Today's New Vocabulary Word

[cjsmith]

Thanks to joedecker.

medorthophobia: fear of erect penises

Somehow I'm not surprised that Merriam-Webster Online has never heard of this.

Comments

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

He must have been looking for words to describe me. ;)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

You blushing virgin, you.

[joedecker.livejournal.com]

As an aside, the usage of a smaller dictionary online is
intentional and not all bad. Something like the collegiate
could be less helpful than smaller ones--people end up typing
'incudes' [sic] and finding a definition (plural of 'incus')
rather than getting a hint that it's probably a typo for
'includes'. Shrug ... that's most people. Me, I'm a size
queen, I love my OED.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

That definitely makes sense.

Something like the collegiate could be less helpful than smaller ones

The one I was searching purported to be the Collegiate.

I want a copy of the OED some day. I'm a word slut.

[joedecker.livejournal.com]

The one I was searching purported to be the Collegiate.

I guess it is:

Main Entry: in?cus ()

Pronunciation: 'i[ng]-k&s

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural in?cu?des () /i[ng]-'kyü-(")dEz, 'i[ng]-ky&-"dEz/

Etymology: New Latin, from Latin, anvil, from incudere

Date: 1669

: the middle bone of a chain of three small bones in the ear of a mammal -- called also anvil; see (dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=ear+)illustration

[elflet.livejournal.com]

You should sent this in to Webster's. Maybe they'll rise to the occasion.

P.S. I've been having fun with the "A Word A day (AWAD)" email list. Try a Google search if you're interested...the emails from them have been a treat!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

(grooooooan)

I've tried one or two vocabulary mailings. I need a list that presumes I already know "ubiquitous" and sends me "uxorial" instead. I haven't tried AWAD, though; maybe I'll go check it out! :-) Thanks!