Words that aren't real?

thepedster said:
Oh sorry... a filter trapping dust???
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As said it's a technical term with an accepted meaning within a particular field but if you wanted to use something else I suspect you'd need to re-write the sentence from "its arrestance properties" (or however you phrase it) to "its filtration properties" or something along those lines.

Stag said:
Au contraire, if enough people start using a word then it gets added to the Oxford English Dictionary.

For instance the last 10 words that were added this year were:...

Cool hunter: a person whose job it is to make observations or predictions about new styles and trends.
Exit strategy: a preplanned means of extricating oneself from a situation.
Soft skills: personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people.
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These surely can't be in the OED? They're not words as such for a dictionary to define, they're phrases made up of existing words. Some of the others can claim to be a word but these can't.
 
Lysander said:
So no new words will ever be invented or integrated? This is how language evolves.
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Not what I meant entirely, making it real as in making it fact today. I could say Pigs can fly to everyone I meat for the rest of time on every internet forum, but it's not true. One day perhaps yes we'll see arrestance in the dictionary, this thread will also then be a moot point in the annals of history.
 
Stag said:
Catastrophizing: view or present a situation as considerably worse than it actually is.
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Balls.

Stag said:
Overthink: think about (something) too much or for too long.
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Fine, makes perfect sense.

Stag said:
Matchy-matchy: excessively color coordinated.
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Balls.

Stag said:
LBD: little black dress
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Slang.

Stag said:
Frenemy: a person with whom one is friendly despite a fundamental dislike or rivalry.
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Balls.

Stag said:
Cool hunter: a person whose job it is to make observations or predictions about new styles and trends.
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Balls.

Stag said:
Bromance: a close but nonsexual relationship between two men.
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Excellent slang.

Stag said:
Exit strategy: a preplanned means of extricating oneself from a situation.
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Why is this in the dictionary? It's a phrase, not a word.

Stag said:
Defriend: another term for unfriend (remove someone from a list of friends or contacts on a social networking site).
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Zeitgeist.

Stag said:
Soft skills: personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people.
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Meh. Fair enough within its field.
 
thepedster said:
Not what I meant entirely, making it real as in making it fact today. I could say Pigs can fly to everyone I meat for the rest of time on every internet forum, but it's not true. One day perhaps yes we'll see arrestance in the dictionary, this thread will also then be a moot point in the annals of history.
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True. One person using a word they invented does not make it real, when it falls into common usage it becomes real.

Here is an article from the 1980s from when the word 'fax' was integrated into the dictionary. Imagine that. What a silly word.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...,6304570&dq=oxford+dictionary+new+words&hl=en

EDIT: They also included "foxy", "endangered" and "duty-free". I imagine in the 1980s some people thought they were dreadfully daft terms but now we think nothing of them.
 
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Majoritively

I think it has its uses as a real word. You'd majoritively use it in situations when saying how something is mainly something else, simple. Not a word.
 
RandomTom said:
Majoritively

I think it has its uses as a real word. You'd majoritively use it in situations when saying how something is mainly something else, simple. Not a word.
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I've thought this for a while. I was using it for a long time until I was shocked to find it wasn't a legitimate word. I still use it often though, I think it's perfectly valid.
 
semi-pro waster said:
I haven't got the foggiest idea what it means so I'm inclined to guess no as it looks like a conflation of two or more other words. What do you think it means in context?
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dis - not, or opposite
com - from community, communication
knocker - breasts
ated - transforms a noun into an advjective


So from this we can assume that "discomknockerated" is used to describe the effect that a fantastic pair of boobs can have on a heterosexual male. Effects of discomknockeration may include drooling, loss of concentration, stiffness and compulsory sexual harassment seminars.
 
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Stag said:
Au contraire, if enough people start using a word then it gets added to the Oxford English Dictionary.

For instance the last 10 words that were added this year were:
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No they weren't :confused:
The OED always has the latest entries published on it's website, none of those are included.
http://www.oed.com/public/latest/latest-update/

Some of the interesting ones that have been
"aw-shucks"
"biocybernetics"
"biohacking"
"biological clock"
"cameroonian"
"body-snatching"
"cricket test"
"crime scene"
"cybernetically"
"cybersquat"
"dog ****"
"dogger"
"dog-ribbed"
"frogger"
"head shot"
"hot doggery"
 
Why arrestance?

Surely "a measure of the ability to arrest" would suffice?
 
amigafan2003 said:
Why arrestance?

Surely "a measure of the ability to arrest" would suffice?
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I'd imagine it started as a buzzword made up by a specific company in their marketing material and has been taken up by others. Lots of manufacturers and industries have similar examples.
 
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