Pop Quiz! "P" vocabulary

These words were encountered online. People actually used them to make some kind of point. Were they trying to be clear or were they trying to lord over us with their condescending superior vocabulary? Some are so strange we'll likely never see them again. Others so common I wonder why they're on this list. It is a long list.

palaver:  a long parley usually between persons of different cultures or levels of sophistication, idle talk, misleading or beguiling speech

palimpsest: a manuscript or piece of writing material on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing but of which traces remain.

palliated: make (a disease or its symptoms) less severe or unpleasant without removing the cause, allay or moderate (fears or suspicions), disguise the seriousness or gravity of (an offense)."

palter: equivocate or prevaricate in action or speech., trifle with

Panem et Circensus: bread and circuses

pangyric: a public speech or published text in praise of someone or something., eulogy, tribute, paean, occolade

Panjandrum: burlesque title of an imaginary personage in some nonsense lines by Samuel Foote, a powerful personage or pretentious official

panopticon: A circular prison with cells arranged around a central well, from which prisoners could at all times be observed.

panto:  a traditional fairy tale complete with songs, dances, jokes, exaggerated characters and lots of audience participation. The British love a good panto. a type of musical comedy stage production, designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is still performed there, generally during the Christmas and New Year season and, to a lesser extent, in other English-speaking countries.

Panurge: one of the principal characters in the Pantagruel (especially the third and fourth books) of Rabelais, an exceedingly crafty knave, a libertine, and a coward., an opera in three acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Georges Spitzmuller and Maurice Boukay after Rabelais.

parallax: the apparent displacement of an object as seen from two different points that are not on a line with the object. The change of angular position of two stationary points relative to each other as seen by an observer, due to the motion of an observer; The apparent shift of an object against a background due to a change in observer position; The angle of seeing of the Astronomical Unit. It’s when the camera swings around the stationary subject so that the background swings too. It is therefore necessary to have an interesting background or the technique doesn’t work.

paraneige: snow shield (French)

paraphilia:A psychosexual disorder in which sexual gratification is obtained through practices or fantasies involving a bizarre, deviant, or highly unusual source of sexual arousal such as an animal or an object.

parapraxis: slip of tongue thought to reveal a repressed motive.

Pareidolia: a type of illusion or misperception involving a vague or obscure stimulus being perceived as something clear and distinct. For example, in the discolorations of a burnt tortilla one sees the face of Jesus. Or one sees the image of Mother Teresa or Ronald Reagan in a cinnamon bun or a man in the moon.

parious: Attended with peril; fraught with danger; hazardous.

parkour: a utilitarian discipline based upon the successful, swift and energy-efficient traversing of one's surrounding environment via the practical application of techniques, based around the concept of self-preservation and the ability to help others. a non-competitive, physical discipline of French origin in which participants run along a route, attempting to negotiate obstacles in the most efficient way possible, using only their bodies. Skills such as jumping, climbing, vaulting, rolling, swinging and wall scaling are employed. Parkour can be practiced anywhere, but areas dense with obstacles are preferable and it is most commonly practiced in urban areas.

parky, parkiness:  appreciably or disagreeably cold, chilly

parlando: To be sung in a style suggestive of speech. Used chiefly as a direction.

parvenu: a person who is a relative newcomer to a socioeconomic class.

Passerine: relating to birds of the order Passeriformes, which includes perching birds and songbirds such as the jays, blackbirds, finches, warblers, and sparrows.

pastiche: A dramatic, literary, or musical piece openly imitating the previous works of other artists, often with satirical intent. A pasticcio of incongruous parts; a hodgepodge:

That's it for the "pa" words.  The list continues with "pe" words.


