldn't understand because what they were talking about was completely daft.
SykesDaMan 3 years ago
Exactly my thoughts! I once had conversation... Scratch that, I once listened to a 10 minute monologue about how this person had to go from place A to place B by foot but their ankle was hurting and it was raining... I didn't understand the point of this story...
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Jeff Bunn 3 years ago
My wife and I stayed up just talking on our first date until about 4:30 am!! She was studying to be an English teacher at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and I was the first guy she ever dated who could keep up with her vocabulary!!
Steph 3 years ago
Good for you! Sounds like you deserved and found each other! So very rare and special! All the best to you and your wife!
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Kirsten Dayne 3 years ago
An ex didn't know what "pseudonym" meant and I thought he was joking and told my roommate about it later and she was like "...I don't know what a pseudonym is" and my world shattered. Like. I know I read a lot. I'm an aspiring novelist. I even know I have a pretty good vocabulary. But I guess it never really hit me that some people just don't know words I think of as normal? And then I use a word out loud that I've only read before and I completely mispronounce it and people look at me funny and I die inside lol
Melinda Flick 3 years ago
Had a boyfriend to whom I had to explain a non-esoteric joke. Took me 3 tries, as best I recall. That was really the beginning of the end for me. I was just out of highschool, he was in a good university, about to enter his senior year. Smh!
#19
Cadena Norton 3 years ago
I got my husband a shirt that said fight apathy...or don't. He went to pick up food and told me the girl at the counter liked his shirt but asked what apathy meant. Apparently he didn't know either. Good thing he's pretty
Grace Noyes 3 years ago
Years ago, I was being deposed by my university's lawyers because one of my former professors was suing it. They asked me what I thought of the professor, and I responded that he was sexist and that, as an example, he was "always mysoginistic." They both stared at me in horror. It took me a few seconds to realize they thought I said, "He's always massaging his d**k." I still get the giggles when I think about it.
QuotedPrawn7490 3 years ago
this one is funny, and i can kinda see how they thought that. lol
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Dani Alexander 3 years ago
Wow, no wonder so many misogynistic men aren’t aware of themselves, they don’t know what misogyny means smh
Maria Mendez 3 years ago
people often mock what they don't understand to conceal their ignorance.
QuotedPrawn7490 3 years ago
half of these posts arent people getting roasted; its just people with low intelligence quotients and a lack of cognitive ability showing that they are dumb
#20
DUN DUN (she/her) 3 years ago
Take it as a compliment, and think how much knowledge you have gained as compared to others!
Dodo 3 years ago
You should have called her Old Mrs Library, since she was apparently there often enough to see you often.
Lisa Samuelson 3 years ago
I would totally take this as a compliment!!! I was always at the library!! I did the summer reading programs every year and always won because I would read the most books!! I love reading to this day!! In fact the most scariest situation is the Twilight Zone episode in which Burgess Meredith had all the time in the world to read his beloved books but then ended up breaking his glasses and then couldn't read at all! That was PTSD moment for me!! That is my worst nightmare, if I was unable to read at all!!
Remi 3 years ago
Imagination maybe? Teacher calling a student names that can lable her as a nerd and an outsider... not a good situation.
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Leoninus Fate 3 years ago
I used to get in trouble for skipping class... I was in the library reading, I would come to school early {or a teacher would sneak me in at the crack of dawn to let me in the libray} and i would stay about 3 hours after school, I was a speed reader and they had a ton of mature and teen books, I was about 14 and one of my fav accomplishments {at about 16} was reading the dictionary in about 3 weeks {although i never could remember much of it}
#21
May 3 years ago
I assume the end of that sentence was - "with a sponge" I mean 9 year olds can be weird, but most of them are made to have a wash every now and then.
