What are some English Words that you did not know existed/not know the meaning of until you used WaniKani?

Been using WaniKani regularly for a good 6 months now and every now and again, despite being a native English speaker, I’ll come across an English word or phrase that I’ve never heard about; or previously heard of but never really bothered to check the meaning

Some examples include
Yurt
Duplicity/Forked Tongue (二枚舌)
Contraption (械)
Wirepuller (黒幕)
Dysentry (赤痢)
Censure (劾)

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Those last three are way above your level. Do we need to censure you for your duplicity?

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hey…

lol

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Tenacious.

I had heard of Tenacious D, but never bothered to actually look it up

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A skosh, I had never even heard of this word before WaniKani

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Not a cocktail enthusiast then? hehe

Not that I am, but I’d heard the term in relation to “a skosh of whisky” for example ^-^

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Skosh is really common where I grew up (California). But it’s a slang term for a Japanese word so… not originally English.

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Yonder is a nightmarish word for non-natives.

It means something like “over there”, right? :smiley:

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Yes, pretty much.

As a native English speaker (American), I never heard of “yurt” or “wirepuller” before WK.

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“Geoduck” for sure (WK name for 頁 radical)

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Not only is it a weird weird word (It’s a shellfish, not a duck), the thing looks weird as hell too.

And the pronounciation is weird too. Gooey-duck :smiley:

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What??? It’s not pronounced “geo” + “duck”??? jesus

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There you go :smiley:

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This is the only thing that is pronounced Geo-Duck.

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Skosh comes from 少し

I haven’t come across anything weird yet since I’m not a high level, but I’m excited to get to geoduck. I will probably actually remember it thanks to this thread. Don’t think I’ve encountered yurt yet, but I’m familiar with them. Spent too many years living in the Bay Area around people who like to go glamping not to…

I just failed my review on the “ladle”-radical. That was one english word I didn’t know before. And before I only knew a way different meaning to “hoe”. ^^’

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What the…

I was sure the mnemonic for 歩 meant “hoes walking on the sidewalk” :joy::joy::joy:

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I’m sorry but I would love to see English spelling reformed -,-

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Oh, you haven’t? I figured “wirepuller” was an Americansim, given the joke answer of “Dick Cheney”. I have a vague recollection that Dick Cheney is a person who exists, but I have no automatic understanding of who he is, so that hint does absolutely nothing for me.

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