Pecunia non olet: ("money does not stink") The phrase is ascribed to the Roman emperor Vespasian (ruled 69-79 AD)

pecuniary:  Of or relating to money: Requiring payment of money, (Law) Law (of an offense) involving a monetary penalty
[from Latin pecūniāris, from pecūnia money]

pedagogical: relating to teachers or education.

pedagogue: A teacher, esp. a strict or pedantic one

pedagogy: The art or profession of teaching. Preparatory training or instruction.

pelf: boodle: informal terms for money, Money is anything that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange, a unit of account, a store of value, and occasionally, a standard of deferred payment.T.H. Greco… money; riches; gain; especially when dishonestly acquired

penannular brooch: celtic fastener, cloak pin.

pentacle: five-pointed star

penumbrally: A partial shadow, as in an eclipse, between regions of complete shadow and complete illumination.The grayish outer part of a sunspot. An area in which something exists to a lesser or uncertain degree, An outlying surrounding region; a periphery:

peradventure: Uncertainty or doubt as to whether something is the case.adverb.
perchance - perhaps - maybe - possibly - probably, noun. obscurity

percipient: (of a person) Having a good understanding of things; perceptive., Noun: (esp. in philosophy or with reference to psychic phenomena) A person who is able to perceive things.

perdition: Hell: (Christianity) the abode of Satan and the forces of evil; where sinners suffer eternal punishment;  a place or a state in which the souls of the unsaved will suffer the consequences of sin. The Christian doctrine of hell derives from the teaching of the New Testament, where hell is typically described using the Greek words Gehenna or Tartarus, eternal damnation; hell; absolute ruin

perdure: remain in existence throughout a substantial period of time; endure.

perineum: rea between ass and scrotum.

perioperative: the three phases of surgery: preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative. The goal of perioperative care is to provide better conditions for patients before operation, during operation, and after operation.

peripatetic: Traveling from place to place, esp. working or based in various places for relatively short periods.  A person who travels from place to place. traveller - wayfarer - traveler

periphrastic: (of speech or writing) Indirect and circumlocutory, (of a case or tense) Formed by a combination of words rather than by inflection (such as did go and of the people rather than went and the people's)

permitorium: Permanent moratorium, I think, all online references apply to oil industry

peroration: the concluding part of a speech, typically intended to inspire enthusiasm in the audience.

perseverate: to repeat something insistently or redundantly: to perseverate in reminding children of their responsibilities. to manifest the phenomenon of perseveration perseverating  tendency in stutterers in sensorimotor tasks

pertinacious: holding firmly to an opinion or a course of action

peruke: powdered wig

pettifogger: an inferior legal practitioner, especially one who deals with petty cases or employs dubious practices.

phagomaniac: a compulsive desire to eat, glutton.

phalangist: a Christian right-wing political party in Lebanon, In spite of it being officially secular, it is mainly supported by Maronite Christians. The party played a major role in the Lebanese Civil War (1975–90). In decline in the late 1980s and 1990s, the party slowly re-emerged since the early 2000s. It is now part of the March 14 Alliance.

phall: (sometimes spelt as phaal, phal or paal) is a British Asian Indian curry dish, which originated in Indian restaurants in the UK, and is not to be confused with the char-grilled, gravyless, finger food phall from Bangalore. It is one of the hottest forms of curry regularly available, even hotter than the vindaloo, using a large number of ground standard chili peppers, or a hotter type of chili such as scotch bonnet or habanero. Typically, the dish is a tomato based thick curry and includes ginger and optionally fennel seeds. The phall has achieved notoriety as the hottest generally available dish from Indian restaurants.

philippic: tirade: a speech of violent denunciation, a fiery, damning speech, or tirade, delivered to condemn a particular political actor. The term originates with Demosthenes, who delivered several attacks on Philip II of Macedon in the 4th century BC., any of the discourses of Demosthenes against Philip of Macedon, defending the liberty of Athens; any tirade or declamation full of bitter condemnation

philistinism: materialism: a desire for wealth and material possessions with little interest in ethical or spiritual matters.

phillumenist: collector of matchboxes or matchbooks

philolgy: the study of literary texts and of written records, the establishment of their authenticity and their original form, and the determination of their meaning., (esp. in older use) linguistics, esp. historical and comparative linguistics., Obsolete . the love of learning and literature.

