• TimewornTraveler@lemm.eeEnglish
    16·
    3 months ago

    man my OED app has been giving bullshit words of the day like “frenzy” “prestige” “vacant” and stuff ive known since i was a kid, and here on twitter you get gems like “verve” which is an actual WotD

    • Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
      13·
      3 months ago

      "frenzy” “prestige” “vacant”

      Wow I feel like almost all adult native speakers will have heard of a feeding frenzy, a vacant lot and a prestigious award. Those look like good words of the day for speakers of English as a second language of 2-5 years maybe.

      • TimewornTraveler@lemm.eeEnglish
        4·
        3 months ago

        right? I had to check myself: "am i that pretentious that I use this many words average people don’t know?"and there’s no good way to ask that question without sounding even more pretentious

        • Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
          3·
          3 months ago

          Yeah no, you’re fine, I’m an ESL speaker (although for 17 years) so they can’t be that special. But verve and eyrie (seen elsewhere in this thread, from Tolkien) those I actually had to search up. Haha my browsers spellcheck even puts squiggles under eyrie.

          • threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            1·
            3 months ago

            I had to look them up as well.

            verve vəːv

            noun

            1. vigour and spirit or enthusiasm.

            eyrie ˈɪəri

            noun

            1. a large nest of an eagle or other bird of prey, built high in a tree or on a cliff.
            2. a high or inaccessible place from which someone can observe what is below them.

            TIL.

          • TimewornTraveler@lemm.eeEnglish
            1·
            3 months ago

            weird! never seen the spelling “eyrie” but I’d probably be fine with understanding “aerie” from context. I looked it up too and apparently that’s the same word but ae is NA style