Common / Rare Revision

[Alan W]

I've just switched quite a number of words from common to rare, and a smaller number from rare to common. The ones made rare are listed at the end of this post. I'll post a separate message listing the words made common.

Some of these changes result from issues raised in the forum - including a few that were discussed a long time ago, and not acted on through oversight. However most of these result from my own review.

I'm happy to consider any criticisms, and I'll reverse any of these changes if I can be convinced a word should be common. However, I'd ask you to bear in mind a few possibilities:

• Could the word that seems common to you be little-known in other parts of the world?
• Is a word usually spelled differently?
• Is the word normally written with a capital letter, or a hyphen?

So, here are the words now classed as rare:


actin
admix
admixed
admixes
admixing
aggro
aleph
alit
amide
amine
amino
anion
anionic
anisette
applet
argent
auld
bast
beryl
blini
caiman
calked
calking
canst
caplet
carom
caromed
caroming
cation
coir
collard
cote
crit
curie
dang
dative
diatom
didst
dimer
doth
ebon
empanel
empaneled
engram
envoi
fetta
filo
gelt
giblet
gillie
gluon
grad
gran
groat
grot
hadst
halite
hath
hellion
hepatic
hereon
hied
homer
ichor
inhere
inhered
inhering
kine
lade
laic
layup
leftie
lemma
letch
letches
liger
lima
lite
logier
logiest
lory
lossy
lovey
mach
mage
marc
mayst
meson
moiety
moxie
mutagen
narc
niter
nitre
nitro
noel
osmium
otic
ovate
palmate
peen
pilau
pita
pitta
pled
ponied
prat
ramen
ratbag
reedit
reedited
reediting
refry
reify
retag
riced
ricer
ringgit
roman
rubato
slue
snog
steno
stet
stupe
tarsal
tarsus
tater
testate
thew
thoracic
tibiae
tike
tintype
tipi
tither
topee
torah
trey
trochaic
ureic
uric
vaginae
velar
viand
vide
vulvae
whereat
wouldst
youse

[Alan W]

These are the words that have just been made common. Many of them are not used very often, but because of their relationships to the words they are derived from, I think most people would know of them. In some cases, the change is removing an inconsistency - gauntest is common, so why not gaunter? Lilt and lilting are common, so why not lilted?

bodied
croc
edger
gaunter
glutes
gorily
grader
lamed
lifter
lilted
oiler
retitle
retitled
retitling
tenner

[Steadyguy]

Well done Alan. As always there will be surprise at the very occasional one, but a an excellent 'democratic' process, with someone having to make a Solomon-like final decision.

[pat]

There are several words in there that are perfectly common words to me; equally I'm sure that there are other words that others will deem common.

Looking at it from a different point of view, though, if 'thoracic' for example is made rare, all it means is that the rosette will be awarded for, say, 34 words instead of 35. It won't make a ha'porth of difference to getting the word or not. It won't even make a difference to people's percentage hit rate.

Alan's review is as good as anyone's (PLUS he's the boss!), so my humble suggestion is that we accept the list as written rather than go into an endless debate about individual words.

I wait to be shot down in flames!

[Linda]

I agree, Pat!

[birdy]

You're right, I was surprised at some words that were deemed uncommon, especially some I would have thought were known to most of us through the literature courses we were exposed to in school.  But they're fine with me either way.  Thanks, Alan, for all the work.

[rogue_mother]

Dang! One of my favorite interjections has been demoted ... Seeing as how you have demoted vaginae and tibiae, how about curiae, likewise? And in the same vein as amine and amide, I might toss in codon and uracil, to boot.

[Steadyguy]

There are several words in there that are perfectly common words to me; equally I'm sure that there are other words that others will deem common.

Looking at it from a different point of view, though, if 'thoracic' for example is made rare, all it means is that the rosette will be awarded for, say, 34 words instead of 35. It won't make a ha'porth of difference to getting the word or not. It won't even make a difference to people's percentage hit rate.

Alan's review is as good as anyone's (PLUS he's the boss!), so my humble suggestion is that we accept the list as written rather than go into an endless debate about individual words.

I wait to be shot down in flames!

Nahhhh Pat, you will never be the subject of inflammatory remarks. Good points made and as you say, Alan is el patron. Not a job for the faint-hearted!

[Alan W]

Seeing as how you have demoted vaginae and tibiae, how about curiae, likewise? And in the same vein as amine and amide, I might toss in codon and uracil, to boot.

Good suggestions, RM. I think the singular curia probably should be rare too - it's not used all that often, and mostly with a capital C.

A few others I'm planning to make rare:

goop
tombed
vise
femora
roue
gonna
chappies
pash
carbo
rolf
barney
righto
chunder
sherd
barmy
barmier
barmiest

[Alan W]

Actually codon was already made rare last year - see here.

[rogue_mother]

**** SPOILER ALERT -- Monday, Dec 28 -- ****






Alan, I wasn't paying attention when you reclassified vise. Really??? Maybe it has a different name outside the U. S.? This tool is quite common. And people are often described as having a vise-like grip.

[pat]

We never spell it like that, RM. In the UK it's spelt vice.

[rogue_mother]

We never spell it like that, RM. In the UK it's spelt vice.

I guess that would explain it, pat. We pronounce it as 'vize,' but I imagine that if you spell it as vice, you probably also pronounce it that way.

[pat]

Actually, we don't. We pronounce it with a soft 'c', as in mice.

[birdy]

I agree with R-M's spelling, but my family, at least, pronounces it the same as vice, as in "Vice Squad."