philopatric: the behavior of remaining in, or returning to, an individual's birthplace.[1] More specifically, in ecology philopatry is the behavior of elder offspring sharing the parental burden in the upbringing of their siblings, a classic example of kin selection.[2] It derives from the Greek 'home-loving', although it can be applied to more than just the area that an animal was born in.[citation needed] Philopatry can manifest itself in several ways.

phlebotinum: a device which is used to advance a plot, classically in the television industry, although phlebotinum can also appear in books and films. By its nature, phlebotinum is usually inexplicable and often magical, with no basis in reality. It exists solely to propel the plot forward without unnecessary fuss, ideally with a minimum of suspension of disbelief. As one might imagine, phlebotinum is especially common in science fiction and fantasy, where unusual plot devices can be more believable. The term was coined by the Buffy the Vampire Slayer writing team, when the writers were working on an episode and having trouble getting it to advance. As they struggled, one of the writers shouted “don't touch the phlebotinum in the corner,” and the term was born.

Phlebotomists:  individuals trained to draw blood samples for medical testing. Depending on the regional characteristics of the organization they work for, phlebotomists may have to travel to collect samples (this is referred to as a domiciliary service). They may travel to nursing homes or outpatient clinics to collect samples. Phlebotomists collect blood primarily by performing venipuncture and, for collection of minute quantities of blood, fingersticks. Blood may be collected from infants by means of a heel stick. Specially trained phlebotomists collect arterial blood samples from the radial artery of the wrist or brachial artery in the antecubital area (bend in the arm) for arterial blood gas test.

phocomelus: A birth defect in which the upper portion of a limb is absent or poorly developed, so that the hand or foot attaches to the body by a short, flipperlike stump. (Kasich) and in that last debate: who glued all his fingers together so that he was flopping around like a phocomelus?

phonology: he study of the sound system of a given language and the analysis and classification of its phonemes.  "word, speech, subject of discussion") is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use.

physiognomy:  a person's facial features or expression, especially when regarded as indicative of character or ethnic origin. the supposed art of judging character from facial characteristics. the general form or appearance of something.

pickleback: a type of shot wherein a shot of whiskey is chased by a shot of pickle brine. The pickle brine itself, or a bite of pickle, the brine works to neutralize both taste of whiskey and the burn of ethyl alcohol. Sounds dreadful from beginning to end for all reasons given.

piebald:  an animal, such as a horse or ball python, that has a spotting pattern of large unpigmented (sometimes expressed as white) areas and normally pigmented patches (black in the horse pictured). The colour of the animal's skin underneath its coat is both the natural color (under the black patches of hair in this example) and pigmentless (under the white patches in the horse example). This alternating colour pattern is irregular and asymmetrical. Other than colour, it is similar in appearance to the skewbald pattern. Some animals also exhibit colouration of the irises of the eye that match the surrounding skin (blue eyes for pink skin, brown for dark). The underlying genetic cause is related to a condition known as leucism.

pietism: 17th and 18th-century German movement in the Lutheran Church stressing personal piety and devotion. religiosity: exaggerated or affected piety and religious zeal. a Christian movement that emphasized personal and spiritual devotion over corporate worship and assent to doctrine.

pilchards: Sardines, or pilchards, are common names used to refer to various small, oily fish within the herring family of Clupeidae.

pillock: a stupid person

pinguid: pertaining to fat, the state of being fat, obesity

pink event: A term used to describe a close up shot of an individual's genitalia.

pisher: an insignificant or contemptible person.

