In our everyday lives, we use just a small part of our languages' vocabularies. This is understandable as words go out of use, and we don't use scientific names for things or words that are used by a specific group of people, like professional terminology. Sometimes we don't even realize that some things have names at all or that they could have a specific name because we're used to referring to that thing by describing it.
Not a lot of us spend our time reading through dictionaries, but if we did, we could find some really interesting words, like how would you call the day after tomorrow or the struggle to get out of bed in the morning. Bored Panda gathered a list of things that you may not have known had a name in English, so enjoy it, as broadening your vocabulary is always fun. Don't forget to upvote the words that you liked the most and comment down below how many of these you already knew!
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The way it smells after it rains is called petrichor.
We are also more sensitive to that smell then sharks are to blood (in parts per million). https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-stuff-you-should-know-26940277/episode/short-stuff-petrichor-47887113/ -------------- https://gimletmedia.com/shows/science-vs/6nh2zlk/sharks-sink-your-teeth-in-again
Load More Replies...The picture is deceptive; petrichor does not occur on tarmac roads, only on soil.
I was going to ask this! If petrichor was the road smell, or the proper outdoors one. Thank you for the clarification :)
Load More Replies...Smell of dirt is a smell of the planet you live. Most people likes that smell due the fact that in ancient times, it was sign of rain and good weather that will bring life and grow food. It's in our genes.
Load More Replies...Anyone know the name of the smell right before it snows? I love that smell
Different places smell different after the rain, even the and place can smell different after different amounts of rain or different preceding weather
I have a good sense of smell. I can smell rain to tell my grandma not to water her vegetable garden.
The day after tomorrow is called overmorrow.
In Croatia, Italy and Korea we have the words preksutra, dopodomani and (내일)모레 respectively, and they're very common in each language.
Load More Replies...In Afrikaans it's 'oormôre', derived from the Dutch word.
Load More Replies...But sadly "fernt" meaning last year, is more and more forgotten.
Load More Replies...I also knew this. And the day before yesterday is called "ereyesterday"
In Dutch too, even spelled the same. And eergisteren (ereyesterday or day before yesterday)
Load More Replies...In the Dutch language it's a very normal word to use, translated it's exactly the same as overmorrow.
The phenomenon of repeating a word and temporarily losing its meaning is called semantic satiation.
that happens when i'm looking for the perfect font for projects sometimes. i use websites that put your chosen phrase such as "these pretzels are making me thirsty" in every font you have. after seeing the 48th or so iteration, you begin questioning if you've spelled "pretzels" correctly and what even is the meaning of "thirsty"?
It happens with every word you repeat many times. It becomes weird and meaningless.
I used to do that with the word FREE & THREE I thought the were the same. Also the letters M & W gave me trouble.
That sick feeling you get after eating or drinking too much is called crapulence.
When you combine a question mark with an exclamation mark (‽), it is referred to as an interrobang.
?! is an interrobang, just without hunting for the symbol because you don't have it as a key. Keybind the special character and have fun ^^
Load More Replies...Made me laugh, not gonna lie. 😹
Load More Replies...We use #! at the start of Unix scripts - called hash bang. Hash bang wollop what a script(ure). :D
Don't start that... Normal people call # a Sharp or a Pound. The inexcusable call it Octothorp.
Load More Replies...There's a whole episode on the history of it on the 99% invisible podcast.
A series of typographical symbols, such as $#!, used in text as a replacement for profanity is called a grawlix.
I was always related with the one with the horrible voice but i think i can relate with this character more!
Load More Replies...I'm going to start saying gawlix in place of curse words. That'll throw everybody off.
Either swear or don't swear, using grawlix makes you look like a preteen who just learned some new swear words.
The action of throwing something or someone out of a window is called defenestration.
Yes, for instance twice in Prague in 1419. There are other examples. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defenestration#Notable_cases
Load More Replies...Ask someone in the Czech Republic. Defenestration was popular way to ¨replace" political rivals. Unfortunately, few hundreds years ago...Oh, wait, 1948 comunist defenestrated Jan Masaryk, the son of democratic president...
