go down the alphabet and think of a three-syllable word for every letter

antidote
bellicose
cataract
dithering
effluent
fortified
garrulous
harridan
impulsive
jubilee
kilowatt
lumberjack
maritime
narrowly
overrun
protocol
quality
roundabout
scintillate
tessellate
ululate
vivisect
willpower
xenophobe
yesterday
zitherist

architect
bazouki
caravan
demolish
enervate
factory
grenadine
hazardous
imitate
juniper
kerosene
lachrymose
marigold
neurotic
odalisque
paragraph
quinquever
reticent
socialist
trisomy
underwear
varicose
wonderful
xylophone
yellowtail
zillionaire

i will be disappointed if there is no offshoot poetry thread using these words

albatross
benedict
cannibal
derelict
expertise
fumigate
gorgeous
heritage
irrigate
janitor
kimono
licorice
manifold
nectarine
opposite
parakeet
quarantine
requisite
telephone
underdog
virulent
warrior
xylophone
yesterday
zanier

erggh xylophone xp

there may not be too many 3-syllable "x" words.

yeah, trying to think of others besides those two (w/o consulting dictionary) and drawing a blank

xposting?

arachnid
basketball
centipede
desecrate
empathy
fictitious
gossamer
hellion
impotent
jackrabbit
knowingly
loquacious
memory
northernmost
oscillate
protection
quarterly
rotunda
slithering
temptation
upbringing
voracious
wonderment
xylophone
yesteryear
zoologic

lol @ everyone using xylophone

avalon
babylon
carillon
deputy
equity
frostily
gangrenous
hyenas
inquiry
jocular
kapitan
liberty
mendicant
ninjitsu
overage
punctual
quadratic
remotely
sugarplum
tetrapod
ungulate
vagina
wooliest
xavier
yodeler
zebulon

nice rhyming scheme with the first few there

nabisco

yeah the I killed me, xp

"ingenious" has either 4 syllables or a diphthong at the end and I decided I didn't want to have any argument

asinine
beautiful
colander
deify
emanate
fulminate
gravitate
horrible
iconic
jugular
kingfisher
luminous
miasma
notation
ovulate
persiflage
querulous
ravenous
suicide
transparent
ululate
vermifuge
widdershins
xenophobe
yammering
ziggurat

Did that without looking at the other lists. Couple of repeats.

anthemic
basketball
creosote
darkening
enema
fellowship
gingerbread
homelessness
irately
janitor
kerosene
lechery
monastic
ne'er-do-well
opinion
prosthetic
quintuplets
ruffian
severance
turpitude
urinal
velodrome
xanadu
yetnikoff (proper name oh noes)
zuricher

vagina
wooliest

i forgot "w" = wintertime

arsenic
barista
cathedral
diocese
elevate
fanatic
gasoline
harrowing
ilium
jocular
kilohertz
lanolin
malady
neurosis
optional
pillowy
questioning
radical
suicide
technical
usual
various
weathervane
xeroxes
yummier
zucchini

Without consulting a dictionary think xanthiform might be a legit word.

Apparently not.

I was mixing up xiphoid - shape - with xanthoid - colour. Altho it turns out that xanthoma is legit.

apartheid
belittle
cannery
dungarees
endomorph
fantasy
graticule
hemisphere
indolent
juniper
ketamine
luminous
mannequin
nemesis
openness
potbellied
quintessence
rapscallion
satiate
terrapin
urethra
velveteen
watering
x-rated
yemenite
zinfandel

analyze
brotherhood
caramel
desperate
elephant
finishing
gelatin
hydrogen
imperfect
jiggling
keratin
laminate
merciless
naughtily
oranges
particle
quantify
rectangle
salivate
terrible
undulate
varsity
xenophile
yummiest
zippier

zippier <3 <3 <3

anapest
beleaguered
canape
distilling
episteme
flatulent
gardening
hellebore
ignorant
jingoist
kinetic
lavender
mojito
nothingness
ovation
paradise
quantity
reinvent
silicon
terrible
unseemly
validate
weaponry
XENOGEARS
yammering
zeppole

oh shit

anally
breastfeeding
copulate
digital
ecstasy
fornicate
genital
hinterland
intercourse
jackhammer
ketamine
lesbian
masturbate
naugahyde
orgasm
prostitute
queerishness
rectally
satanic
tittyfuck
urinal
vagina
waterworks
x-rated
yeastiness
zoogenic