Playa-Hata: player hater

plebiscite: A referendum (in some countries synonymous with plebiscite — or a vote on a ballot question) is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to vote on a

plenary: full; complete; entire; absolute; unqualified: plenary powers.attended by all qualified members; fully constituted

Pleonasm:  the use of more words or word-parts than are necessary for clear expression, wherein an idea clearly implied in one word is needlessly repeated in another: black darkness, for example, cold ice or burning fire. Such redundancy is, by traditional rhetorical criteria, a manifestation of tautology.

pleurisy:  (also known as pleuritis) is an inflammation of the pleura, the lining surrounding the lungs. There are many possible causes of pleurisy but viral infections spreading from the lungs to pleural cavity are the most common. The inflamed pleural layers rub against each other every time the lungs expand to breathe in air. This can cause sharp pain when breathing, also called pleuritic chest pain.

plimsoles: white cloth shoes, like nurse’s tennis shoes.

pluripotent epiblast stem cells: (of an immature or stem cell) capable of giving rise to several different cell types., Epiblast: The outermost layer of an embryo before it differentiates into ectoderm and mesoderm, ectoderm: The outermost layer of cells or tissue of an embryo in early development, or the parts derived from this, which include the epidermis and nerve tissue. mesoderm: The middle layer of an embryo in early development, between the endoderm and ectoderm. Endoderm: The innermost layer of cells or tissue of an embryo in early development, or the parts derived from this, which include the lining of the gut and associated structures

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose: the more that changes, the more it's the same thing —often shortened to plus ça change

pogue:  "kiss" in Gaelic. The Irish band The Pogues used to be called Póg Mo Thóin (pronounced Pogue Mo Hone) which means "Kiss my ass", until people started to find out what the name means. soon after, they shortened their name to The Pogues.

point d'appui: in military theory, is a location where troops are assembled prior to a battle. Often a monument is erected to commemorate the point d'appui for notable battles. In some battles there may be more than a single point d'appui.

poltroon: an abject coward

polyamory: Greek for several, and Latin for love. Any of various practices involving relationships with multiple partners with the knowledge and consent of all involved

polypragmatoi:  Poly=many. Pragma=business. Literally "one with many businesses". Colloquially, one who minds other's business as well as ...

poontang: sexual activity. a woman or women regarded solely in terms of potential sexual gratification.

porphyry: a variety of igneous rock consisting of large-grained crystals, such as feldspar or quartz, dispersed in a fine-grained feldspathic matrix or groundmass. The larger crystals are called phenocrysts. In its non-geologic, traditional use, the term "porphyry" refers to the purple-red form of this stone, valued for its appearance.
The term "porphyry" is from Greek and means "purple". Purple was the color of royalty, and the "Imperial Porphyry" was a deep brownish purple igneous rock with large crystals of plagioclase. This rock was prized for various monuments and building projects in Imperial Rome and later.

porte-parole: spokesman

Posse Comitatus Act: The law’s intent (in concert with the Insurrection Act of 1807) was to limit the powers of Federal government in using federal military personnel to enforce the state laws.

potboiler: a mediocre work of literature or art produced merely for financial gain. … sent me a link to a review of Mickey Spillane's potboiler One Lonely Night, which is in the form of an imagined conversation between Spillane, Earnest Hemingway and Ayn Rand, cobbled together from actual quotes made by each.

potlatch:  a gift-giving feast practiced by indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States, among whom it is traditionally the primary economic system.

Pouilly-Fuissé: white wine

Poujadists: A French movement (UDCA) created by Pierre Poujade after 1953, mobilizing the lower middle classes, shopkeepers and artisans, and the peasantry in the south, in opposition to big business and the unions, the state and the administration, but mainly to taxes. Right-wing and populist, but also republican, the Poujadists exploited widespread discontent with the Fourth Republic, winning over two- and-a-half million votes in the 1956 election and returning fifty-three deputies. Within two years, lacking leadership and a programme, the movement collapsed.

pour encourager les autres: in order to encourage the others —said ironically of an action (as an execution) carried out in order to compel others to obey or submit

poutine: a dish consisting of French fries topped with fresh cheese curds, covered with brown gravy or sauce and sometimes additional ingredients. originated in Quebec and can now be found across Canada. It is sold by national fast food chains (such as New York Fries, and Harvey's), in small "greasy spoon" type diners (commonly known as "cantines" or "casse-croûtes" in Quebec) and pubs, as well as by roadside chip wagons. International chains like McDonald's,[2] A&W,[3] KFC and Burger King[4] also sell mass-produced poutine in Canada.

