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[Taffer]

I guess I will leave you to cull the dictionary and then you can report back when you are finished?  I will then review the changes you have made and if I agree with you will cull the words also from my dictionary.

Sounds good! I'll try to categorize the words I don't like based on why I don't think it fits.

[Taffer]

Before I get far into the work, does the below (unfinished) meet with your approval, GoblinCookie? Objections? Thoughts? Thank you kindly for the wonderful mod, I'm just hoping to help improve its readability.

Missing categories that I can foresee are "things that exist in-game but maybe don't need separate words", such as "camel, one-humped-camel, and two-humped camel" all existing as separate words, and also a category for the myriad of gemstones. I'm on the fence about these two, but if I understand some of the comments I've received people find constructions featuring too many hyphens or obscure gemstones hard to read.

Personally, I think the bigger problem are the categories below.

Unnecessarily technical (and sometimes obscure) words
perigee
assonance
bobbin
boll
boucle
bradawl
burin
cabriole
caecum
canto
carotid
carpal
casement
casing
caul

Overly obscure words (reaching for dictionary all the time while playing is bad)
abjure
abrogate
abseil
abstruse
agglomerate
aggrandize
aboriculture
arriviste
bibulous
biddable
blandish
boffin
bootee
bouffant
bourn
brindled
buckram
bucolic
busby
byplay
byre
cadge
calumniate
calyx
canton
captious
carminative
carrel
catachresis
catechize
cavil
celerity
censer

Medical conditions
agoraphobia
arthritis
bulimia
caries

Words that seem out of place in the setting
boardroom
bodysuit
bomb
braille
briefcase
bullet
burger
bypass (noun form)
carbine
cardboard
cement

Words that seem fine but contain hyphens and therefore might contribute to awkward constructions
(I'm also not sure if these need to be removed, I'm just including them for the sake of completeness)
breathing-space
bric-a-brac
broad-minded

[GoblinCookie]

Before I get far into the work, does the below (unfinished) meet with your approval, GoblinCookie? Objections? Thoughts? Thank you kindly for the wonderful mod, I'm just hoping to help improve its readability.

Missing categories that I can foresee are "things that exist in-game but maybe don't need separate words", such as "camel, one-humped-camel, and two-humped camel" all existing as separate words, and also a category for the myriad of gemstones. I'm on the fence about these two, but if I understand some of the comments I've received people find constructions featuring too many hyphens or obscure gemstones hard to read.

Personally, I think the bigger problem are the categories below.

Unnecessarily technical (and sometimes obscure) words
perigee Astronomy is a big intellectual thing in Dwarf Fortress
assonance Music and poetry are also things in Dwarf Fortress.
bobbin Weaving is a thing in Dwarf Fortress.
boll
boucle
bradawl An implied 'abstract' tool.
burin Basically the same thing as chisel?
cabriole
caecum Basic anatomy.
canto Poetry is a thing, but unsure if verse, section or whatnot would do. 
carotid Basic anatomy
carpal Basic anatomy
casement
casing You seriously propose this for elimination!
caul Implied by the existence of childbirth.

Overly obscure words (reaching for dictionary all the time while playing is bad)
abjure
abrogate Has wider meanings than simply revoke.
abseil
abstruse Would you prefer difficult-to-understand as a word in it's own right?
agglomerate Similar to unify but has a more specific physical meaning.
aggrandize Similar to promote/glorify but has more general application
aboriculture Orchards are a thing.
arriviste Combines ruthless with ambitious. 
bibulous
biddable Merely obedient will not do here, because obedience implies some specific authority, biddable does not.
blandish
boffin Think intellectual or scholar means the same, not so sure.
bootee
bouffant
bourn
brindled
buckram Bookbinding is in the game.
bucolic Positive sense of agrarian, also the same as idyllic ? but has more specific rural application?
busby
byplay Performances are a big part of Dwarf Fortress.
byre
cadge Welcome to adventure mode!
calumniate
calyx Basic anatomy.
canton Basically a fortress with it's associated hillocks.
captious Basically critical but more negative sense, is there another word that is less obscure?
carminative
carrel We can create these in our fortress pretty easily.
catachresis I do not think linguistic-incorrectness is a better word. 
catechize Word specific to Christianity but also has a specific more generalist meaning.
cavil Is there are less specific word for unreasonable objections.
celerity
censer Word used in world-gen festivals.

