Buckingham's Dictionary
 

I thought it would be fun to start a thread with all the hilarious big words Lindsey uses. I've been inspired by...

http://www.aetv.com/private-sessions...tid=1886217126

I actually googled it to make sure he wasn't making it up, but the word is...

Profundity
the state of being profound or abstruse; a great depth; deep intellect or insight
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/profundity

...makes sense. Don't make fun of me for not knowing that.

Now post your favs!

re-convening
organic
per se

I don't think the words Lindsey uses are at all complex or uncommon. I just take note when he repeats them endlessly -- like compartmentalizing his feelings.

Michele

I think he has a tendency to use pretentious language so people take him more seriously. He uses overly complex words to explain things that are relatively simple.

See, that's where I differ. I don't think they're overly complex. I just don't think his vocabulary is exceptional or unusual at all. I think what he says is fine and I think it's often very fitting and descriptive. But then, when he's said something significant once, he repeats it and it becomes a crutch, a shorthand substitute for paying attention. He's just regurgitating rather than thinking.

Michele.

I agree with you about everything you say here. I speak very much like Lindsey speaks, and I never thought of the words I use as exceptional or unusual; they are just the best words to describe the concept I am trying to convey. And I also agree that often Lindsey is regurgitating, and that's really what people (over time) tend to find annoying.

(side note: I only wish that I could be half the writer that you are, Michele. Your post is, as always, worded so well.)

Jim

I think he's just very well spoken. His delivery doesnt come across as pretentious to me. :shrug:

I know exactly what you mean, Jim. This reminds me of watching Sarah Jessica Parker on David Letterman's show last week and she was repeating something her son said, remarking that she was "gobsmacked" by the boy's response. Letterman responded that he was unfamiliar with the term "gobsmacked" and declared that no one had ever used it on his show before. Then, someone on his staff looked up the definition for the word. I was thinking, "Really?" In America, we may not use "gobsmacked" often in conversation, but I see it in print at least a couple of times a week. If that word is a revelation for Letterman, he really needs to get out more:laugh:.

And thanks so much for the sidenote!:wavey:.

Michele

Exactly. I think he's intentionally verbose to avoid answering questions.

Maybe I need to get out more too. I've never heard it either.:woohoo:

I think he likes to listen to himself talk...

Do we know anyone else like that? I mean, you think he could have picked it up from someone he knew? ;)

You've lost me... :laugh:

Yeah, but does he really like to listen to himself say the same things over and over again or is he just lazy? You know, I tend to have imaginary conversations with Johnny Carson, David Letterman and Conan O'Brien all of the time:(, but I change up what I say to them from one "interview" to the next.

Michele

I see your point! Ha. I think he's rehearsed. He probably looks in the mirror so he can practice his facial non-expressions too.

If you watch the older interviews compared with today, he's gotten worse. He used to be less informal with his answers. Now it's like he is just using every great word he has ever found that he can work into his answer. I can appreciate what he's saying, but I do find myself nodding off at times.

I think he likes putting words together, certainly. I don't think they are great or uncommon words, I just think he is searching for the evocative. The song lyrics he takes time with (as opposed to those where he just throws in winners and losers walking on down the line) and the evolution of his concert speeches makes that apparent.

Clearly, there's a moment when he hits upon a turn of phrase that speaks to him and he doesn't like to let it go. Like this year, it's been the Big Love "echo." I think he was really pleased with that one.

Sometimes, I'm surprised when he doesn't say something again. Like when they were on stage together before SYW came out and he said that once you start taking care of yourself then you can start taking care of other people, I thought that was particularly poignant and I was surrpised I didn't hear him say that more than once.

Then, when he gets people in the audience to laugh, he really gets carried away with himself. When he stumbled upon the idea that "looking out for love" didn't mean searching for it, but defending against it, I don't think he could possibly have been happier. Oh yeah, I'm gonna use that one a LOT!
Michele

Brandon you've hit the nail on the head.

Words or Phrases with Multiple Interpretations
 

It amuses me that Lindsey will use phrases that can be interpreted in several different ways. For example, I am sure Emily Dickinson did not write the phrase "Gift of Screws" in the same way it is used in a rock song. Also, the song/phrase, "Surrender the Rain" was obviously intended for Stevie to surrender her reign as pop star goddess to Madonna or some other diva. I think Lindsey amuses himself with the use of these double entendres.

I loved rain, reign, rein and I didn't realize it at first, because I didn't read the liner notes, so I didn't understand the different uses.