Mark Howell 3 years ago
I've found a surprise attack with the hosepipe once a week keeps the cockroaches at bay ;o)
Load More Replies... Henry Russell 3 years ago
ha this person is a weirdo for beng clean we make people faint by smelling us he smells like a flower
Eagle Girl 3 years ago
Wow, I have to leave this post or I'm going to have to use my fingers to count
#22
T. D. Bostick 3 years ago
My eldest, when she was 3, started crying when asked to eat something she didn't like. She finally blurted out that 'it's disgusting'. English isn't even her first language, so hearing such a big word from a three-year-old made us laugh hard (and we didn't make her eat it).
Kona Pake 3 years ago
You don’t know disgusting until you have a Chinese mother and father giving you an ancient Chinese medicine or antidote.
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Coli Erasmus 3 years ago
I was in the second grade and drew a picture of an orca. The teacher ridiculed me for my wild imagination and told me there was no such thing as an orca. Free W***y came out a few months later, and when I asked her in class if it was a fantasy movie as orcas didn't exist, she laughed and proceeded to tell the class some interesting facts about ORCAS! Good God, I hated that woman!
Coli Erasmus 3 years ago
Really, BP? I can't say Free W***y? How about Moby D**k?
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Bacony Cakes 3 years ago
This is the Planthopper. It may not look like much, but it's the only animal that has biologically developed gears. Planthoppe...0a2564.jpg 
Daniel Marsh 3 years ago
There's not a lot of good "o" animals. You don't pronounce the "o" in "opossum;" and "orangutan" is even harder to spell. Ostriches are birds, and sometimes people only want to use beasts; oryxes are ... well, hell, I don't even known if "oryxes" is the right plural. Otter. OK, that's one good one... am I missing anything obvious?
Claire Stanfield 3 years ago
This kid is sweet. I was reading my preschool teacher's notes to parents OUT LOUD and giving her heart failure!! She kept them locked up after that...
Sarah Stalder 3 years ago
Yeah, because 3 year olds throw around words like that all the time.
Dee 3 years ago
We had a computer game about building zoos, okapi were one of the animals in the game. If the child had an older sibling or even parent who played that is just one way a three year old could learn about them. My youngest offspring was quite precocious, we had a zoo membership and went frequently so they learned a lot about various animals. One time we were at the orangutan exhibit and they corrected some dude pointing out ‘the monkey’ to his kid saying, ‘Orangutans are apes not monkeys!’ They were three at the time.
Load More Replies... Ann Dennis 3 years ago
Wasn't Arthur Dent's brother nibbled to death by an okapi?
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#23
Otter 3 years ago
I would have told them that the color "teal" derives from teal ducks, who have blue or green markings on their heads or speculums (wing patches) in most species. And I would have been called "Sheldon Cooper" forever after.
Red 3 years ago
I didn't knew that. Teal is one of my favorite colors, so thank you for the trivia.
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Narwhal Blast 3 years ago
I always get laughed at for colours. Apparently people haven't heard of turquoise, cyclamen, coral, teal, lilac and oh so many... I just have to use the 6colour range around them and say that colour between blue and green, but in a lighter shade. SMH...
Phillip Robinson 3 years ago
I can't decide here whether "battered" is meant as "pummeled" them with fists, or as in "rolled in flour and prepared for baking", both reasonable aims.
Daniel Marsh 3 years ago
That's not even the Crayola 64-crayon box! Aquamarine, man!! (It's long, but it's cool because it has the word "marine" in it!). Blue-green, aqua, and under certain circumstances, turquoise or cyan (if you're a computer nerd) would also be acceptable. But teal? What were you doing, picking out eyeliner? No! You were hunting ducks. The acceptable answer is "hunting ducks." (I trust you'll all recognize my response is sardonic... and not ask what "sardonic" means.)
Fred Burrows 3 years ago
I asked the body shop to paint my truck maroon and they painted it carmine.
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Marco Conti 3 years ago
"Teal" is blue with a bit more green than usual. I use it all the time instead of the purple blue most people use in Powerpoints and similar. I find it more elegant, but I get flack because of it. Some people like their primaries boring.