Medical conditions
agoraphobia Word has a meaning that make sense, afraid to go outside.  Welcome to your evil biome embark. 
arthritis
bulimia
caries A bone can be shattered.

Words that seem out of place in the setting
boardroom We can make these by having all our important dwarves share the same office.
bodysuit
bomb
braille We can read books in pitch darkness.
briefcase
bullet
burger
bypass (noun form) We can make these.
carbine
cardboard
cement

Words that seem fine but contain hyphens and therefore might contribute to awkward constructions
(I'm also not sure if these need to be removed, I'm just including them for the sake of completeness)
breathing-space A necessary element of sanity when playing Fortress Mode. 
bric-a-brac Any fortress that has been around for any length of time.
broad-minded Has wider meaning than just tolerant.

Problem here is that I already went through the words and removed the words I didn't think belonged in  ; so it is very much a case of second thoughts, the problem I have is two-fold.  The main problem here is that there are the things that are in the game at the moment and there are things that were in the game at the point of the technological cutoff but aren't in the game, then there are the things that are planned to be in the game but are not in at the moment, for instance boats.  The other problem is that of abstraction, a lot of things are implied to be in the game by other things but aren't actually in the game themselves. 

I am probably best off adopting a policy that something does not go in unless it is either in planned development or in the game itself.  I have decided to go through the words you gave me, to give them a second look.  Red words are words that I agree should go, green words are words I think should stay in; in the latter case I will give my reasoning.  Purple is something I am unsure about.

[brolol.404]

I'm not sure I will use this mod... but I agree with Taffer that reaching for a dictionary during gameplay is not fun. So I would remove some of those words in green like the basic astronomy ones. But the answer might just be that someone else makes another expanded dictionary mod for us dumb people lol

[GoblinCookie]

I'm not sure I will use this mod... but I agree with Taffer that reaching for a dictionary during gameplay is not fun. So I would remove some of those words in green like the basic astronomy ones. But the answer might just be that someone else makes another expanded dictionary mod for us dumb people lol

The answer is I don't care to pander simply to people's ignorance.  Get out your dictionary, learn some more words and so become more educated and 'less dumb'. 

[brolol.404]

lol I get that you dont want to do it. I'm not sure why there couldnt be two similiar mods if someone wanted to take this idea in another direction though...

[GoblinCookie]

lol I get that you dont want to do it. I'm not sure why there couldnt be two similiar mods if someone wanted to take this idea in another direction though...

  That is so, people can make whatever dictionary they wish based off my own dictionary, that is after-all mostly why it is there.  It also does not really matter, since those aren't really English words, they are translated from another fictional language.  You can really get away with a lot of missing words in a language, because you can combine strings of words together instead; as already discussed there is a quite an arbitrary situation with the English language where we use certain specific words when combinations of other words would do.

It is also not true that I am indifferent to the issue of obscure words.  I do not wish for instance to use obscure words, where a less obscure word would do.  It is just that if an obscure word has an actual specific meaning, I do not wish to remove it and reduce the potential of the dictionary to generate random meanings, simply because the vocabulary of people is limited.  It is not as if they are being forced to determine what the word means, they can completely ignore the meaning if they wish.  It is more like we are removing words because ignorant people don't want to face the fact their vocabulary is not omniscient which seems wrong to me.

[Pvt. Pirate]

I'm not sure I will use this mod... but I agree with Taffer that reaching for a dictionary during gameplay is not fun. So I would remove some of those words in green like the basic astronomy ones. But the answer might just be that someone else makes another expanded dictionary mod for us dumb people lol

The answer is I don't care to pander simply to people's ignorance.  Get out your dictionary, learn some more words and so become more educated and 'less dumb'.

some words you used have more self-explaining synonyms.
just as an example: i never heard and/or read the term "bric-a-brac" before, although dict.cc suggests it's also a german term - i'm 33 and never heard anyone anywhere say that term.
the basegame already uses somewhat complicated terms sometimes, so why add to the dificulty of understanding what's going on in the game?

