I've always used "onomatous." ( http://www.encyclo.co.uk/define/onomatous ) I'd never heard of "onymous." Interesting. For a lark I looked up both on the web. Onymous came in with 47,400 hits. Onomatous at 118. Onomatous comes up just once in the OneLook search on the alphaDicti...

For more on sniglets, courtesy of the Doctor, check outthis link.

As an American, I'm afraid I don't get why some words are considered vile. Any suggestions?


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/14130942

tense/intense (e.g. a tense/intense atmosphere) valuable/invaluable (compare price/priceless , and contrast worth/worthless ). I'm not sure these are quite the same. If you go to an intense movie, you won't necessarily think it was tense, would you? And something can be valuable, but not invaluable...

I can't be sure off the top of my head, but it seems to me that -ant -ent are adjectival, whereas -ance -ence are nominal.

dependent : dependence
correspondent : correspondence

etc.

Excellent suggestion. I can't believe it hasn't come our way before.

Now here's a spanner in the works question: can a male be sultry? If so, who was or is?

I find myself questioning whether or not a TV star can be truly "sultry." Is there enough exposure there? Coincidentally, there is an interesting piece by Maureen Dowd in the NYT that touches upon this discussion. Here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/opinion/sunday/10dowd.htm...

Sesquipedalian.

The pneumo word is actually a made up word just to be the longest. Essentially it means black lung disease.

Is that the "food" or the skier?

• stem-winder • Pronunciation: stem -wain-dêr • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. A keyless watch that is wound up by a permanent stem connected to the spring. 2. Something first-rate, something excellent in its class, a doozy . 3. A rousing, energetic speech. Notes: This word has been arou...

fes-uh-nahyn, -nin]
–adjective
scurrilous; licentious; obscene: fescennine mockery.

Origin:
1595–1605; < Latin Fescennīnus of, belonging to Fescennia, a town in Etruria noted for jesting and scurrilous verse; see -ine1

And, will wonders never cease?, it's not listed as obsolete or archaic.

Here's what etymonline has to say: 1590s, "oppressively hot, close and moist" (of weather), from obs. verb sulter "to swelter" (1580s), alteration of swelter. Fig. sense of "hot with lust" is attested from 1704; of women, "lascivious, sensual, arousing desire"...

Ah ha, now I get it. The old Amer-Brit "football" quibble plays a role here. Thanks for clearing it up.

Other than inflammable, are there any other such non-antonyms based on "in"?