CFC English Vocabulary Challenge

Good, good. Not many Americans are aware of how to pronounce English place names though, despite having so many of them scattered across the United States. :)
 
You should hear FedEx operators struggle with "Worcester" on the phone.
 
Not counting them as shires, they are of course pronounced Gloster and Wouster. ;)
 
A question to everybody - is there a word in English which describes potentially embarrasing (or even dangerous) situation, when someone's private information has been disclosed or nearly disclosed?

For example, if a husband returns home after visiting mistress and realizes that there is a trace of lipstick on his shirt and his wife may notice it tomorrow?
Or if someone makes an order in internet store which he would like to keep secret (e.g. from sex shop or something) and realizes that something went wrong and his identity might have been revealed?

Is there a word, may be slang one, to describe such things?
 
I think I'd just say, "oh, bugger." I might even escalate to, "buggeration!" if things were really bad. ;)
 
"Smoking gun" might work, although it is the lipstick itself that would be the smoking gun, rather than the situation of the lipstick being present.

SMOKING GUN: a piece of evidence that clearly proves who did something or shows how something happened
 
madviking said:
my b

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Catharsis said:
In an attempt to use this thread for its intended purpose instead of just bragging about my average test scores, I toddled off to read the 'early bird vs. candle waster' thread. Here are the results:

SPELEOLOGIST: [one who practices] the scientific study or exploration of caves
BIPHASIC: having two phases (probably should've guessed this one) in the same vein POLYPHASIC: consisting of two or more phases (so biphasic is a subset of polyphasic! take that nerds)
BEAR: something that is difficult to do or deal with
SWING SHIFT: a scheduled period of work that begins in the afternoon and ends at night
MIRTAZAPINE: an antidepressant used to treat major depressive disorder
SQUIRRELLY: tending to move around a lot/very odd, silly, or foolish (not sure which one Timsup2nothin was going for here, either one sorta works)

Basically if you take a animal's name and repurpose it for some other use then I won't know the definition.
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:lol:
I'm sure there is a word for doing just such a thing, but I'm too sluggish today to find out.

I want to say it is Anthropomorphism, but that isn't quite right.
An example of this would be making death a grinning skeleton who talks in capital letters.

ANTHROPOMORPHISM - an interpretation of what is not human or personal in terms of human or personal characteristics.


Taking an animal's name and repurpose it for some other use, like the word SQUIRRELLY, almost sounds like the opposite of anthropomorphism.

And ya, bears are difficult to deal with.
Spoiler :
 
Catharsis said:
"Smoking gun" might work, although it is the lipstick itself that would be the smoking gun, rather than the situation of the lipstick being present.

SMOKING GUN: a piece of evidence that clearly proves who did something or shows how something happened
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Right, the word describes the situation and certain degree of embarrassment is usually involved. Like that husband should say something like "Oh my god, what a ...".

There's just a funny Russian slang word for this and I was wondering what would be an English analogue. Online dictionary gave me also a "smoking gun" translation, but this is not exact one. Whatever :)

<communist party pics>
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red_elk said:
A question to everybody - is there a word in English which describes potentially embarrasing (or even dangerous) situation, when someone's private information has been disclosed or nearly disclosed?
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"compromising" comes to mind, as does "awkward" and "ticklish."
 
red_elk said:
A question to everybody - is there a word in English which describes potentially embarrasing (or even dangerous) situation, when someone's private information has been disclosed or nearly disclosed?

For example, if a husband returns home after visiting mistress and realizes that there is a trace of lipstick on his shirt and his wife may notice it tomorrow?
Or if someone makes an order in internet store which he would like to keep secret (e.g. from sex shop or something) and realizes that something went wrong and his identity might have been revealed?

Is there a word, may be slang one, to describe such things?
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If something like that happened to me, I'd say "I'm screwed".
If it happened to someone else, I'd say "He is screwed".
 
red_elk said:
Right, the word describes the situation and certain degree of embarrassment is usually involved. Like that husband should say something like "Oh my god, what a ...".

There's just a funny Russian slang word for this and I was wondering what would be an English analogue. Online dictionary gave me also a "smoking gun" translation, but this is not exact one. Whatever :)
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I suppose there might not be an exact analogue for this - however if you're looking for similar ones that sound funny then may I suggest:

STICKY WICKET: a difficult or delicate problem or situation

"Oh my god, what a sticky wicket!" cried the husband as his marriage collapsed around him. "That's just not cricket," he added.
 
It also refers to an ewok covered in honey.
 
red_elk said:
A question to everybody - is there a word in English which describes potentially embarrasing (or even dangerous) situation, when someone's private information has been disclosed or nearly disclosed?

For example, if a husband returns home after visiting mistress and realizes that there is a trace of lipstick on his shirt and his wife may notice it tomorrow?
Or if someone makes an order in internet store which he would like to keep secret (e.g. from sex shop or something) and realizes that something went wrong and his identity might have been revealed?

Is there a word, may be slang one, to describe such things?
Click to expand...

Compromising is the closest English analog to what you have just described.
 
Arakhor said:
Not counting them as shires, they are of course pronounced Gloster and Wouster. ;)
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Woostah, of course.

verboten (adj.): forbidden
chutzpah (n.): ability to do or say something despite potential embarrassment
tchotchke (n.): trinket
chthonic (adj.): relating to Earth/underground or death
amuse-bouche (n.): free small appetizer with your order
aperitif (n.): cocktail before dinner, meant to stimulate the appetite
treacle (n.): molasses
trifle (n.): layered dessert typically served in a glass; something unimportant
 
You've never come across trifle before? You haven't lived, my man!
 
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