Twodogsandapicnictable 3 years ago
As a tattooist, the most controversial colors were always turquoise and magenta. No one ever seemed to agree what they were exactly. And the blue to green and pink to orange ratios varied by company. I never asked what color they wanted by name. Just showed them the bottle and asked if they liked it.
Tim Douglass 3 years ago
To tell the truth, while I am well aware of the word "teal" as a descriptor of a particular color, I have no idea what color it represents, so using it to describe something to me would be utterly meaningless. I do, however, know the meaning of several words most people don't, so I've got that going for me, which is nice.
#24
Cecily Holland 3 years ago
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? I swear it’s people as stupid as that instructor that get drunk and ring 000 for a pizza at 3am annoying me and my crews
Sky Render 3 years ago
The NATO phonetic alphabet is not complicated... It's even easier to understand than to use since you just pay attention to the first letter of each word. Relatedly, I used to work in a field that required regular use of the phonetic alphabet and MANY people had invented their own (terrible) variants. My favorite was "J as in Jell-o". And he had an accent that made it hard to distinguish his J's from Y's...
Pryjmaty 3 years ago (edited)
I work for a security company as an emergency dispatcher on 3rd shift(USA). I, literally, just got off the phone with an NYC PD dispatcher. I gave my ID as Papa Romeo Yankee Juliet. She repeated back to me...struggling to find correct words....Paul Robert Yellow John. IMO, when there are people's lives that are depending on emergency services, the employees of emergency services should be required to use the NATO alphabet.
Load More Replies... Robert T 3 years ago (edited)
Not everybody knows the phonetic alphabet, though they should be able to understand it if someone else uses it. I learnt it as it mades dictating passwords and the like over the phone much easier. If it'd been me, I'd have reverted to baby alphabet - so ah, buh, cuh rather than ay, bee, see - just to rub it in! :D
Dani Alexander 3 years ago
I actually loved the idea of the phonetic alphabet so much, I memorised them all by heart, still waiting on the day I can put my knowledge Into action. Lima Oscar Victor Echo.
Mattewis88 3 years ago
I don't work in an industry that uses it, but dad taught us so we could talk to dispatchers as kids and I use it on almost every phone call I make, not that it helps because you'd be surprised how little people know it. (including our emergency teams) Or you get stuck with the E for Elephant, N for Nellie gang which takes twice as long because they don't even pronounce their own chosen phonetic right.
Gavin Johnson 3 years ago
When asked to spell your name out….. J as in Johnson, O as in ohnson, H as in hnson, N as in nson, S as in son, O as in on, N as in N.
Marco Conti 3 years ago
I was in the military and I use it all the time too when I spell things over the phone. It's just very convenient. I even say "niner" when reciting numbers and some people (especially at credit card companies) get very confused about it. The whole idea is to make it clearer.
Devil's Advocate 3 years ago
Where is this, most people in the UK understand the phonetic alphabet
Vee Dub 3 years ago
I know this feeling if I spell something for an English speaking customer using the NATO-alphabet (which I know from my military service) and they don't have a clue what I'm saying, even when the NATO-alphabet has mostly English words. They call us in Germany not speaking German and when I spell in English they don't get it. I once had a Pole (man from Poland, not the thing for flags ;-) ) who spelled the letter "P" as "P as in penis". At least he apologized and we had really good laugh.
#25
James016 3 years ago
Is this from an old computer game? It's ringing a bell. Zarch perhaps?
Load More Replies... Remi 3 years ago
Full name or the given one? You can go wild with the language with me anyway. Only the first name gives you 4 syllables to play with and the last name ads a further 3. gl hf
Load More Replies... Claire Stanfield 3 years ago
Should be still a friend? or should be verbally attacked? 😂
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#26
Paul Davis 3 years ago
Norm Macdonald told about his old uncle who basically built a whole town and did every job. So do they call him "John the builder"? Do they call him "John the blimp captain"? No! But he has sex with just one goat, and...