Originally did this without reading the others, removed "ululate" and "yellowtail" as duplicates, went through about 4 Ys to find one not on thread already, by which time there were several new lists and fuck checking for duplicates again, really.

arthropod
banana
crepuscule
drapery
ellipsis
fandango
gerundive
harmonic
icebreaker
japery
kittiwake
laconic
mummery
nunnery
optical
paraphrase
quixotic
rhomboidal
sparrowhawk
terraform
universe
vermiform
weasely
xylitol
yuppified
zigzagging

Oh damn, libcrypt has won thread (or lost the thread, one or the other) while I was logging in.

alison
bethany
caroline
diana
eleanor
francesca
georgina
harriet
isobel
jessica
katrina
lucinda
melissa
naomi
ophelia
patricia
q
rebecca
samantha
tabitha
ursula
vanessa
w
xaviera
yolanda
zuleika

Got that far without googling. There must be a "w". "q", not so sure.

...don't like "weasely" as both that and "weaselly" look wrong. Would like "wildebeest" instead. (xpost)

Astounded believers created demented epitaphs forsaking Godliness. However, injustice justifies Khomeini. Libido mitigates negating omniscient pretenders questioning religious successors' trustfulness, unbelief, various withdrawals, xenium. Yesterday's Zionist.

yes I cheated and used an online dictionary to come up with a x word. I like armatrader joan's first one and libcrypt's.

It's funny how most of the words people are choosing (get bent's list excluded) are dactyls -- i.e. they follow a stressed-unstressed-unstressed pattern. Do all the most obvious three-syllable words follow that form, or is there some other explanation for it? Oh well, I'm not one to buck the trend...

argument
bathyscape
cereal
derringer
empathy
fibula
glockenspiel
hollandaise
internet
jewelery
keratin
lemonade
minuteman
nematode
omnichord
peppermint
quarterly
rodeo
sauerkraut
teetering
ubermensch
vagary
whippoorwill
xylophone
yellowtail
zombielike

muthafuck a duplicate

Also used dictionary for yeastiness and zoogenic.

aliment
banister
cellophane
director
epistle
fatuous
go-between
hippodrome
intuit
jealously
keymaster
laughingstock
marshmallow
nebulous
oenophile
priapic
quarter-pound
reservoir
suturing
tentacle
urbanist
vanity
well-wisher
xerotic
yeomanlike
zebulon

It's funny how most of the words people are choosing (get bent's list that begins with apartheid excluded) are dactyls

Anyone berating Cecilia directly elevates frivolous gallantry. Horribly introvert, jarringly kiddified, musical naysayers operate perfectly quietly. Resultant sonorous tragedy undercuts violas, whatever xylophones' yammering zestiness.

anodyne
baklava
cicada
dolorous
enervate
factual
gyroscope
halibut
ideate
jalopy
ketamine
languorous
mirthfully
novena
opiate
perception
quintessence
rivulet
satirize
tenderly
urethra
vaporize
weaponry
xylograph
youthfully
zigzagger

I had to look up dactyls on Wikipedia, and one of the examples they used is Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, so now I am reading the lists to the that tune.