[brolol.404]

What was the process you used to construct new words? Does DF convert english letters one at a time or convert sounds/syllables into new words?

[GoblinCookie]

some words you used have more self-explaining synonyms.
just as an example: i never heard and/or read the term "bric-a-brac" before, although dict.cc suggests it's also a german term - i'm 33 and never heard anyone anywhere say that term.
the basegame already uses somewhat complicated terms sometimes, so why add to the dificulty of understanding what's going on in the game?

Because I do not have a better word for what that word means.  The game does not understand synonyms, it cannot string together words to mean anything only randomly put together existing words, so it always better to have as wide a range of meanings as possible that are words.  Yes in many cases a combination of words would work better, but the game does not know about this so the proper combinations will not appear any often than a meaningless combination will.  Ultimately the choice is between using an obscure word that is seldom used and using a whole string of hyphenated words that create the same meaning.

It is meanings that are important, not words.  I try to use a familiar word over a obscure one but if I do not have a familiar word I will use the obscure word rather than throwing away the meaning or hyphenating familiar words.

What was the process you used to construct new words? Does DF convert english letters one at a time or convert sounds/syllables into new words?

The words were not originally mine, they were generating using a computer program I do not have by Amostubel from a dictionary.  I took the resulting mess left by them, which they abandoned and spent about 10 months of grueling work fixing errors and culling words until I got what I have. 

[Pvt. Pirate]

i get your point, but still we need to see which terms would be easier to understand/are more common.
i also think that the game handles the dictionary in a strange way.

[Taffer]

Apologies for the slow progress: my free time isn't what it used to be. I figure I'll post the next batch of words now, as it's probably easier for GoblinCookie to deal with chunks of words at a time rather than a giant post later.

GoblinCookie: I haven't reached this part of the file yet, but what do you think about trimming down the plant, creature, and mineral list near the end of the file? You mentioned not wanting to remove the animal people, and I understand your thoughts there, but what about the more specific variations like the various penguin or camel types? Do we need both red-spinach and red-spinach-leaf? Perhaps an alternate solution is to clean up the added words in language_sym a little. I just want to make naming a little less like word salad for players. Thank you for the work, in either case.

Unnecessarily technical (and sometimes obscure) words
chamfer
chandler
cheval-glass
chevron
chock
cirrus
clime
coaxial
coeval
coextensive
colophon
conjoin
cosine
cotangent
craw
curvilinear
dairying
deanery
denouement
dubbin
encaustic

Overly obscure words
chignon
circumscribe
cloy
cockade
comedown
comestible
comfit
comity
complaisant
compote
concomitant
concupiscence
confute
contumacious
cortage
corymb
cosset
cozen
cracknel
cromlech
cruet
cumulus
cyme
diachronic
dipsomaniac
disencumber
dross
drupe
ebullient
eclogue
effluent
eft
elan
elide
ennui
exigency
flagstaff
flange
flews

Medical conditions
chilblain
claustrophobia
colitis
cystisis
eclampsia
edema
emphysema
encephalitis
enteritis
enuresis

Words that seem out of place in the setting
checkout
clipboard
clodhopper
cubicle
detergent
detonate
driveway
faucet
firearm
firelock

Words to keep but change
cuboid (noun) change to cube (noun) and cubic (adjective)
colour-blind (please rename to color-blind for consistency with Toady's US spelling)
death-trap change to deathtrap

Words that contain hyphens and therefore might contribute to awkward names
creepy-crawly
crystal-ball
dark-horse
death-penalty
evil-eye
fairy-ring
fine-art
fir-cone

[GoblinCookie]

Apologies for the slow progress: my free time isn't what it used to be. I figure I'll post the next batch of words now, as it's probably easier for GoblinCookie to deal with chunks of words at a time rather than a giant post later.

GoblinCookie: I haven't reached this part of the file yet, but what do you think about trimming down the plant, creature, and mineral list near the end of the file? You mentioned not wanting to remove the animal people, and I understand your thoughts there, but what about the more specific variations like the various penguin or camel types? Do we need both red-spinach and red-spinach-leaf? Perhaps an alternate solution is to clean up the added words in language_sym a little. I just want to make naming a little less like word salad for players. Thank you for the work, in either case.