#27
Jamma 3 years ago
I worked for a sports team years ago and was told off for reading a book at my desk DURING MY LUNCH BREAK. They said it wouldn't look good if the boss (who worked in another building) walked by. I suppose I should have been at the bar next door drinking like the GOOD employees. [eye roll]
AxleMunshine001 3 years ago
Were they avid readers of colossus of journalism like the Daily Star?
#28
Robert T 3 years ago (edited)
What does being the techincal director of a software company have to do with the price of fish? Software companies are rarely known for their linguistic skills. It's not a word I would use as it sounds pretentious, but it is just a variation on contemporary.
PurpleUnicorn 3 years ago
I beg to differ: contemporaneous means "at the same time", like taking notes/minutes at the same time they are being discussed in a meeting.
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Marco Conti 3 years ago
So it is in Italian. Contemporaneo. It's a pretty pedestrian word for us. Nothing to brag about but it impresses the rubes in the USA.
Load More Replies... Paul Davis 3 years ago
Just because someone is a technical director doesn't mean they have any sort of technical background or understanding. They're often just managers who got put in charge of that area because according to typical business school dumbasses, "a good manager can manage anything". I am very leery of business grads having had to share a dorm with them while studying engineering. And seeing them tear things up out of boredom and entitlement because their classes were basically horsecrap any elementary school kid could pass easily.
Sherbaan Naab 3 years ago
Yeah, I would have told you off, as well. And I'm a writer. Contemporary would have served just fine ( half joking).
Bobby 3 years ago
I think this depends on the meeting. If his being told off was because his vocabulary was beyond most members of that group, so please use a more commonly used synonym next time, that seems reasonable. If it was just to be a jerk because you made the TD feel dumb with word choice then not so cool
#29
Celtic Pirate Queen 3 years ago
My Mother. She totally knows how to Google, but still prefers to call me. Apparently, Google talks down to her.
Isabel Care 3 years ago
I prefer retro phrenology. You want to be good at playing music? One little bump right there..after selecting the correct size and shape of tiny hammer
#30
Guy MacGregor 3 years ago
What's the logic behind downvoting me instead of explaining? Am I not allowed to ask?
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Adrian Hare 3 years ago
But what will you do with the runny egg and the bacon fat if you can't mop it up with bread and butter?
Leeds Lass 3 years ago
Eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, bread all cooked in same pan - with beans
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#31
snipergun 3 years ago
When I worked as human.... Totally works for me, I also used to have that kind of job. Now I'm working from home and hoping it never changes.
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Cecily Holland 3 years ago
An identifying feature of a catholic education at least in my country. They still make you do math like this for a certain period. No calculators until 8th or 9th grade
#32
Kookamunga 3 years ago
"Yes, actually a few dictionaries. But if you swallow just one I think it will help you immensely."
Scarlett Storm 3 years ago
Well I swallowed a whole set of encyclopedias. Gotcha beat.
Load More Replies... AxleMunshine001 3 years ago
Ignorant morons tend to be on the defensive all the time, as they are somewhat aware of their intellectual limitations. They'll use passive-aggressive language in response or even become violent
DUN DUN (she/her) 3 years ago
No, I made a paste of its pages and drank it. You should try it sometimes, you sound like you need it.
Rick Hoppenbrouwer 3 years ago
As a kid in school for punishment teachers would give you a dictionary page to write out. Everything was checked and if not accurate you did it over again. I got in trouble a lot.
Michael Largey 3 years ago
"Just because you've never seen one doesn't mean that someone swallowed it."
DrBronxx 3 years ago
I dunno. It's one thing to be mocked for pulling out the odd word, but to regularly receive a comment like that over a period of years? Some people just have a broad vocabulary, but others specifically use their broad vocabulary to stand out, and can end up looking like a show-off. I've known a few people with such an affectation, mostly from my school years. I'm not saying that this person is one of those types of people, but I wouldn't discount the possibility.
#33
L.A. Trefry 3 years ago
Commie is the go-to insult for right-wingers in the US. I keep trying to tell them that that particular bogeyman died off at least 30 years ago.