I find my brain automatically looking for dactyls. When I find a 3-syllable that isn't dactyllic there's a kind of gear-change in my head while I double-check that yeah it fits.

oh snap tombot beat me to zebulon

8 of my original list were non-dactylic (oh, dactylic is non-dactylic; a lot of classical words have stress on the penultimate syllable). Let's see if I can do the whole lot.

arthritis
banana
capacious
deposit
ellipsis
fandango
gerundive
harmonic
infusion
jalopy
kinetic
laconic
mimetic
neuralgic
ophthalmic
percentile
quixotic
rhomboidal
semantics
tarpaulin
upholster
voracious
whichever (this was hard, W-words are pretty Anglosaxon and so like to have the stress on the first syllable)
xyphoidal (yeah, cheated here and went to OED to ask if this was real word, X was HARD despite Greekness of words starting X)
ytterbic (likewise, asked OED if this was real word)
zucchini

Wd like fewer words in -ic, more words of non-European origin (think only "jalopy" and "banana" are in this category).

animal
bellicose
caravan
decimal
elephant
fantasy
gravitron
hurricane
idiom
jovial
kangaroo
lyrical
magnetic
nobody
octopus
parallel
quaristice
robotic
seventy
tarpaulin
umbrella
vibration
wednesday
xylophone
yesterday
zookeeper

(I didn't look bnefore posting)

agnostic
barbaric
chimpanzee
doddering
elephant
freethinker
gargamel
handsomer
idiot
janitor
knavery
litigate
martinet
november
october
possibly
querulous
ravishing
sockpuppet
talented
underfed
vanishing
wallabee
xenophobe
yellowing
zippity

OK names are probably cheating, so "gibbering", then.

zev yaroslavsky
xuxa
williams, venus
umberto tozzi
simon reynolds
quetzalcoatl
patton oswalt
nana mouskouri
lil' kim
jimmy iovine
holly golightly
fergie
ellen degeneres
charles bronson
amerie

*fond! Oh, shut up, spacecadet.

"yuppification" happened kinda naturally after i thought of "gentrification"

agriculturist
buffalonian
concatenation
deleterious
evaluation
fanaticism
germanization
hagiography
illuminati
justifiable
knowability
logorrheically
matriculation
neoclassical
ontological
perspicacity
quaffability
regulatory
sadomasochist
triangulated
unreconstructed
vertiginously
xTHISSPACEFORRENT
ypsilantian
zeugmatography

shit, lex already got neoclassical. fine, nanocephalous.

dibs on "cryptozoology" for six syllables.

have to start with 'abecedarian' of course.

sixes (leaving abecedarian for ledge to use, and not sure what constitutes a syllable tbh)

anthropological
benzodiazapene
cryptosporidium
departmentalise
encephalopodic
ferromagnetic
gerontomorphosis
homosexuality
inseminatory

...out of time

alphabet
baritone
Clerkenwell
December
elegance
frankincense
gordita
half-nelson
innocent
Jupiter
ketamine
lucifer
Morningham
nocturnal
octopus
platypus
quarantine
riddling
stupidly
technical
urinal
vertical
weaselly
xenophobe
youthfully

and the only z i have is zygotic, which someone had already. meh

adamant
bellicose
carnival
demonstrate
edifice
fallible
gullible
harridan
illicit
juggernaut
kingfisher
labyrinth
malarkey
nincompoop
octagon
paramour
quizzical
rodeo
salacious
tumbleweed
underwear
villanelle
wonderful
xenophobe
yellowtail
ziggurat

(God, where was I when this thread was first created?)

Arsonist
Behemoth
Capital
Dedicate
Edify
Falsify
Generous
Happily
Icily
Jazzercise
Kilogram
Lucifer
Masticate
Novocaine
Obstinate
Polishing
Quagmire
Rapacious
Slippery
Tacitly
Unctuous
Verily
Wheelbarrow
Xiaonai
Ybarra
zappato

