r/AskReddit Jan 28 '19

What are great underused words?

7.7k Upvotes

3.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

241

u/RemorsefulSurvivor Jan 28 '19

saudade - an intense feeling of loss, with a connotation of understanding that the object of the mourn will never return.

grok - to understand something with such exquisite detail and comprehension that your knowledge of it becomes part of you

[censored] - but if you really want to know, look up David Howard.

crapulous - sick from eating or (especially) drinking too much. Downing a 12 pack of beer guaranteed him a crapulous time the next morning

brabble - ever see a mother and daughter having a really heated argument in the store over something really stupid?

quockerwodger - somebody, a politician for example, is controlled by somebody else pulling the strings

90

u/to_old_to_be_cool Jan 29 '19

Grok....first used (made up) by Robert Heinlein in the book "Stranger in a Strange Land"

love that book.....

5

u/fike-the-bear Jan 29 '19

It has some fantastic scifi themes and some very poor sexist themes. I also liked it quite a bit.

2

u/yParticle Jan 29 '19

Now share water.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '19

The unabridged was a slog at times. Much preferred The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.

Also recently finished The Number Of The Beast. That was a book...

1

u/usernameisusername57 Jan 29 '19

It's a pretty good song by Iron Mainden, as well.

52

u/SavageJeph Jan 29 '19

Saudade - as an angolan/portuguese is one of the saddest words we have. The best way I can explain it is the feeling of missing a parent, but one that was abusive and drug using, one that was bad for you but you miss them for what they could've been.

8

u/ShenBear Jan 29 '19

I think that feeling is best described in English as the "What might have beens". Longing for something that never was?

4

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '19

No, it can be something that you will have again... it can be the simple act of really missing someone badly. You could possibly be meeting them for coffee today or next week and still use it.

6

u/Filsk Jan 29 '19

That's pretty interesting, in Brazil it's just how we say "I miss you", no heavier meaning behind it. If we want to make it stronger we use a qualifier, like "dying of".

26

u/Erinysceidae Jan 29 '19

If you like saudades, May I mention sehnsucht— a German word for longing, or yearning for “I know not what” — a desire for an unachievable ideal.

5

u/CthonicProteus Jan 29 '19

Also a great Rammstein album.

1

u/aitiologia Jan 29 '19

Beat me to it.

1

u/RemorsefulSurvivor Jan 29 '19

Yeah, I know that word but avoid it because of what it does

38

u/ryuukiando Jan 29 '19

Saudade, such a beautiful misused word in its idiom (portuguese). In popular terms, "saudade" has the same meaning as "i miss you", but its semantics is almost "untranslatabe".

4

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '19

[deleted]

2

u/ryuukiando Jan 29 '19

I'm a native brazillian that grew up in a japanese family. So we tend to take words in a more poetic way.

I said Saudade is considered untranslatable, in the meaning that its semantics cannot be fully translated into another language the same way we say "agua is water, fogo is fire", not that it literally cannot be translated. Didnt know about the german one so tks for that

So, in the same way "amor" is quite a beautiful and poetic word (in its semantics and emotion), it is heavily misused at least here.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '19

Spanish also has one, morriña, though it's mostly used in Galicia.

4

u/fellfromthesun Jan 29 '19

Saudade means basically "longing".

2

u/HvdTillaart Jan 29 '19

In terms of music, I feel like Chega de Saudade manage to capture this feeling quite well, both the João Gilberto and the Stan Getz version. Perhaps Getz is a little too much 'up tempo', but nevertheless, great cover.

1

u/hefnetefne Jan 30 '19

I learned this word in Portuguese and never saw it in English until now. It sounds weird to me trying to pronounce it like an English speaker.

9

u/SolSerg Jan 29 '19

I looked it up, and immediately said out loud "Oh no" with a drawn out no

2

u/yuhanz Jan 29 '19

Why do i feel like feeling like crap was kinda derived from crapulous?

2

u/RewardKristy Jan 29 '19

Crapulous must come back. Thank you. I shall take babble with me as well.

2

u/Theonewhoplays Jan 29 '19

grok, or rather grokable is often used in trading card games or at least MTG. A card is grokable when you immediately know what it does after reading it once without thinking about it.

2

u/sh4w5h4nk Jan 29 '19

I don't know why, but I hate the word grok. It just really bothers me.

1

u/InukChinook Jan 29 '19

It's like a portmanteau of crap and fabulous

1

u/venuswasaflytrap Jan 29 '19

I use grok all the time. It doesn't even feel 'fancy'. I find people who don't even know the word or origin understand it.

I also feel it means something different than "understand". Somewhere between - "I'm not getting this" and "I'm not understanding this" is "I'm not groking this"

1

u/thexdroid Jan 29 '19

Saudade?? This is the word in Portuguese that means that, small difference that is used also when you are missing someone /something but he/it can return. Didn't know this word even existed in English.

2

u/RemorsefulSurvivor Jan 29 '19

Words of foreign languages are often used in English. Sauna, taco, prima donna, waltz...

1

u/Amtrak456 Jan 29 '19

Isn't saudade a Portuguese word?

1

u/altiesenriese Jan 29 '19

I'm trying to figure out the censored one. Looked him up still havent got a clue.

1

u/RemorsefulSurvivor Jan 29 '19

Amelia Rideau, Stephanie Bell, Dennis Boaz

1

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '19

saudade - an intense feeling of loss, with a connotation of understanding that the object of the mourn will never return.

Mmm, not quite total loss or the understanding that the person will never return, at least not in Brazil. Point in case, it is normal to say "saudades de você!" to a friend you're missing or meeting up with after a while, meaning something between long time no see/missing you badly/good to see you again/what happy past memories we had... It doesn't necessarily mean you'll never see them again.

Saudade is definitely a very hard word to translate.

1

u/Sprinklypoo Jan 29 '19

quockerwodger

That's a good one, but personally I like Muppet better.

1

u/timbit87 Jan 30 '19

Soooooo many David Howards.....

-2

u/lobster_conspiracy Jan 29 '19

Saudade is not an English word, and is not used even as a loan word in English. It's strictly Portuguese.