Posted on 08/08/2025 12:04:37 AM PDT by kawhill
The strangest words in the English language Cattywampus Originating in the Colonial United states and still used in the deep South, cattywampus means something that is in disarray, that is askew, or something that isn’t directly across from something.
(Excerpt) Read more at northwestcareercollege.edu ...
![]() |
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
>Zzyzx
I used to drive out there.
My favorite world is meretricious, which means dressed like a prostitute (Lat. Meritrix), but sounds close enough to “Merit” that most people don’t understand what you’re implying.
Yes. They were adding it to the piles of horse droppings that already littered the street.
They still have open sewers in many parts of the world.
Lickspittle.
A perfect example of a line in a Most Interesting Man in the World parody called The Most English Man in the World:
“He can’t understand the speech of people from 50 miles away in his own country, yet insists to Americans that the way he pronounces words is correct.”
I like “syzygy” ... a great word for the “Hangman” game.
1st learned these from Calvin and Hobbes:
Transmogrify & Transmogrification
What always gets me is the word “phonic”. Of all words in the English language, that’s the one you’d think most likely to be spelled like it sounds.
I was going to axe you about that. Strangest of all.
Does “absofu**inglutely” qualify?
Have a goodt one. 😎😂
FTA (first sentence):
English is an amazing amalgamation of serval languages....
::::::::
Is this a new take on human evolution? A serval is a kind of wild cat that lives somewhere in Africa. IIRC.
Last week my wife and I went on a coddiwomple.
That’s an old English term for having a particular destination with no defined path for getting there.
We were on a road trip from Colorado back home to Maryland with a plan to stop and see family in Michigan.
Last year we bought a camper rig in Washington State and have kept a list of states we’ve been to with the rig.
The only state we’ve missed in the north part of the country was North Dakota.
While driving through Nebraska I asked her to see how far the ND border was.
She said it was nine hours then another six to get us back on track for our destination.
“We’re on a coddiwomple” I said and we turned north.
Yea, we’re kind of stupid that way.
Then there is Antidisestablishmentterrionism!
The strangest words are all the made-up words the left comes up with to suit whatever purpose they have in mind at the time.
The strangest word in English is “One” as a vowel.
That’s the one, I pick that one, I want that one, you are the one..etc
No other language uses “one” in such a way.
“Persnickety”! I use that word all the time to describe my one dog. She truly is VERY “persnickety”, especially when it comes to treats. She will spit out every treat unless it is her favorite one. [Which now is costing a small fortune, but what can I do except continue to buy it for her? She has me wrapped around her paw! haha]. Btw, she just turned 10 so no chance she will ever change her mind about accepting anything else! lol And it’s not just the treats, but anything and everything that might change her routines and set ways.
i vote for “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”
phlegm, smegma, globule,
Well done, Ma!
Or maybe even a Rhubarb!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.