Excellent Words

Long words, excellent words

I can hear them now

~ Peter Gabriel - This is the Picture

Being a non-native English speaker, I'm always striving to expand my foreign vocabulary by collecting various interesting words/phrases from books and other reading/listening materials. I usually write them down in a personal notebook and gradually move them to this page.

Some of the definitions are still in polish. I'm working on them.

C

Carceral: relating to a prision. You probably know a similar word: ,,incarceration''.

Learned from: Simulacra and Simulation

Circumvolution: A winding movement, especially of one thing round another.

Learned from: Simulacra and Simulation

Cloister: Klasztor.

Learned from: Simulacra and Simulation

Collective Effervescence: Spontaneus participation in the same action.

Learned from: Simulacra and Simulation

Confinement: Imprisonment, restraint, restriction.

Learned from: Simulacra and Simulation

D

De Jure: Practices, which are legally recognized.

Learned from: Starość Aksolotla

Defunct: Zmarły, zlikwidowany (?).

Learned from: Simulacra and Simulation

Deterrence: Odstraszenie.

Learned from: Oppenheimer (2023)

F

Fulcrum: The point on which a lever turns or is supported. The most important part of an activity or a situation.

Learned from: The Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories

G

Gestalt: From German: shape, figure, form.

Learned from: Valis

I

Incessant: Continual, unceasing, pernament, perpetual.

Learned from: Simulacra and Simulation

L

Liminality: todo: write.

Learned from: The Backrooms Wiki

Locus: The place where something happens or the central area of interest in something.

Learned from: The Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories

M

Modus vivendi: Way of life - coexistance of conflicting parties.

Learned from: Dark (2017)

N

Noblesse oblige: Szlachectwo zobowiązuje.

Learned from: Some book by Jacek Dukaj

Non sequitur: Błąd formalny.

Learned from: Some book by Jacek Dukaj

P

Persona non grata: person not welcome (in some place, institution).

Learned from: Can't remember

Petrichor: Specific ,,earthy'' scent produced when rain falls on dry soil.

Learned from: Preset name on Minilougue xd

Putrefaction: Rot, decay.

Learned from: Simulacra and Simulation

Pyrrhic victory: victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat.

Learned from: Valis

R

Raison d'être: Purpose for existence.

Learned from: Ergo Proxy

Rejuvenate: To make younger.

Learned from: Simulacra and Simulation

Rhizome: a nonlinear network that ,,connects any **point** to any other point'', used to describe concepts such as structures of language and knowledge, social relationships, etc. Used in opposition to hierarchical models.

Learned from: Explaining Deleuze with drum machines

S

Semantic Satiation: Psychological phenomenon in which repetition causes a word or phrase to temporarily lose meaning for the listener, who then perceives the speech as repeated meaningless sounds.

Learned from: Don't remember

Subterfuge: Fraud, deception, swindle.

Learned from: Simulacra and Simulation

Subversive: Rebelling against authority/governement/tradition/etc.

Learned from: Simulacra and Simulation

Sybarite: A person who is self-indulgent in their fondness for sensuous luxury.

Learned from: The Futurological Congress

Synesthesia: Perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory.

Learned from: Can't remember

V

Veritable: Real, true, authentic, very.

Learned from: Simulacra and Simulation