Random factoids

[sessifet]

Thing I learnt today:

There is a difference between fiat lux and lux sit.

Thing I learnt months ago but forgot until today:

The English equivalent of schadenfreude is epicaricacy.

Thing that makes me smile:

The snow leopard's scientific name is Uncia uncia. It is also sometimes known as the ounce.

Comments

[dearg-uk.livejournal.com]

The English equivalent of schadenfreude is epicaricacy.

Good luck finding many English speakers that know that... I've only ever heard schadenfreude :)

[ahruman.livejournal.com]

Yes, but you’re British. It is well established that the British do not know how to speak English, which is why you import people from Scandinavia and the Netherlands for many customer-facing jobs.

This would be a silly comment, except it’s absolutely true.

[the-hatstand.livejournal.com]

Where did you get epicaricacy from? It's not in the OED.

[sessifet25.livejournal.com]

I was scientific about it and found it on wikipedia under 'schadenfreude'. There's a link in the article to Luciferous Logolepsy which is a brilliant website with many obscure and wonderful words.

[the-hatstand.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I checked with the OED online and they don't have it. The Uni has an academic subscription to it and therefore I'd assumed they'd have access to the whole thing, but maybe it doesn't work the way I thought it did.