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Rachel Adams 3 years ago
I used to read the Guardian at work, and the bosses used to borrow it to read. No matter how friendly i was to the other staff (all women), they never quite warmed to me because i read a what they called a 'posh newspaper' and they preferred trashy tabloids. I'm not posh at all, just an avid reader.
#34
Rijkærd 3 years ago
Never heard that word before...TIL about the word "otiose." Meaning; Serving no practical purpose or result. Also synonymous to ' indolent or idle'.
Robert T 3 years ago
And so you should. There is far too much legalese in solicitors' documents for you to be sticking words like that in there as well.
Bacony Cakes 3 years ago (edited)
I say we make the English language a mess. Just randomly start saying words like "Deliquescent" and "Obdurate" again.
Load More Replies... Paul Davis 3 years ago
To be fair, a person CAN be too wordy no matter what his job. So, soliciting, in America that implies sex work...am I on the mark?
Kimi Tomminello 3 years ago
Sales people. "Solicitation" is a term used a lot in arrests of Johns that are looking for sex but can refer to anyone peddling wares or attempting to purchase items.
Load More Replies... Auntriarch 3 years ago
I got called otiose by a solicitor once. But he also named me The Laconic Piranha, so I forgave him
Marco Conti 3 years ago
I didn't know that word either, but as soon as I read it my mind went to "otio", "ozio" (Italian for "lazy") and figured it had to be something about idleness. Then I read the comment where the definition was "Serving no practical purpose or result. Also synonymous to ' indolent or idle'." Thank you Rijkærd, wherever you are (Finland?)
#36
DrBronxx 3 years ago
I think it's a Dawson's Creek reference, because the way the characters spoke on that show was considered to be verbose by some.
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Marco Conti 3 years ago
Your coworkers were blatantly ignorant. I think I learned that word three months after coming to the US from Italy. I think it's just that so many people don't read and therefore their vocabulary is limited to spoken English. Like people that use "your" instead of "You're" or write "I should of" instead of "should have". People that don't read much make those mistakes frequently. Readers don't.
#37
DC 3 years ago
... got a share of that, too. Within the first day, while I was busy asking questions, one of the oh-so-proud members of the oh-so-working-class apprentices already had figured out that, because I was at a university, I was a knowitall who thinks being something better. Hadn't even talked to him yet. Later, I got to know he was some rich dude's son and failed school and therefore alone didn't get to all-inclusive study the same thing ... while I had a hard time getting to be able to pay housing there, while being an intern with no pay (not required yet, in 2004 this was). Entitled brat who lacked the ability to get to be a student shidmouthed me for ... being quite the opposite, though not an extreme case, but still - he was the one getting a free ride due to Daddy's purse. Well, in manufacturing, he wasn't much better than in school - he regularly messed up the stuff the apprentices were to make there. But, yeah, the student, of course, is a pampered knowitall, deserving a hard time.
#38
Robert T 3 years ago
What did you do? Use Bing? Now if you'd used Wolfram Alpha, then that title would have been deserved! LOL
Sky Render 3 years ago
I mean isn't it standard to use Wolfram Alpha when doing research papers for college? 90% of my professors required it...
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Robin Childers 3 years ago
I won a trivia contest tie-breaker in college because I knew Easter Island belongs to Chile. 60 pairs of eyes on me, lots of silence. Never wanted the Earth to swallow me whole more than that night.
#39
Alicia M 3 years ago
He might have used voice to text and didn't proofread. Happens to me sometimes. Here's what I got: Bloke in our village has the nickname 'Carpet' b/c as a 17 yo he was unable to get served, so (he) cut out some carpet from home and stuck it to his lip to look like a mustache, to look older and get served. He's like 60 now and still called Carpet.
Bacony Cakes 3 years ago
The acronym FAST (Facial drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulties and Time) has been used by the National Stroke Association, American Heart Association and others to educate the public on detecting symptoms of a stroke.