The individual parts of raspberries and blackberries are called drupelets.
Fruits in the drupe category include peaches, cherries, plums, and many tree nuts. Drupelets are related.
The plastic or metallic coating at the end of your shoelaces is called an aglet.
when i was at school I convinced pretty much everyone it was called a flugel-binder.
Thank you! I was literally thinking of this quote less than 30 minutes ago when I saw my shoes
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A path that is created in the grass by people walking on it because it is the shortest way is called desire line.
In Dutch is an "Elephants trail" for the trails that elephans carve out in jungles
So if i have a favourite path in my garden it's still an elephant trail? OK I've gained weight but that's not so good for my self confidence...🙄
Load More Replies...In German "Trampelpfad" - "trample path". Who ever said ours wasn't a language of poetry?
Nobody who knows anything, that's who. I know barely any German but just enough to know it's wonderful. It doesn't care what anybody thinks about it and that's what makes it poetic. :)
Load More Replies...Or 'pathways of desire' - friend in local governmental park design. They try to design so that they can guess ahead of time the pathways and what the routes needed are so they don't pop up, but they always do!
In architecture and urbanism that's more specific. It's used when there is a path but people goes to another one. And that can easyly be seen when it's in a garden, for example, with grass, and the desire path has less grass, or even not grass. It's usually sorter, or doesn't do and angle, or it goes to a new place or to look for shadow or to see something considered interesting for walkers, among other causes.
Interesting commentary on the nature of horses vs cows.
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The tingling sensation you get when your foot's asleep is called paresthesia.
I will still refer to it as, "the blood in my feet was replaced by sparkling wine" xD
I always thought 'Pins and needles' were from blocked blood supply but it's actually the compression of a nerve for too long. When the blockage is removed (AKA when I change positions) the nerve starts receiving impulses/signals again and becomes hyperactive before returning to normal again
I commented above , my son says his leg is glitching lol. Kids say the funniest things!!
Load More Replies...technically every sensation that is unpleasant but not painful and that is not caused by a sufficient external impulse is called paresthesia
The space between your eyebrows is called glabella.
Not exactly. It’s the area between the eyebrow ridges and above the nose where the underlying bone is slightly depressed.
True, it's commonly used as a measuring point by dentists and orthodontists, because it's a fixed and easy to find point.
Load More Replies...I can just imagine the look on the stylist's face at the beauty salon when I call them and say, "I'd like to book a time to come in and get my glabella waxed, please!" LOL!
Honest question! What were you saying before? I ask because in my language there is an actual word that we use all the time and you can see it in the leaflets of waxing! It's kind of like: midbrow 5€ for example
Load More Replies...My mom used to go to her siblings and say something like (just as an example for this word) “pssst! Your Glabella is showing!” And they would freak out wondering what was showing and where it was
What about people who have no space between their eyebrows? Are they galbelless?
Illegible handwriting is called griffonage.
My students are happy I don't comment on their essays w/my handwriting. #ds106 #penatweet
You must be a nurse or pharmacy technician to read doctor's handwriting!
Load More Replies...Doctors handwriting should have a whole new name! They are one category on their own!
Load More Replies...Ahh, makes sense. They're must be a lesson on griffonage at medical school lol.
I think it says “My shrederb waz happy I don’t comment on their essamp wlmy handwriting.”
"doodling" is "gribouillage", it's pretty close. Griffonnage means writing with claws instead of fingers. Griffe means claw.
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A word that means one thing forward and another backward is called semordnilap, for example, desserts and stressed.
Palindrome is when one word reads the same forward and backward, as in "Hannah"
Load More Replies...It was made up in 2014 to make up the exact joke that "palindrome is an emordnilap because it has a meaning in both RTL and LTR". https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/emordnilap-palindrome/
Load More Replies...People inventing that word: we will take palindrome and make a semordnilap with it and call it that, that will be fun
Your little toe or finger is called digitus minimus.
