Descriptionary

homophone a word pronounced the same as another but having a different spelling and meaning, such as "peace," and "piece."

hybrid the joining of two words or word elements from two languages to form a new word.

hyperbole an exaggeration used as a figure of speech, such as "I could eat a horse," or "this hang­nail is killing me."

hyperurbanism the inaccurate imitation of upper- class speech by someone with a lower-class dialect.

hypophora reasoning with oneself out loud.

ideogram a character or symbol, such as $, , or #. Also, any character used in Chinese writing.

idiolect the unique language of an individual.

idiologism a quirk or characteristic of an individu­al's speech.

idiom a particular form of speech within a lan­guage, as used in a specific community or group. Also, words, phrases, and expressions that cannot be translated literally into a foreign language, such as "life's a bitch," or "join the rat race."

idioticon a dictionary of dialect.

inarticulate unexpressive; unable to speak fluently or persuasively.

innuendo a subtle implication or allusion, usually of something negative.

inversion the altering or reversal of normal word order for effect, for example, "through the grass we did run." irony the use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning, especially in a sarcastic or humorous way, for example, "his wit was as sharp as a wet sponge."

Janus word a word having two meanings the exact opposite of each other, such as "inflammable," or "cleave."

jargon meaningless gibberish; the special language of a class, profession, or group.

jawbreaker a word that is difficult to pronounce.

je ne sais quoi literally, I don't know what; a cer­tain indescribable something.

King's English normal or proper, understandable English.

laconic terse; reserved.

lallation any noise or utterance typical of a baby.

lapsus calami a slip of the pen.

lapsus linguae a slip of the tongue.

Latinism a Latin word or phrase used in English.

leading question a question designed to prompt a desired answer.

legalese legal jargon.

lethologica the inability to recall a word that is on the tip of one's tongue.

lethonomania forgetting names.

lexicography the compiling and writing of diction­aries and word books.

lexicology the study of word histories, derivations, meanings, and similar pursuits.

lexicon a dictionary, vocabulary book, foreign lan­guage word book, or similar publication.

linguistics the study of language and speech.

litotes a form of irony or understatement, achieved by the use of inverted phrasing, for example, "not bad," or "I can't disagree with that."

localism a word or expression unique to a particu­lar community or region.

loganamnosis an obsession to remember a forgot­ten word.

logomasia an extreme distaste for certain words.

lost positives words whose positive forms are no longer in common use, such as "gruntled" from "dis­gruntled."

lyricism prose executed in a poetically descriptive style.

malapropism the incorrect use of a word that sounds similar to another word, often with humor­ous results, for example, "I'll sue him for defecation (defamation) of character," or "a pigment (figment) of the imagination."

malonym a metaphor, cliche, or popular expression in which an incorrect word is used, for example, "let's go hole (whole) hog on this," or "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him think (drink)."

mealymouthed dishonest, evasive; overly euphe­mistic in speech.

meiosis a form of understatement or underemphasis used to achieve an ironic effect.

melioration the acquisition of a positive meaning by a word that has traditionally had a negative mean­ing, for example, "bad" is now sometimes used as the equivalent of "cool" or "good."

mendaciloquence artful lying.

metaphor a figure of speech characterized by an implied comparison between two things that are dif­ferent, for example, "all the world's a stage," or "the evening of life," or "the company is a big ship to turn around."

metastasis in a debate, the mentioning of a subject in a casual manner, as if it were trivial.

metathesis the historical transposing of letters or syl­lables in a word to create a new, permanent spelling or pronunciation, such as, Old English "brid" to "bird."

metonymy a figure of speech that substitutes a word or phrase with a word or phrase that is closely associated, as in "brass" for military officers, or "the Crown" for British monarchy.

metric prose prose with a poetic rhythm.

mincing word a coyly euphemistic word used to avoid using an undainty word.