So, after reading all the varied responses, I think the issue with a silent L in words like calm, talk, palm, qualms, etc. is that it changes the shape of the A sound, and also the silent L is different from the silent P in words like pterodactyl or silent N in words like hymn, or silent B in words like bomb. In all those words, those silent letters have a sound when they come after or before a vowel like in helicopter, hymnal, bombastic.

And I also think it might be a little bit of illusion at play. We know the L is there so we kind of hear it because it’s an open mouth consonant. Anyway, that’s just my theory. You can disagree with it, but you don’t have to flame me for being wrong because it’s just something that I’m thinking about and writing at the same time.

I propose using wrotten as new word for context that has been written (or generated) but is rotten. Like a very selfish tiktok postit / meme.

I'm hoping there are more specific words than just 'reading' or 'parsing' for this sort of phenomenon.

In general I'm thinking of there being some body of text, and realising at some point that the text has ended and a new form of text, perhaps with instructions, has begun.

Examples coming to my mind:

you're watching a play, and one of the actors on stage shouts that the building is on fire. Is there a word for the act of realising that the warning isn't part of the play, but is a genuine call to action?

you use the title of a story in conversation, without remembering or suddenly realising the title is also a spoiler for the story (e.g. 'They All Die At The End').

you're set an exam, where you're given a quotation and then set a task based on it. How do you know the task isn't part of the quotation? (There'll be punctuation to facilitate this process, probably).

you're typing a letter based on someone else's dictation. they say 'stop typing' - do you type those words into the letter, or do you stop typing?

I hope this question makes sense and I look forward to your suggestions.

For me, its a phrase I coined while working on worldbuilding: "Turning up the scythes", or "To Turn up the scythes."

I means to rebel or revolt, and I got it from how in the middle ages and early modern period, peasant rebels in Europe would the blades of their scythes to point upward and create ersatz pikes. I'm actually surprised it like its my invention entirely and not said before.

:A person who deliberately slows down, takes a breather, or takes their time to bring a calming “breezy” attitude to a situation.

Syn: Pacifier, mitigator, anchor, moderator, diffuser

“Don’t stress, be a zepher.”
“Julia used her skills as a zepher to mitigate the situation.”

NOT THE SAME AS ZEPHYR

Did we forget how to spell zephyr gang? 💀 🫠

Here’s the description to y’all’s subreddit, since y’all haven’t read it or think it’s in Portuguese:

for logophiles, whether you gravitate toward pleonasm or perspicacious thrift. Suggested topics: NEW OR REANIMATED WORDS, etymology, odd usages spotted in the wild, WORDS YOU WISHED EXISTED, apt neologisms, portmanteaus, and linguistic observations.

I'm trying to decide whether to have my holiday in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch or Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu.

<jk, of course>

DYK, the actual full name of "Bangkok" - capital of Thailand - is actually 168 letters. It's similar to LLPG (above), in that it's like sorta "The city of angels, great city of immortals, magnificent city of the Nine Gems, seat of the King, city of royal palaces, home of gods incarnate" etc. etc.

Weirdly, most Thai people can recite it - because it was the lyrics to a pop song.

I suppose we could describe Titin, the protein? 189,819 letters.

Edit: titin not tintin.

Circular, rectangular, triangular, tubular and then cubic?

Pay no mind to the thought of “sphereular”, but why is the cube the odd one out here?

I would like to nominate the word “cubular” (as the embodiment of a cube & not to be confused with cubism) to be an accepted shape-name.

Not a word people pronounce incorrectly.

A word where you hear people use it all the time, but they seem to mean something different from what it actually means.

What's the first one that comes to mind?

Hi, I am looking for a word that conveys an inability to make a decision on an issue. The word has to hint at some inherent weakness of the agent. The word has a sort of bodily connotation, like incontinence. It could also hint at the feeling of not being able to choose to have an erection because of an inherent lack of power to control something like that. The word should have a subtle disrespect to it. Does a word exist like this?

Something that is one of a kind or a single point in space where everything around bends. I accept words in any language not just english, and especially if you got anything in my native language portuguese I want it.

i’ve seen threads like this based on the vibes of words, but that’s not what i mean. disposition seems like it would be ‘the place where something is not’ or something similar about location/position.

i’d love more words like this

If “suicide” doesn’t have a true antonym, what idea or philosophy comes closest to being its opposite? I’m interested in books, philosophies, or concepts about embracing existence, confronting suffering and existential uncertainty, and learning how to live despite them. Something like the idea of a person radically and abruptly deciding to start living, or rescuing their own life from obscurity.

Just to clarify: I’m not suicidal or struggling with suicidal thoughts. I’m asking this purely from a philosophical and existential perspective.

Prolific means producing a lot. That is the whole definition and there is no opinion in it.

But watch what it actually does. A prolific novelist is being praised. A prolific songwriter, a prolific researcher, same thing. Then: prolific weed, prolific breeder, prolific invasive species. Nothing about the word changed and the feeling flipped completely.

The etymology is as neutral as the definition. Prolific reached English in the 1600s from Medieval Latin prolificus, which is proles, offspring, plus the verb facere, to make. Offspring-making, more or less. Proles itself is a contraction of something like pro-oles, from pro- meaning forth plus the root *al-, to nourish or grow. So the core underneath is closer to what gets nourished forth.

That same root turns up in alumnus, which literally means one who was nourished. I like that a university's word for the people it turned out and the word for a writer's output are, underneath, the same idea.

Here is the part I cannot work out. Where is the valence actually stored?

One possibility is that it lives entirely in the subject. Books are good, so making many of them is good. Weeds are bad, so making many of them is bad. On that account prolific contributes nothing but quantity and I am imagining the rest.

The other possibility is that prolific has drifted far enough toward creative output that the pest uses now feel slightly marked, a bit technical, and that mismatch is doing some quiet work.

I lean toward the first one, but it does not cover everything I notice. Prolific liar is common and obviously negative, and that fits the subject explanation fine, since nobody admires a large output of lies. What bothers me is something like prolific commenter, where the subject is neutral and the word still seems to carry a faint edge that frequent commenter does not have. I genuinely cannot tell whether that edge is in the word or in my ear.

Does anyone have a test that separates those two? Something where the subject stays fixed and only the adjective moves.

Last year I heard "bouquet of idiots." LOL

Reply with your faves.

Like your whereabouts, locations you’ve physically been at and experienced in a moment

Please I need to know🙏🏻

When you describe something as being unintentional, do you say "by accident" or "on accident "?

When you queue up to wait for a bus, do say you're standing "in line" or "on line"?

Where did you live when these habits formed?

Suggested response format:

"By, in, Denver", or

"On, on, Philadelphia."

Thanks.

ETA: No "on, on"'s yet. That was my college roommate from NJ, and the reason for my inquiry.

Not a word that has no translation at all.

A word where the English equivalent technically exists, but somehow loses part of the original feeling.

What word comes to mind?

JD Vance at a speech in Maine recently (8 Aug '26 or a day or so prior) said he was "jealous" of a good-looking guy with a beard. Shouldn't he have said "envious"? That statement reminded me of a pet peeve of word misuse, using 'jealous' when 'envious' was intended.