----- Original Message ----- From: "Jerry Friedman" <jerry_friedman at yahoo.com> To: <gomi at speakeasy.net>; <dragaera at dragaera.info> Sent: Friday, September 17, 2004 5:39 PM Subject: Re: Pararectal - A real word? > --- gomi at speakeasy.net wrote: > > > > My nitpick for the day. A couple of people on this list have tossed > > this > > > word around now. From the context, I can figure that it means > > "speculative", > > > "conjectural", "theoretical", etc... > > > > > > Try as I might, however, I can't find any evidence that this an actual > > word. > > > The dictionaries and thesauri at my disposal don't contain it and the > > web > > > keeps feeding me surgical websites dealing in and around certain human > > > orifices. > > > > > > What is this word and where does it come from? Enquiring minds want to > > know. > > > > It's an English version of the old legal term 'ex clunes', which is an > > intensified version of 'ex nihilo' when applied to the source of a > > particular line of reasoning. > > Id est, "just thinking out my ass here". It's well on its way to > becoming a real word, though, if the OED editors ever read this > list. > > Jerry Friedman > The dictionary.com entry had a link to an online medical dictionary. Pararectal specifically, in a medical sense, means "near the rectum or rectus muscle." Good word to use in casual conversation.