I actually heard of a mini dachshound called Digit
Load More Replies...Oh come one, this one is misplaced, no one is is surprised that the little finger has a specific term for it - in fact, the common specific term is extremely well-known: it is "little finger". This one sounds like the medical term for it and, well... to my knowledge every part of the body has a latin-derived medical term, so where are other 1000 words or so that belong to the same category?
The french name for little finger is auriculaire (auricula means ear in Latin) because it's the only one small enough to scratch your ear with it. LOL
Actually is the medical term but we use the translated version
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The sheen of a light that you see when you close your eyes is called phosphenes.
Phosphenes are caused by stimulation of your retina. No actual light is needed.
I had an accident a few weeks ago where a fully-extended bungee cord snapped back into my eye. I was pretty much blind in that eye for a few weeks, and I got the phosphenes extending to my normal vision from my dominant eye. Not fun.
That's your brain attempting to provide you with a sensory stimulus in the absence of light.
What sheen of light? Is this something else I've been screwed out of? Like normal color vision?
You mightbe thinking of aura, you might need a dictionary, or you're a jokester.
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The metal thing used to measure your feet at the shoe store is called Brannock device.
To a professional, there's a name for every tool that the rest call "that thingymajiggy youknowtheoneyeah?"
Load More Replies...A must in the custom ski boot fitting trade. It also measures width as well as length.
The day before yesterday is called ereyesterday.
Übermorgen and vorgestern. Never noticed those aren't common words in English too. In German language their widely used.
In Polish it means “przedwczoraj” (literally “before yesterday”).
So: ereyesterday, yesterday, today, tomorrow and then overmorrow. You can almost define clearly every day in the week. That's handy.
Pretty scientifiquie!!! LOL!!! Usually use, day before yesterday and day after tomorrow... Or actually name the day being referred to...
A cup holder for hot drinks is called zarf.
A person who carelessly mishandles a zarf like that is known as a zarfoofus.
Load More Replies...Zarf is the Turkish word for envelope... I have way too much time on my hands.
Actually, the term Zarf in today's Persian is any sort of food container in the kitchen, such as plates, bowls, and so on. Interesting to know it was transformed in English😃
It's a cup holder, but really an ancient word that predates cardboard Starbucks sleeves by several hundred years
The 'na na na' and 'la la la', which don't really have any meaning in the lyrics of any song, are called vocables.
Like in the song E=pro, where the chorus is, "Na na, nana na na na naaaa"
Here is a classic example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUaYbfKZIiA
What about the song "MMMM MMMM MMMM" By the Crash test Dummies (( not the YEah YEah Yeahs like I originally thought lol)
Journey - Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' "Na na na na - na na - na na na naaa nah..."
The dot over an "i" or a "j" is called tittle.
So they illustrated this with a capital J instead of a j?
i found that in a national geographic kids magazine and told it to my teacher. now she knows what a tittle is.
TIttle is also the name of a 3d light box with a grid of 512 RGB LEDs to make 3d images made purely of light. I have one and its awesome. This isn't an advertisement by the way. If you have the funds try and get it. Its a smart device and its app controlled.
The indent on the bottom of a wine bottle is called a punt.
To pour properly, you put your thumb in the punt while cradling the bottle on your other fingers.
In Dutch this is called the 'ziel' (soul) of the bottle. It has several functions: it makes the bottle more stable when standing on a irregular surface; the bottle is more resistant to pressure (Champagne!) and more sturdy; the wine sediment can settle in the area around the punt and as mentioned by others already, you can pour from the bottle by placing your thumb in the punt... Except for it looking posh, I dunno the function of holding the bottle like this :P
Apparently there are at least 10 reasons for the punt. https://vinepair.com/wine-blog/why-wine-bottles-have-punts-bottom/#:~:text=The%20Punt%20Allows%20The%20Bottle%20To%20Stand%20Upright,An%20Indication%20That%20A%20Wine%20Was%20Well%20Made Nothing there about pouring though.
Also, the last drop of wine (or of any drink) left in the bottle is known as a heeltap.
And the punt encircles the pontil and a pontil is the part on the bottom of a blown glass object that comes from the rod that finishes the piece.
A letter or a combination of letters used in spelling the word but not pronounced is called an aphthong like "gh" in "knight" or in "fight."
