16-letter words containing o, d, a, y
- self-deprecatory — belittling or undervaluing oneself; excessively modest.
- sensory overload — being overwhelmed by sights, sounds, etc.
- shaggy dog story — a funny story, traditionally about a talking dog, that, after an often long and involved narration of unimportant incidents, has an absurd or irrelevant punch line.
- shaggy-dog story — a funny story, traditionally about a talking dog, that, after an often long and involved narration of unimportant incidents, has an absurd or irrelevant punch line.
- share and enjoy! — 1. Commonly found at the end of software release announcements and README files, this phrase indicates allegiance to the hacker ethic of free information sharing (see hacker ethic). 2. The motto of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation (the ultimate gaggle of incompetent suits) in Douglas Adams's "Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy". The irony of using this as a cultural recognition signal appeals to freeware hackers.
- shorthand typing — shorthand and typing
- shorthand typist — A shorthand typist is a person who types and writes shorthand, usually in an office.
- situation comedy — a comedy drama, especially a television series made up of discrete episodes about the same group of characters, as members of a family.
- slang dictionary — a specialized dictionary covering the words, phrases, and idioms that reflect the least formal speech of a language. These terms are often metaphorical and playful, and are likely to be evanescent as the spoken language changes from one generation to another. Much slang belongs to specific groups, as the jargon of a particular class, profession, or age group. Some is vulgar. Some slang terms have staying power as slang, but others make a transition into common informal speech, and then into the standard language. An online slang dictionary, such as the Dictionary.com Slang Dictionary, provides immediate information about the meaning and history of a queried term and its appropriateness or lack of appropriateness in a range of social and professional circumstances.
- social democracy — a political ideology advocating a gradual transition to socialism or a modified form of socialism by and under democratic political processes.
- sodium cyclamate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble powder, NaC 6 NH 1 2 SO 3 , that has been used as a sweetening agent: banned by the FDA in 1970.
- sodium methylate — a white, free-flowing, flammable powder, CH 3 ONa, decomposed by water to sodium hydroxide and methyl alcohol: used chiefly in organic synthesis.
- stagedoor johnny — a man who often goes to a theater or waits at a stage door to court an actress.
- strawberry blond — reddish blond.
- strongyloidiasis — an intestinal disease caused by infection with the nematode worm Strongyloides stercoralis
- synchronous dram — Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory
- sysdeco mimer ab — (company) Part of the international software group Sysdeco Group AS. They developed the MIMER RDBMS. Address: Uppsala, Sweden.
- take holy orders — to become ordained
- tetrahydrozoline — a compound, C 13 H 16 N 2 , used in the treatment of nasal congestion and certain conditions of eye irritation.
- thalidomide baby — a baby that has physical abnormalities due to the drug thalidomide being taken by the mother while the baby was still a developing fetus
- the devil to pay — Theology. (sometimes initial capital letter) the supreme spirit of evil; Satan. a subordinate evil spirit at enmity with God, and having power to afflict humans both with bodily disease and with spiritual corruption.
- the human comedy — French La Comédie Humaine. a collected edition of tales and novels in 17 volumes (1842–48) by Honoré de Balzac.
- the one and only — incomparable and unique
- the roaring days — the period of the Australian goldrushes
- to call it a day — If you call it a day, you decide to stop what you are doing because you are tired of it or because it is not successful.
- to carry the day — If someone carries the day, they are the winner in a contest such as a battle, debate, or sporting competition.
- to pay dividends — If something pays dividends, it brings advantages at a later date.
- to spend a penny — If someone says that they are going to spend a penny, they mean that they are going to go to the toilet.
- to try your hand — If you try your hand at an activity, you attempt to do it, usually for the first time.
- tobacco industry — business of selling smoking products
- treaty of verdun — an agreement reached in 843 ad by three grandsons of Charlemagne, dividing his empire into an E kingdom (later Germany), a W kingdom (later France), and a middle kingdom (containing what became the Low Countries, Lorraine, Burgundy, and N Italy)
- typhoid bacillus — the bacterium Salmonella typhosa, causing typhoid fever.
- un-contradictory — asserting the contrary or opposite; contradicting; inconsistent; logically opposite: contradictory statements.
- uncoincidentally — happening by or resulting from coincidence; by chance: a coincidental meeting.
- undiscriminatory — characterized by or showing prejudicial treatment, especially as an indication of bias related to age, color, national origin, religion, sex, etc.: discriminatory practices in housing; a discriminatory tax.
- videodisc player — an electronic device for playing videodiscs through a television set.
- volatility index — beta (def 6).
- way of the world — a comedy of manners (1700) by William Congreve.
- weather advisory — advisory (def 5).
- what do you know — People sometimes say 'What do you know!' when they are very surprised about something.
- white-haired boy — a favourite; darling
- whole nine yards — a common unit of linear measure in English-speaking countries, equal to 3 feet or 36 inches, and equivalent to 0.9144 meter.
- woody nightshade — bittersweet (def 3).