FOUR

avaricious
barracuda
caffeinated
defensible
elemental
fluffernutter
gargantuan
haberdasher
inoculate
japonerie
kindergarten
leviathan
military
navigation
operatic
paralegal
qualifier
randomizer
superstitious
tabernacle
ultimatum
vituperate
wingnuttery
xenophobic
yellow-bellied
zestiness

haven't looked at anyone else's list so I assume there will be a ton of repeats

anyone
benefit
curio
devious
elephant
fatally
glorify
happening
innocent
jealously
knockabout
leverage
modeling
nervously
opulent
prurient
quixotic
reverie
sacrosanct
truthfully
undulate
verify
wondering
xenophobe
yodeling
zeppelin

five syllables LET'S DO THIS

accumulated
biomechanics
consideration
demystifying
enthusiastic
fortuitously
generational
haberdashery
ignominious
jurisprudential
kleptomaniac
lackadaisical
malapropism
neoliberal
opportunity
prelapsarian
quincentennial
recidivism
spermatazoa
terpsichorean
ululatory
valedictory
wisconsinian
x-chromosomal
yeah-yeah-yeahsian?
zoological

ampersand
bivalent
casual
dialog
empathy
festival
giddyup
horrible
injury
kleptocrat
luxury
morphodite
negation
obvious
plethora
quizzical
reprobate
starvation
uvula
wanderlust
yesterday
zydeco

the one i did last year was better :(

gray cells gray

I hope Alanis Morissette is keeping tabs on this thread--there's enough vocabulary here for three or four albums. (Total Alanis words from above: miasma, plethora, quietude, iridescent. Just once would love to hear her use: giddyup.)

lotta xenophobes on this thread!

is there way to construct a poll so that you enter a choice for each 26 letters, then at the end you see graph of people who chose the same word unbeknownst to each other?

new name

I cheated three times--thank goodness for politicians--but didn't consult the dictionary. Maybe somebody can finish this one off.

abrogate
bloviate
coronate
dominate
extricate
fulminate
graduate
h
instigate
jubilate
k
laminate
masturbate
Nannygate
obligate
percolate
q
ruminate
seriate
Troopergate
undulate
variate
Watergate
x
y
z

hesitate

k-through-8 (adj. describing certain public schools)?

'quivocate

Love it--I'm always telling people I work in a K-to-8 school!

B-Movies/B-Movie creatures
--------

Avatar
Balthazar
Carnosaur
DropDeadFred
Eurostar
Firefox
Gamera
Hadrosaur
Inception
JackieBrown
Killdozer
LostInSpace
Minotaur
Nightcrawler
Overlord
Punisher
QuestForPeace
Repoman
SonOfSam
TimeCop2
Ultraman
Vanishing
Waterworld
Xanadu
Zardozdoz

alien, butterfly, cabaret, deepening, elephant, faggottide, galavant, herpetic, internship, jocular, ketchupy, lemonade, mustardy, nothingness, odorous, palanquin, querulous, rudiment, summerbreath, turnipy, uvula, voluble, wintertime, xercise, yammering, zebraish

pretty sure I did this before so I'm going to do it without looking back and then have a comparison.

Anodyne - Alphabet
Bellicose - Benedict
Certify - Castigate
Dentally - Director
Erasmus - Elephant
Fingering - Footballer
Graphical - Ghastliest
Harmony - Harmony
Inchoate - Inchoate
Jauntier - Jellify
Kingfisher - Kingfisher
Lemonade - Lionize
Masterful - Mercury
Nincompoop - Natural
Oscillate - Organic
Petrify - Portmanteau
Questioning - Quiddity
Repeated - Resolute
Stultify - Sandcastle
Terrapin - Tiara
Uvula - Uvula
Venomous - Verify
Westerly - Windowsill
Xylophone - Xylophone
Yellowing - Yellowing
Zookeeper - Zoetrope

how times change. My vocabulary was more interesting back then, I think. :'(

lotta xenophobes on this thread!

― stuckey's snackhouse (get bent), Thursday, 12 August 2010 18:16 (Yesterday) Bookmark

i like this because it's all the people who are trying to be clever and avoid 'xylophone'

Not trying to be clever, it's honestly the first one I thought of!