Of late I have been tied down painstakingly bug-hunting through my mod, so it does not really matter if you take a while to go through the dictionary since I am not really available to make new additions either. 

I already trimmed down the creature plant list before.  The arrangement I settled with was that if a plant product is edible or otherwise useful then it has it's own word, otherwise it just uses the generic setup.  So an oak leaf is just an oak-tree leaf, because they aren't food but since a red-spinach leaf is food there is a difference between the plant and the leaf.  Otherwise I end up in the situation where I can't have apples but instead have apple-tree fruits. 

The different types of penguins and camels is another instance of the raven = giant crow problem.  There is no real reason they would call all the types of penguins, the same word+adjective; we don't call ravens giant crows and magpies black-and-white crows even though biologically that is quite an accurate description.  The only way I can justify calling one-humped and two-humped camels the same word, is if I devise some kind of evolutionary tree for camels and knock off the bottom rungs.  Then we have the language calling a human being an ape-person because all apes are pretty similar as well.  The only reason we likely do not call the different types of penguin an entirely different word is that penguins were not a familiar creature when the English language was developed, the same mess exists with love-birds. 

Unnecessarily technical (and sometimes obscure) words
chamfer
chandler
cheval-glass
chevron It's a shape much like a square or a triangle. 
chock We have wagons and wheels (barely).
cirrus We have clouds.
clime Depends upon if we have a separate word for climate.
coaxial means something has a common axis, quite meaningful symbolically. 
coeval
coextensive Depends upon if there is a better word for in the same place.
colophon We can tell who wrote a book by reading it.
conjoin
cosine Maths is in the game.
cotangent Maths is in the game.
craw
curvilinear
dairying Milk and cheese are in the game.
deanery
denouement Plays are in the game.
dubbin Leather making is in the game.
encaustic

Overly obscure words
chignon
circumscribe
cloy
comedown
comestible
comfit
comity
complaisant
compote
concomitant
concupiscence
confute
contumacious
cortage
corymb Just a type of flower. 
cosset
cozen
cracknel
cromlech
cruet
cumulus Clouds are in the game. 
cyme A type of flower.
diachronic
dipsomaniac
disencumber The opposite of to encumber.
dross A word for mineral waste created by smelting.
drupe Type of fruit.
ebullient Does not imply excite ment unlike exuberant.
eclogue
effluent Has a specific meaning of sewage+water-body
eft
elan Energetic enthusiasm doesn't quite cut it.
elide
ennui Boredom does not quite cut, it is boredom from lack of activity specifically.
exigency
flagstaff A good symbolic word even if there aren't technically any flags in the game at the moment.
flange The game has wheels in it.
flews

Medical conditions
chilblain
claustrophobia Opposite of agoraphobia, I don't want to go into that big scary monster cave rather than I don't want to go out on that evil biome.
colitis
cystisis
eclampsia
edema Swelling is a syndrome response.
emphysema
encephalitis
enteritis
enuresis

Words that seem out of place in the setting
checkout We can buy from shops in human cities.
clipboard Presumably used by bookkeepers (abstractly). 
clodhopper
cubicle We can make these.
detergent Dwarves use soap to clean themselves.
detonate
driveway Between your trade depot and the caravan. 
faucet Basically a lever activated door to drown goblin invaders?
firearm
firelock

Words to keep but change
cuboid (noun) change to cube (noun) and cubic (adjective)
colour-blind (please rename to color-blind for consistency with Toady's US spelling)
death-trap change to deathtrap

Words that contain hyphens and therefore might contribute to awkward names
creepy-crawly Basically the same word as vermin but more general.
crystal-ball
dark-horse We have games.
death-penalty We have this.
evil-eye
fairy-ring That is a very specific *thing* even if it is two words.
fine-art
fir-cone Given these are not edible I need a specific word, I think.

[Taffer]

Finally finished! I skipped over the creatures, minerals, foods, etc because we've already discussed it. I'll restate my hope that maybe language_sym can be cleaned up a little rather than outright remove words, but unfortunately I have no concrete suggestions. Thank you for your work!

