AdamSmith Posted February 19, 2016 Posted February 19, 2016 floc·ci·nau·ci·ni·hil·i·pil·i·fi·ca·tion ˌfläksəˌnôsəˌnīˌhiləˌpiləfiˈkāSHən/ noun noun: floccinaucinihilipilification the action or habit of estimating something as worthless. (The word is used chiefly as a curiosity.). A jocular coinage, apparently by pupils at Eton College, combining a number of roughly synonymous Latin stems. The word was inspired by a line in the Eton Latin Grammar that gave a rule for certain verbs that take an object in the genitive case: "Flocci, nauci, nihili, pili, assis, hujus, teruncii, his verbis, aestimo, pendo, facio, peculiariter adduntur."[1] This translates literally to: "To these words—aestimo, pendo and facio—irregularly are joined flocci, nauci, nihili, pili, assis, hujus and teruncii.” Or more loosely, "The verbs aestimo, pendo and facio when used in the sense of “to value” or “to care” irregularly take the following objects in the genitive case: flocci, nauci, nihili, pili, assis (a “penny”), hujus (this) and teruncii (a “farthing”)." https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/floccinaucinihilipilification Quote