Monkey Spunk 3 years ago
Bloke in my village was treat blob blob mousse, then the crow flip haddock. Haha!
Goth mouse (they/them) 3 years ago
I think it translates as a bloke was too young to get beer down at the local pub so made himself a moustache out of carpet to look older 🤣 wonder if it worked?
Auntriarch 3 years ago
If it was the seventies, possibly yes, given porn moustaches and shag pile carpet
Load More Replies... Add New Image
What do you think ?
NsG 3 years ago
Have received several upvotes on a comment earlier this week just for using the word "opine", I'm feeling very seen right now (in a possibly good way?). What makes me sad is the anti-intellectual turn many western countries have taken recently that this is becoming increasingly common. The whole "we've had enough of experts" opinion from the former education minister back in 2016 now seems like something we shouldn't have been surprised by.
Annie Bieber 3 years ago
"Anti-intellectual in many western countries"...I would have forgiven 🙏 you for saying the collective IQ of the entire 🇺🇸 dropped to below 40 in 2016 with the election of the Hair 🦰Bear...Tragic but true...Pray for US in 2024 cuz if America gets any Greaterer I'm pulling Moms Canadian Card and heading North!!😈
Load More Replies...
L.A. Trefry 3 years ago
The worship of ignorance (and the anger that any hint of education or intellectualism ignites among so many) is profoundly depressing. This whole post made me lose the will to live. Sigh.
Nikole 3 years ago
It makes me want to no longer amend my vocabulary and speech patterns so much, based on the audience.
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Walking On Sunshine 3 years ago
Once I put a sticky on a stack of fax transmission sheets that said, "peruse and file accordingly." And one of the attorneys I worked for told me to speak English.
Oopsydaisy 3 years ago
Really? Because peruse is a word commonly used in law, and us in fact usually a billing item.
Load More Replies... Troux 3 years ago
In a university English I class, the professor asked an open question to the class, based on a common mistake and pet peeve of hers: "Does anyone know the difference between 'everyday' and 'every day'?" I gave a couple seconds for the other ~20 students to answer before saying, "One's an adjective, the other's a noun." She threw up her arms and let out a yelp as if about to faint. I was in shock at how low the bar was.
Jo Choto 3 years ago
I've been mocked most of my life for being "too clever" or "thinking too much" or even, "knowing too much". And yet the same people who mocked me were the ones who then wanted to cheat off me in exams, or wanted my help when they were stuck on something. Fortunately for me, autism made me pretty impervious to all the social manipulations and I was quite happy to be thought of as smart, rather than popular. Nothing much has changed. I have friends who still introduce me to others as "the woman with a brain the size of a building" but they do it with a lot of love and pride and admiration, not as an insult. I usually reply, "A building the size of a Monopoly house." But I would never use long or complicated words just to make someone else confused or feel bad. That's just poor communication.
Gavin Johnson 3 years ago
At nursery school my daughter impressed her teacher by offering to spell medicine and getting it right first time. A three year old isn’t expected to be quite that advanced, she would fall flat on any other eight lettered word but medicine, yup nailed it. Her teacher asked about it and I had to confess that we loved listening to Ryan Hamilton and his song Medicine, in it he spells out M-E-D-I-C-I-N-E medicine before every chorus. She’s 11 now and still loves that tune 😀
Dorothy Parker 3 years ago
My sister and I, old girls, still have to sing the Jiminy Cricket song from the Mickey Mouse Club to spell encyclopedia.
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Jill Bussey 3 years ago
I find this really sad. I love words and I never stop learning. I even find it useful to have studied Latin in senior school.
