Phrases/words that you love

[amateur51]

Drifting only slightly off thread, there is a story of a linguistics prof telling his lecture audience that while many languages have instances of double negatives, there was no known instance in any language of a double positive.

A voice from the back: 'Yeah, right.'

Love it!

[Russ_H]

Very good example Richard - I bought the 1998 Bernstein Century CD of the 7th and was very disappointed by the dull, subfusc sound; the later DSD remaster (in the 2009 box) is marvellous, could almost have been recorded yesterday, and reveals it as one of the great 7ths!

Is there anything to touch freshly ground Monsooned Malabar - made in a cafetiere strong but not too strong.

Two of my favourite words have recently appeared on these forums - subfusc and Malabar. Sadly, they are not words that can easily be slipped into conversation.

[Nick Armstrong]

Redmond was also responsible for the bilious 'children's soap' Grange Hill, as well as Hollyoaks and other 'down with the kids' rubbish.

Bilious

(It was one of my Granny's favourites, always made me giggle)

[Serial_Apologist]

Bilious

(It was one of my Granny's favourites, always made me giggle)

Fancy, bringing that up...

[teamsaint]

Fancy, bringing that up...

rofl.
You are in a humorous mood tonight S_A

[Nick Armstrong]

Serial_Apologist and teamsaint, the Cannon and Ball of FoR3

[teamsaint]

Serial_Apologist and teamsaint, the Cannon and Ball of FoR3

Rock On, Cali...er tommy !!

Edit, not sure why I know this was their catch phrase....

[JFLL]

Bilious

(It was one of my Granny's favourites, always made me giggle)

Did she, like my nana, have 'bilious turns', Calibs, usually brought on by too much excitement?

Anyone mentioned dongle, which I mentioned on another thread the other day (as in wifi dongle)? I don't know why, but I always thought that was Ozzie slang for a certain part of the male anatomy.

[vinteuil]

Two of my favourite words have recently appeared on these forums - subfusc and Malabar. Sadly, they are not words that can easily be slipped into conversation.

I see that boys can now wear girls' subfusc and vice versa -

Subfusc
Subfusc comes from the Latin for "of a dark/dusky colour", and refers to the clothes worn with full academic dress in Oxford. As of 4 August 2012, the University of Oxford regulations on subfusc have no reference to gender, meaning students identifying as any gender can wear historically "male" or "female" clothes. Previously, men were required to wear:
Dark suit and socks.
Black shoes.
White shirt and collar.
White bow tie.

Women were previously required to wear:
White blouse.
Black tie.
Black skirt or trousers.
Black stockings or tights.
Black shoes.
Dark coat (if desired).

[Nick Armstrong]

Occasionally I come across a word I love despite - or rather, partly because of - having no idea what it means (or having forgotten). Just the abstract sound and look of it, plus mystery as to what it might signify, give me a buzz.

I came across one such this evening:

Maven

I deliberately haven't looked it up.

Can anyone define it without reference to a dictionary, online or otherwise?

[Beef Oven!]

Occasionally I come across a word I love despite - or rather, partly because of - having no idea what it means (or having forgotten). Just the abstract sound and look of it, plus mystery as to what it might signify, give me a buzz.

I came across one such this evening:

Maven

I deliberately haven't looked it up.

Can anyone define it without reference to a dictionary, online or otherwise?

I think it means 'could possibly'.

[Nick Armstrong]

I think it means 'could possibly'.

I think it's a noun

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Rhyming with "Haven"? Perhaps an inland shelter? A caven?

[Don Petter]

I thought it meant an expert (in the field in question)?

[Serial_Apologist]

I like the word continuum very much, especially because it really rubs up people who prefer the world to be fragmented in all sorts of ways that help maintain the status quo.