But then how do you differenciate knit and knight? Fit and fight? Lit and light?
Load More Replies...Not to be confused with "diphthong" which is the word for two vowels pronounced in a single syllable, like (h)ow, (h)i, (h)ey.
Like "ch" in which. Two letters but one sound.
Load More Replies...The k is an aphthong. Kn is a dipthong, gh is also a dipthong.
Load More Replies...I remember my germans classes with a lot of "beware of the diphtong" from the teacher. (2 vowels for one sound)
A lot of those in the English language from the descendant Scandinavian.
The paragraph mark (¶) is called a pilcrow.
As a college student....I can firmly agree with you
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The cry of a newborn or small child is called a vagitus.
Ha they couldn't name it something cuter? 'Honey, I can hear vagitus again' O-O
But it's not something cute to be honest.... i wonder who named something annoying to resemble a female part... wanna bet it's a guy?
Load More Replies...hold on. ladies, help. if...that little bastard acts up...a vagitus??....how you feel?
When your stomach rumbles, that's a wamble.
bor·bo·ryg·mus | ˌbôrbəˈriɡməs | noun (plural borborygmi | -mī | ) technical a rumbling or gurgling noise made by the movement of fluid and gas in the intestines.
That's mere slang, I think, and probably merely regional, to boot. Wikipedia has the official word(s): A stomach rumble, also known as a bowel sound, peristaltic sound, abdominal sound, bubble gut or borborygmus (pronounced / ˌbɔːrbəˈrɪɡməs /; plural borborygmi), is a rumbling, growling or gurgling noise produced by movement of the contents of the gastro-intestinal tract as they are propelled through the small intestine by a series of muscle contractions called peristalsis.
I like saying "I've got the grumbles" (sad tone) or "I'm grumbling" (joking warning tone). I don't know how "I've got the wambles" or I'm wambling" sounds... Sounds more like I'm a kangaroo then hungry.
A word or a phrase that is used mistakenly but in a plausible way for another word or phrase is called eggcorn.
effect affect, its it's. Or, more like "liberty" and "liver, tea" (in the pledge of alligence)? their and they're?
A person who has the same name as you and is found by searching it on Google is called a Googlegänger.
It undoubtedly comes from the word doppelgänger
Load More Replies...Supposedly I have a double who rides a certain bus route every morning. So I guess she's a transitganger?
No that's only if she takes the same flight (transit)😅
Load More Replies...I have one on BP. I'm guessing he's using his real name and every time I see it, it freaks me put lol
The wired cage that holds the cork on a bottle of champagne is called an agraffe.
Nothing better than seeing an agraffe loping through its natural habitat out on the savannah!
Load More Replies...That makes more sense, as it's the word we use in Danish for the staples Dr's use after surgeries, e.g. a cesarean
Load More Replies...I learned this one when playing a hidden object game, it was one of the items from the list and I had no idea what that was, so I pressed 'hint' and it showed that
The chart you look at while taking an eye exam is called the Snellen chart.
I’m sure it’s named after some Snellen, but my brain wants to turn that into Smellen, which would be a word having scent-related overtones...
your brain wants to? my brain didn't even consult me, it just went ahead and read Smellen, and wondered why you wrote Smellen twice
Load More Replies...And if you want to know how protective your motorcycle helmet is, cheeck its Snell Rating, (Named for one whose helmet did not prevent death.)
A group of crows is called a murder.
did you watch the netflix show or read the actual books
Load More Replies...I see a lot of "murder is group of crows", but I find that a group of ravens being called an unkindness is way more interesting.
And kind of stupid, really. It should be called A Remarkable Intelligence.
Load More Replies...i feel like this is widely known, however, there are several other useful words for groups of animals: https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/word-lists/list-of-names-for-groups-of-animals.html
A murder of crows, an homicide of ravens, an aggravated manslaughter of magpies
https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/word-lists/list-of-names-for-groups-of-animals.html
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The crisp rustle of silk or a similar material that has been treated with dilute acid is called scroop.
No. The *sound* made by all that cloth is a scroop.