praeteritio: saying something by saying that you're not going to say it. Like, for instance, when Trump calls Rubio a lightweight by saying "I'm not going to call him a lightweight, because I think that's a derogatory term." It's a rhetorical device as old as political rhetoric itself, once proudly wielded by Cicero, who often "refused to mention" the various crimes committed by Catiline and his supporters.

praxis: the process by which a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted, practiced, embodied, or realised. "Praxis" may also refer to the act of engaging, applying, exercising, realizing, or practicing ideas. This has been a recurrent topic in the field of philosophy, discussed in the writings of Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, Immanuel Kant, Søren Kierkegaard, Karl Marx, Martin Heidegger, Hannah Arendt, Paulo Freire, Ludwig von Mises, and many others. It has meaning in the political, educational, and spiritual realms.

precariat: In sociology and economics, precariat is a social class formed by people suffering from precarity, which is a condition of existence without predictability or security, affecting material or psychological welfare as well as being a member of a Proletariat class of industrial workers who lack their own means of production and hence sell their labour to live. Specifically, it is applied to the condition of lack of job security, in other words intermittent employment or underemployment and the resultant precarious existence.[1]

precatory: relating to, or expressing a wish or request. LAW (in a will) expressing a wish or intention of the testator."a trust can be left in precatory words"

predella: the platform or step on which an altar stands (predalla It. = kneeling stool). In painting, the predella is the painting or sculpture along the frame at the bottom of an altarpiece. In later medieval and Renaissance altarpieces, where the main panel consisted of a scene with large static figures, it was normal to include a predella below with a number of small-scale narrative paintings depicting events from the life of the dedicatee, whether Christ, the Virgin Mary or a saint. Typically there would be three to five small scenes, in a horizontal format.

prefatory: acting as preface: serving to introduce something such as a main body of text or a speech

preterite: The preterite (in American English also preterit) is a grammatical tense or verb form serving to denote events that took place or were completed in the past. In general, it combines the perfective aspect (event viewed as a single whole; not to be confused with the similarly named perfect) with the past tense, and may thus also be termed the perfective past. In grammars of particular languages the preterite is sometimes called the past historic, or (particularly in the Greek grammatical tradition) the aorist.

When the term "preterite" is used in relation to specific languages it may not correspond precisely to this definition. In English it can be used to refer to the simple past verb form, which sometimes (but not always) expresses perfective aspect. The case of German is similar: the Präteritum is the simple (non-compound) past tense, which does not always imply perfective aspect, and is anyway often replaced by the Perfekt (compound past) even in perfective past meanings.

priapism: usually painful erection of the penis, especially as a consequence of disease and not related to sexual arousal.

prima facie: on its first appearance, or by first instance; at first sight. The literal translation would be " first face", prima first, facie face. It is used in modern legal English to signify that on first examination, a matter appears to be self-evident from the facts. In common law jurisdictions, prima facie denotes evidence which (unless rebutted) would be sufficient to prove a particular proposition or fact.

primitivism: a belief in the value of what is simple and unsophisticated, expressed as a philosophy of life or through art or literature. unsophisticated behavior that is unaffected by objective reasoning.

Primum non nocere: first do no harm

princeps:  "first in time or order; the first, foremost, chief, the most eminent, distinguished, or noble; the first man, first person."

procatalepsis: also called prolepsis or prebuttal, is a figure of speech in which the speaker raises an objection to his own argument and then immediately answers it. By doing so, he hopes to strengthen his argument by dealing with possible counter-arguments before his audience can raise them.

procrustean: Procrustes (Προκρούστης) or "the stretcher [who hammers out the metal]", also known as Prokoptas or Damastes (Δαμαστής) "subduer", was a rogue smith and bandit from Attica who physically attacked people, stretching them, or cutting off their legs so as to make them fit an iron ...

profiterole: cream-filled pastry covered in ganache. Chocolate coated cream puff.