Ok, without looking upthread.

accolade
banishment
cancerous
dithering
eschaton
flabbergast
gallantly
heritage
inchoate
juniper
kimono
lariat
megadeath
nihilist
oligarch
palisade
querulous
recumbent
sobriquet
tenuous
underbrush
valorous
weatherboard
xerophyte
yarmulke
ziggurat

I think this is how Andrew Bird writes lyrics.

I'm rather proud of "yarmulke". If only because no one else thought of it.

Ok, again without looking, four syllables.

ancillary
brokenhearted
carcinogen (what is it with me and cancer today?)
defenestrate
erudition
fabulism
grandiloquent
haberdasher
iconoclast
jeremiad
knickerbocker
librarian
machination
nomenclature
onerousness
pathology
quotidian
rabble-rousing
sarcophagus
tautology
uranium
viridian
whatsoever
xenophobic (feels like cheating, this one)
yellow-bellied
zoophilia

Haberdasher high-five!

We both went with "ziggurat" too.

disgusting abecedarian pizza toppings:

artichokes/anchovies
barnacles
cucumbers
drambuie
eczema
flagellates
grenadine
halibut
ink-of-squid
jerk-chicken
kielbasa
lasagna
mascarpone
nutella
orangeade
pancetta
queensryche's sperm
radishes
squirrel-meat
turmeric
vagisil
wombat wings
xanthan gum
zucchini

Anarchy
Banana
Canopy
Dangerous
Entropy
Finalist
Gratitude
Handover
Impolite
Juniper
K
Lollipop
Monocle
November
Octopus
Positive
Querulous
Restated
Sibilance
Taliban
Uvula
Verity
Wallaby
Xylophone
Yammering
Zookeeper

Could not think of a K. Now that I look at the thread I feel stupid.

I think it's actually much easier to come up with lists the more specific they are. Otherwise your brain is casting a net too big to pull in.

Like if you were timing two twins, and gave one 3 syllable a-z, and the other 3 sylalble cities a-z, i bet cities would win.

aquatique
balnéaire
cérébral
dissiper
eduquer
festival
Gigondas
horloger
iambique
journalier
kafkaïen
luminuex
mirifique
numismate
oralement
publiquement
rarissime
sodomite
télescope
utopique
vagissement
wagonnet
xénophobe
zénithal

you guys are good.

i esp. like kenan's three-syllable list

i like to think of these as being new military phonetic alphabets-- BIVALENT-UVULA-ZYDECO-ZYDECO!

Oops, forgot 'querelleur'

Ha ha, I did this in French last time, too.

amethyst
bourgeoisie
coconut
daffodil
ebony
fatuous
gamelan
horsepower
irritate
jaggedly
kilogram
leafblower
mammary
nupital
opiate
professor
quarrelsome
roughhousing
sentinel
terrapin
uvula
vitrify
womanly
xylemic
yammering
zeppelin

"roughhousing" is one of the funniest words ever

Could not think of a K. Now that I look at the thread I feel stupid.

Don't. K is tough.

zeppelin

Hmm. Does anyone pronounce this with three distinct syllables? Seems like a 2 1/2 syllable word at best.

actual
bellicose
carpenter
disaster
element
fallacy
garrulous
heavyweight
ipecac
jingoist
kickboxing
luminous
moribund
naughtiness
oracle
philistine
quenchable
regulate
scallion
tourniquet
unyielding
velveteen
westerly
xenophobe
yesteryear
zodiac

FIVE OH NO (not all of these are real words, but many are at least valid constructions, I think -- lots of adverbs here):

axiomatize
Bruegelism
cartographically
dipsomania
ecumenically
fantastically
geocentrism
heteropathy
inconsequential
juvenilia
kleptomania
lexicography
macadamia
necrophilia
ornithology
pathogenesis
reconditioning
seismological
theatrocracy
unconventional
(v = I give up)
(w = I give up)

I just give up on 5 syllables altogether. I'm tired.