Load More Replies...Lol that peach satin dress was the height of prom/bridesmaid fashion in 1993
A really horrible sound for people with sensory issues like sensory overload!
The smalls strips of wood, plastic or metal in between separate panes of glass on a window are called muntins.
Envision TWO windows, each containing several panes of glass (called "lights"), which are separated, as noted above, by muntins. The two windos themselves may be separated ny a lzrger upright bar called a mullion.
And the frame around a laptop screen or tv screen or watch crystal in called bezel.
The tiny plastic thing placed in the middle of a pizza box is called a pizza saver.
Double-use. Preferably it's used on the pizza first, though...
Load More Replies...Honestly, I'm kind of disappointed it's not called something cooler.
dangit. i was hoping it would have a far more interesting name with a fascinating back story. i knew what it does. but now... just... meh.
A person who never laughs is called agelast.
A person who never laughs is called "someone I generally don't want to be around..."
As a kid I didn't like how my laugh sounded. So I tried to silence it. When I laugh my shoulders shake and I make these huffing air sounds. It's been over 10 years since I last heard my own real laugh. I don't even know what it sounded like. How can you recreate something you have no memory on how to do, let alone sounds?
Must be talking about Victoria Beckham She who never smiles nor laughs.
The space between your nostrils is called columella nasi.
Septum is the cartilage dividing the inside of the nose
Load More Replies...I’d heard/read somewhere that they were called “nares,” but maybe that’s the word for the ridges on either side of the columella nasi.
The armhole in clothes, where the sleeves are sewn, is called armscye.
I was gonna say that girl has a really interesting nose! And there’s also comments about her cheeks and hair lumps. She’s got distinctive features for sure. She’s more than her appearance and her appearance is beautiful and lovely anyway, she just looks interesting. (Which beats looking common any day.)
Everyone please just put a sock in it, the girl is super cute...... but THAT'S NOT WHAT THIS POST IS ABOUT! 😒
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A word or a phrase that reads the same way forward as it does backward is called a palindrome, for exmple, radar, level, madam.
"a man, a plan, a canal: panama," "madam, i'm adam," "may a moody baby doom a yam?," "on a clover, if alive, erupts a vast, pure evil; a fire volcano," and "go hang a salami, i'm a lasagna hog" are all also palindromes. don't ask me why i know these, brains are weird.
Soviet era mobile early warning air defense radar, NATO reporting name was Long Track.
Load More Replies...Two famous palindrome are: Madam I'm Adam. Able was I ere I saw Elba.
A prong or sharp point like of a fork or antler is called tine.
Also the name of the parts of the individual file edges of the metal shaping/shaving tool.
The word for when you read an article but can’t retain all of what you just read is called undolegimus.
Load More Replies...I don't know how to add to this but the pea sized bit of toothpaste you add to the brush is called a Nurdle
I know all words are made up to some extent, but a lot of these are not actually official words.
Oooh I love these. Back to what we love about BP than the whole woke culture starting to creep through...
https://digitalbrolly.com/definition-of-branding-marketing-promotion-and-sales/
"...is called..." was used a lot but if no one has heard these words or uses them, are they really called this words? Kind of like if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there, does it make a sound? Some are probably industry, or even company, specific jargon so I wouldn't consider those "official" words or definitions. The one about throwing people out windows would have made a bit of sense if it was "deplatforming". LOL
The word for when you read an article but can’t retain all of what you just read is called undolegimus.
Load More Replies...I don't know how to add to this but the pea sized bit of toothpaste you add to the brush is called a Nurdle
I know all words are made up to some extent, but a lot of these are not actually official words.
Oooh I love these. Back to what we love about BP than the whole woke culture starting to creep through...
https://digitalbrolly.com/definition-of-branding-marketing-promotion-and-sales/
"...is called..." was used a lot but if no one has heard these words or uses them, are they really called this words? Kind of like if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there, does it make a sound? Some are probably industry, or even company, specific jargon so I wouldn't consider those "official" words or definitions. The one about throwing people out windows would have made a bit of sense if it was "deplatforming". LOL