RatherLoopy 3 years ago (edited)
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” -Isaac Asimov, 1980
Jayne Kyra 3 years ago
Allow me to share one of my favourite things I use: Words-to-u...de-png.jpg 
Annie Bieber 3 years ago (edited)
I see a lot of folks on this post like me...I rarely show my Mensa side but am quite happy when folks say "Ask Annie...she'll know"...tis better than being an arrogant ass...😁...plus I live in a NorCal town, population 1k where 3/4 of the people are eagerly awaiting 2024 to "Make America Great Again"...hands folded, mouth shut saves a LOT of ass whuppins...😬🤣🤣
NsG 3 years ago
Have received several upvotes on a comment earlier this week just for using the word "opine", I'm feeling very seen right now (in a possibly good way?). What makes me sad is the anti-intellectual turn many western countries have taken recently that this is becoming increasingly common. The whole "we've had enough of experts" opinion from the former education minister back in 2016 now seems like something we shouldn't have been surprised by.
Annie Bieber 3 years ago
"Anti-intellectual in many western countries"...I would have forgiven 🙏 you for saying the collective IQ of the entire 🇺🇸 dropped to below 40 in 2016 with the election of the Hair 🦰Bear...Tragic but true...Pray for US in 2024 cuz if America gets any Greaterer I'm pulling Moms Canadian Card and heading North!!😈
Load More Replies... L.A. Trefry 3 years ago
The worship of ignorance (and the anger that any hint of education or intellectualism ignites among so many) is profoundly depressing. This whole post made me lose the will to live. Sigh.
Nikole 3 years ago
It makes me want to no longer amend my vocabulary and speech patterns so much, based on the audience.
Load More Replies... Walking On Sunshine 3 years ago
Once I put a sticky on a stack of fax transmission sheets that said, "peruse and file accordingly." And one of the attorneys I worked for told me to speak English.
Oopsydaisy 3 years ago
Really? Because peruse is a word commonly used in law, and us in fact usually a billing item.
Load More Replies... Troux 3 years ago
In a university English I class, the professor asked an open question to the class, based on a common mistake and pet peeve of hers: "Does anyone know the difference between 'everyday' and 'every day'?" I gave a couple seconds for the other ~20 students to answer before saying, "One's an adjective, the other's a noun." She threw up her arms and let out a yelp as if about to faint. I was in shock at how low the bar was.
Jo Choto 3 years ago
I've been mocked most of my life for being "too clever" or "thinking too much" or even, "knowing too much". And yet the same people who mocked me were the ones who then wanted to cheat off me in exams, or wanted my help when they were stuck on something. Fortunately for me, autism made me pretty impervious to all the social manipulations and I was quite happy to be thought of as smart, rather than popular. Nothing much has changed. I have friends who still introduce me to others as "the woman with a brain the size of a building" but they do it with a lot of love and pride and admiration, not as an insult. I usually reply, "A building the size of a Monopoly house." But I would never use long or complicated words just to make someone else confused or feel bad. That's just poor communication.
Gavin Johnson 3 years ago
At nursery school my daughter impressed her teacher by offering to spell medicine and getting it right first time. A three year old isn’t expected to be quite that advanced, she would fall flat on any other eight lettered word but medicine, yup nailed it. Her teacher asked about it and I had to confess that we loved listening to Ryan Hamilton and his song Medicine, in it he spells out M-E-D-I-C-I-N-E medicine before every chorus. She’s 11 now and still loves that tune 😀
Dorothy Parker 3 years ago
My sister and I, old girls, still have to sing the Jiminy Cricket song from the Mickey Mouse Club to spell encyclopedia.
Load More Replies... Jill Bussey 3 years ago
I find this really sad. I love words and I never stop learning. I even find it useful to have studied Latin in senior school.
RatherLoopy 3 years ago (edited)
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” -Isaac Asimov, 1980
Jayne Kyra 3 years ago
Allow me to share one of my favourite things I use: Words-to-u...de-png.jpg
Annie Bieber 3 years ago (edited)
I see a lot of folks on this post like me...I rarely show my Mensa side but am quite happy when folks say "Ask Annie...she'll know"...tis better than being an arrogant ass...😁...plus I live in a NorCal town, population 1k where 3/4 of the people are eagerly awaiting 2024 to "Make America Great Again"...hands folded, mouth shut saves a LOT of ass whuppins...😬🤣🤣
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