Unnecessarily technical (and sometimes obscure) words
gangue
gimlet
glottis
haslet
hydrodynamic
knurl
moraine
oviduct
panegyric
panicle
patten
peen
petiole
plectrum
potsherd
praline
quiff
quire
quisling
rhizome
selvage
skein
soporific
spathe
distaff
spindrift
stamen
styptic
talus
thole
thymus
thyroid
treacle

Overly obscure words
gammon
graniferous
granivorous
homologous
immiscible
importunate
inexpiable
irascible
jink
kyle
lade
lanceolate
lobworm
locus
macerate
maudlin
mellifluous
militate
moribund
numinous
obdurate
obstreperous
panjandrum
paroxysm
parterre
penury
perfidy
pertinacious
pistil
plebiscite
plenipotentiary
plexus
pock
primp
psoriasis
querulous
reprobate
serio-comic (or at least remove the hyphen if it needs to be kept)
sinecure
speleology
squiffy
stalking-horse
stultify
truculent
ullage
votary
vulcanology (or at least rename to volcanology if it needs to be kept)
weir
whitlow
wiseacre

Words that are british-isms and already exist as American words
gybe
squidgy

Medical conditions
gingivitis
gumboil
haemorrhoid
impetigo
oedema (duplicate of edema)
mastitis
melanoma
meningitis
mumps
myalgia
neuritis
purblind
scrofula
scurf (but please add scarf, which isn't in this dictionary)

Words that seem out of place in the setting
freeway
funfair
grapeshot
grenade
gunfight
gunfire
gunpowder
handbrake
histogram
hotplate
mailbag
mailbox
marshmallow
mudguard
nacho
pesticide
pistol
scrapyard
sharpshooter (tricky: in meaning it should be kept, but by etymology you fire arrows and bolts, not shoot them. I think it sounds like it implies using a gun.)
sunblock

Words to keep but change
hell-fire - rename to hellfire
hell-hole - rename to hellhole
miaow - rename to meow
sex (have-sex adjective) - rename to fuck. Also, please add variations that indicate the participants: masturbation has male, female, and mutual variants, it would be useful and fun to indicate which genders are participating in the act.
wholegrain - rename to whole-grain

Words that contain hyphens and therefore might contribute to awkward constructions
forbidden-fruit
forgotten-beast

Suggested words to add (that aren't mentioned above)
strip (undressing variant, please differentiate between deprive someone of something and undress)

[GoblinCookie]

Finally finished! I skipped over the creatures, minerals, foods, etc because we've already discussed it. I'll restate my hope that maybe language_sym can be cleaned up a little rather than outright remove words, but unfortunately I have no concrete suggestions. Thank you for your work!

Unnecessarily technical (and sometimes obscure) words
gangue Ore mining is in the game, it is found in relatively worthless rock.
gimlet
glottis Anatomy.
haslet
hydrodynamic
knurl
moraine Dwarf Fortress has glaciers
oviduct Anatomy
panegyric
panicle Type of flower
patten
peen We have hammers.
petiole Flower anatomy.
plectrum We have string instruments.
potsherd We have pots and *should* be able to break them.
praline
quiff
quire Actual object in the game.
quisling Collaborator has other meanings, could split the word into collaborator-occupation and collaborator.
rhizome Plant anatomy.
selvage Cloth is dwarf fortress does not just unravel.
skein
soporific Substances that induce sleep can exist in Dwarf Fortress.
spathe Flower anatomy.
distaff I assume is part of a loom. 
spindrift Waves and wind both exist in DF.
stamen Very basic flower anatomy, suprised it is here.
styptic
talus Anatomy
thole Would not be suprised if rowing boats are implemented.
thymus Anatomy.
thyroid Anatomy
treacle

