As I run across words or phrases that I like, I add them here.
Apotropaic magic (from Greek αποτρέπω, apotrépō ‘to ward off’) – protective magic, a type of magic intended to turn away harm or evil influences, as in deflecting misfortune or averting the evil eye with a lucky charm.
Aposiopesis (pron.: /ˌæpəsaɪ.əˈpiːsɪs/; Classical Greek: ἀποσιώπησις, “becoming silent”) – a figure of speech wherein a sentence is deliberately broken off and left unfinished, the ending to be supplied by the imagination, giving an impression of unwillingness or inability to continue.[1] An example would be the threat “Get out, or else—!” This device often portrays its users as overcome with passion (fear, anger, excitement) or modesty. To mark the occurrence of aposiopesis with punctuation, an em dash (—) or an ellipsis (…) may be used.
Monological belief system – a self-sustaining worldview comprised of a network of mutually supportive beliefs, such as conspiracy theories which are supported by other conspiracy theories.
Resistentialism – a jocular theory to describe “seemingly spiteful behavior manifested by inanimate objects.”[1] For example, objects that cause problems (like lost keys or a fleeing bouncy ball) exhibit a high degree of malice toward humans and lend support to resistentialist beliefs. In other words, a war is being fought between humans and inanimate objects, and all the little annoyances objects give people throughout the day are battles between the two. Note, in German this is called Die Tücke des Objekts, “The Malice of Objects”.
Petrichor (/ˈpɛtrɨkɔər/) – the scent of rain on dry earth, or the scent of dust after rain. The word is constructed from Greek, petros, meaning stone + ichor, the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology. It is defined as “the distinctive scent which accompanies the first rain after a long warm dry spell”.[1]
Aubade (/əʊˈbɑːd/) – a morning love song (as opposed to a serenade, which is in the evening), or a song or poem about lovers separating at dawn. It has also been defined as “a song or instrumental composition concerning, accompanying, or evoking daybreak”.
Senescence (/sɪˈnɛsəns/) – the process of growing old and showing the progressive biological effects of aging; the quality of being aged.
Absquatulate (/æbˈskwɑt͡ʃ.ʊ.leɪt/) – A southern US regionalism, “to go squat somewhere”; to abscond, to disappear. Interestingly, this originated from an 1820s-1840s trend of coining mock grandiloquent words, from which we also get “hornswoggle”, “bodacious”, “obfusticate”, “bloviate”, and “discombobulate”. I used to think “skedaddle” was one of these, but apparently that dates from later, around the Civil War.
Susurrus (/ˈsuː.sə.ɹəs/) – an indistinct sibilant sound; the sound of crowds of people whispering or of waves crashing in the distance. (I once amusingly saw this illustrated in a comic book by a crowd with a word balloon over them saying “Watermelon cantaloupe watermelon cantaloupe watermelon cantaloupe watermelon cantaloupe watermelon cantaloupe watermelon cantaloupe”.)
Grawlix (/ˈɡrɔːlɪks/) – Coined by cartoonist Mort Walker, this is the use of typographical symbols to replace profanity, as in “Oh, $*#@%!”. Mainly used in cartoons and comics it is used to get around language restrictions or censorship in publishing.