prolix: (of speech or writing) Using or containing too many words; tediously lengthy. long-winded - lengthy - verbose - diffuse - wordy

prolixity: in language refers to speech or writing which uses an excess of words. Adjectival forms include prolix, wordy, verbose, and garrulous.
Prolixity can also be used to refer to the length of a monologue or speech, especially a formal address such as a lawyer's oral argument.

propois: a red or brown resinous substance collected by honeybees from tree buds, used by them to fill crevices and to seal and varnish honeycombs.

prorogation: discontinuation of the meeting (of a legislative body) without dissolving it, A legislative session is the period of time when a legislature is convened for the purpose of lawmaking., he period between two sessions of a legislative body. When a legislature or parliament is prorogued, it is still constituted (that is, all members remain as members and a general election is not necessary), but all orders of the body

protean: tending or able to change frequently or easily."it is difficult to comprehend the whole of this protean subject”, able to do many different things; versatile.

prothonotary: from Greek protonotarios "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the Byzantine Empire, from Greek πρῶτος protos "first" + Latin notarius ("notary"); the -h- appeared in Medieval Latin. The title was awarded to certain high-ranking notaries. They were put there so she wouldn't give the impression of running like an unopposed Prothonotary. It would have looked like a too-obvious, coronation.

psephological: the statistical and sociological study of elections [Greek psephos pebble, vote + -logy]
psephologist

psephomancy:  a form of divination involving the study of marks made on pebbles which are drawn at random from a container. psusennes: Hor-Pasebakhaenniut I ḥr-p3-sb3-ḫˁỉ-<n>-nỉwt
Psusennes is the Greek version of his original name  Original name = Pasebakhaemniut  = The Star Appearing in the City" Throne name = Akhepere Setepenamun = Great are the Manifestations of Re, Chosen of Amun"

pucelle: Speaking of expensive fiddles. You noticed yesterday when Huguette Clark came up that she was given a Stradivarius for her birthday so famous it is named La Pucelle, the virgin, when you know the word for virgin is vierge so what kind of virgin is pucelle ?

Pucelle is virgin but the word has shades that make it a tricky word when used in English because of Shakespeare and his using la Pucelle d' Orléans. Joan herself used the term. but the English would also be familiar with another French word similar to pucelle which the French of the day used for any young girl, a maiden, a desirably pure thing, the similar word is putain, the word for whore. Putain, with its similar opening voiced bilabial plosive 'pu' and with the clamoring perverse humor which I am imagining theatergoers having would accept as hilarious pun especially when the pun is emphasized. They considered her something close to a whore, and we do nail the potty mouth words first. Pucelle, a thing so pure and desirable it is derided and defiled.

And in my view that is what happened to La Pucelle the violin when it fell into the hands of Huguette Clark for forty-five years.

pudenda: Hippo with a knife, and lady with buttplug and pudenda-stubble
Seems like a fantastic start and can only get better. A person's external genitals, esp. a woman's.

puissance: a competition in showjumping that tests a horse's ability to jump a limited number of large obstacles, archaic , poetic or  power

pukka: absolutely first class and genuine; "pukka sahib"; "pukka quarters with a swarm of servants" Genuine or authentic; Superior or of high quality, a Hindi word that has found its way into the English language. It basically translates as ‘good’, as in “he is a pukka

pulchritude: That quality of appearance which pleases the eye; beauty; comeliness; grace; loveliness.

punctilio: strict attention to minute points of etiquette, a petty formality or fine point of etiquette.

punnet: plastic fruit basket. Or wood basket 1 pound

purblind: Having impaired or defective vision. Dim-witted. a obsolete : wholly blind b : partly blind. 2. : lacking in vision, insight, or understanding : obtuse.

purvey: to furnish or supply (esp. food or provisions), To advertise or circulate.

pusillanimous: lacking courage or resolution; cowardly; faint-hearted; timid. proceeding from or indicating a cowardly spirit.

putsch: coup d'etat: a sudden and decisive change of government illegally or by force. German word meaning coup or revolt; has also entered the English language meaning the same.