Regarding Gift of Screws, using that phrase may have had multiple meanings for Lindsey, as he has joked, but I do think that primarily he meant it the same way Dickinson did. I think that's been his credo since Tusk. You can take the easy route and just pick the flowers to smell their surface goodness, but if you really want the perfume, you're going to have to squeeze, strain, push, force release of the best juices.

Michele

I always assumed Surrender the Rain was more about himself...especially judging from the spoke word thing that plays right before it. Like...letting go of the past.

Holy rabit trail guys! Perhaps I would have got a better response had I posted this in the Stevie forum??

Yes, I think he's telling himself to surrender too. And "rain" plays nicely as a link to the rain room in his home (so does the song Bel Air Rain). I think he's telling himself to give up the need to control, perfect, deny.

I wouldn't rule out "foolish Pretender" having to do with Stevie (a reference to Angel's "no great pretender"), but I don't think he's telling her to Surrender the Reign. However, that reading is interesting, given Under the Skin's "love live the Queen."

Michele

Oh! I never thought of that Michele! Very interesting...

In the not so sunny North East of England where I come from, the term "gobsmacked" is in every day use. It is THE expression to use when you are taken aback by something and is usually preceded by the word "absolutely".

I have one!
He used this at the show in Melbourne's 2nd show!
Convoluted
1.Having numerous overlapping coils or folds.
2.Complex, intricate or complicated.

:lol: On the other hand Stevie kept muddling up her words when she did the Gypsy story :confused:

i'm with lucy, i think he just complicates it all. and i believe it reflects the way he is...and i also support the idea he likes to listen to himself...a bit! anyway, i looove him!

Isn't that WEIRD????!!!:p

It is weird.

I come from there too! :)

I noticed that a while ago. You are up the road from me. I'm near Stockton.

Esoterica

Unlike most "happy" rockers, though, Buckingham has plenty of angst still in the tank. About halfway through the show, he launched into a monologue about the difference between his "big machine" work with Fleetwood Mac and "smaller machine" solo career. He discussed the left brain and the right brain, and the concept of esoterica. This brought a whoop from a fan. Buckingham grinned: "Yeah esoterica!" :laugh::D


From this review: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...BTeEf2UjVXxEjA

haha CONTINUITY......i love when he says that.....you can hear his CA accent through it!

oh Lindsey...

"mass adulation, unconditional adulation" :lol:

A man of. . .too many words perhaps.
 

I'm always at odds with myself over Lindsey's language. On one hand, I understand the value of a couple words with zip sprinkled here and there. But to sound Buckingham-esque here: he can be a little superfluous a times to say the least. Honestly, would Lindsey be half the persona we follow if he didn't speak like he does? I don't know him as a person, so I can't sit here and say I respect him as such. I respect him as an artist most definitely. If he can play guitar like he does, maybe there's some leeway for him to be as pompous as he is. If I were sitting back right before Tusk came out and had to bet on which FM member would have the most success solo wise, I would of said Lindsey over Stevie in an instant. And look at the outcome. . . From an emotional standpoint, I'd be using language and then some just because I'd want my fair share of respect as well. The long and the short of it: I sincerely don't believe you get to be where Lindsey is today in regards to his artwork without a big head and a bigger dictionary by his side.

boffin
 

From a radio interview ( Rockline ) in 2007... asked if he collected guitars, he said "...I'm not a boffin in that way..." :shrug: I'd never heard the term, but, I looked it up, and it's British slang for a scientist or nerdy/geeky type. So, he doesn't have a guitar "collection"- just guitars necessary for his work!

It took me a while to get used to the word "boffin" - it's never really used in Australia, so when I'd occasionally hear it from Top Gear I thought it was kinda derogatory (I'm a physics student) - of course I now realise it's not! :)

Ooooh. That's a good catch. Wonder if he caught it from listening to the 3 Brits.

Michele

I have heard the word "shrouded" (sp?) said a lot during the 1997 era.
Also of course the same stories:
"Say my feelings for Stevie, Stevie's feelings for me, and sort of craaaam them in one side of the room to get on with your process."
"It just reinforces my faith in cycles."
Not to mention the Sardonic Poem (VERY Buckingham)

At least he didn't say bifkin. :shocked:

Since I was a teen at the time, I had never heard the word "adulation" until BtM and now whenever I hear or use it, I think of him. "MASS adulation. UNCONDITIONAL adulation."

:confused: I couldn't ignore you. No, I just had to know, so I looked it up...and :shocked: is right!