Overly obscure words
gammon
graniferous A plant that bears grain.
granivorous A classification of animal.
homologous Biology is in the game.
immiscible Chemistry is in the game.
importunate Annoyingly persistant.
inexpiable Depends if unforgivable is a word.
irascible Irritable does not have the violent connetations. 
jink A sudden change of direction.
kyle Depends if there is another suitable word for narrow sea channel.
lade
lanceolate A shape.
lobworm Fishing is in the game.
locus Maths is in the game.
macerate To soften with a liquid.
maudlin Bad way of saying sentimental.
mellifluous A compliment for a sound.
militate Something that stops something else from happening.
moribund
numinous Kind of means the same as spiritual or holy or sacred but is a pretty word. 
obdurate
obstreperous
panjandrum A way of saying a person claims to be powerful or important without saying he is.
paroxysm Emotional outbreak.
parterre
penury Total economic ruin, to be introduced next release. 
perfidy
pertinacious
pistil Basic flower anatomy, suprised it is here.
plebiscite If referendum is not also in, then it stays,
plenipotentiary The outpost liason.
plexus Anatomy.
pock If pockmark is not in, it stays.
primp To make minor adjustments to your clothing.
psoriasis
querulous A way of saying complaining is bad.
reprobate A person with no principles.
serio-comic (or at least remove the hyphen if it needs to be kept) The hyphen is how it is spelt, maybe will remove anyway to please you.
sinecure Sums up your nobles titles.
speleology You can explore the caves in either mode.
squiffy Slightly drunk, the ideal state of all dwarves.
stalking-horse Conspiracies are in the next release.
stultify Kind of the same as boring, but has a wider scope.
truculent Defiant with extra aggression thrown in.
ullage How much empty space is in your container.
votary
vulcanology (or at least rename to volcanology if it needs to be kept) It is already called volcanology 
weir A specific type of dam.
whitlow
wiseacre

Words that are british-isms and already exist as American words
gybe It has to do with sails.
squidgy A combination of soft, spongy and moist.

Medical conditions
gingivitis
gumboil
haemorrhoid
impetigo It is inspecific in it's location, so it stays.
oedema (duplicate of edema)
mastitis
melanoma Could sort of be referred to as simply skin-cancer, but isn't necceserily cancerous.
meningitis
mumps
myalgia
neuritis
purblind Means semi-blind.
scrofula
scurf (but please add scarf, which isn't in this dictionary) Scarves are not in the game, sadly.

Words that seem out of place in the setting
freeway
funfair Fairs are planned, funfairs as presumably a type of fair?
grapeshot
grenade
gunfight
gunfire
gunpowder
handbrake A type of lever with attached mechanism.
histogram A type of diogram.
hotplate Part of kitchen workshop presumably.
mailbag Mail is the kind of thing the game abstractly would have.
mailboxMail is the kind of thing the game abstractly would have.
marshmallow
mudguard Wagons do not get stuck in marshes/
nacho
pesticide
pistol
scrapyard A refuse stockpile for metal stuff.
sharpshooter (tricky: in meaning it should be kept, but by etymology you fire arrows and bolts, not shoot them. I think it sounds like it implies using a gun.) Could be replaced wih marksman?
sunblock

Words to keep but change
hell-fire - rename to hellfire
hell-hole - rename to hellhole
miaow - rename to meow
sex (have-sex adjective) - rename to fuck. Also, please add variations that indicate the participants: masturbation has male, female, and mutual variants, it would be useful and fun to indicate which genders are participating in the act.
wholegrain - rename to whole-grain Well no and this is complicated. (refer to end of quote).

Words that contain hyphens and therefore might contribute to awkward constructions
forbidden-fruit
forgotten-beast No way I can remove the hyphons on those words.

Suggested words to add (that aren't mentioned above)
strip (undressing variant, please differentiate between deprive someone of something and undress) So we are talking two words, one word for stripping someone against their will and the other for removing them of clothes they want removed?

The reason I don't use fuck rather than a hyphonated descriptor, is because that is a curse-word.  If the game comes up with fuck-goat, we don't know if it means that he just hates goats or whether he is pervert that has sex with goats.  Has-sex, while hyphonated makes the meaning clearer while using a curse-word, even if it basically the only verb/adjective for sex in English that does not imply heterosexual potentially baby-making sex (copulate).

Sex means the general category of acts, not the specific acts themselves.  There are plenty of seperate words to describe individual sexual acts in the dictionary.  In the case of masturbation, going by the vanilla symbols lists there really should only be two words rather than three, but in my mod there are three words because the symbology of the words is different.  As in.

Male masturbation has connotations of infertility female masturbation lacks. (not relevant to vanilla)
Mutual masturbation has connotations of romance that either of the other words lack. (relevant to vanilla)