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What's a word you've spent a long time not using right? (lemm.ee)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

230 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Just recently I was in a conversation with a number of UK mainlanders and we had a debate over what "tories" meant, apparently disproportionately ordinarily it refers to a political party and it's not usual to use it as short for "territories" as I've used it (according to how the debate ended, it was half and half between them). And once again I'm reminded of how people feel to look back at their usage of a word/phrase over the years and cringe.

More tragically, me and a friend were embarrassed once upon realizing everyone was confusing "encephalitis" with "hydrocephalus" when talking to someone about their kid with hydrocephalus. Awkward because encephalitis is caused by HIV.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 11 months ago (4 children)

I happily described a nice coffee shop as "kitschy" to the guy behind the counter and quickly learned from his reaction that it isn't the synonym for "artsy" that I thought it was.

[–] CobblerScholar 13 points 11 months ago (1 children)

And here I thought it meant quirky, fuck

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago

If I’ve literally learned anything, it’s that if a bunch of us keep using it as a compliment to mean quirky, we can shift the meaning!

[–] [email protected] 12 points 11 months ago

It means "a naive imitation" for anyone who's ears are turning red now. Puts on a wool cap.

[–] june 2 points 11 months ago

And what does it actually mean?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 11 months ago

I thought something similar about the word "campy", as in something so dry it becomes its own style.