Comment by behnamoh
2 years ago
These (I call them) "reverse-dictionary" searches are absolutely amazing on ChatGPT! I've asked it several times things like "what's the word you use to describe a situation that's <like this> but slightly <like that>?" and ChatGPT consistently "gets" what I'm looking for. What a time to be alive.
I did this the other day. For some reason, I was trying to think of a word for nationalism a-holes and it was something like Django, and I thought, is it Jengoism, but that didn't sound right...
So I asked ChatGPT: "There’s a word that sounds kinda like Django but it’s like jingoistic"
Turns out I was right, it's "jingoistic", but then I could go on and ask:
"Give me the definition of the word, then."
"The term "jingoistic" refers to a form of extreme and aggressive patriotism, often characterized by a belligerent foreign policy. It denotes a belief in the superiority and righteousness of one's own country, sometimes leading to the denigration of other nations and the advocacy of aggressive political and military actions."
"Where does the word come from?"
"The origin of the word "jingoistic" traces back to a popular British song from the 1870s. The song, with the refrain "We don't want to fight, but by Jingo if we do, We've got the ships, we've got the men, and got the money too," was sung during the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878). It expressed support for the British government's aggressive stance towards Russia.
The phrase "by Jingo" in the song is believed to be a minced oath, a euphemistic expression used to avoid swearing. "Jingo" here stands in for a stronger word, likely a reference to God. Over time, the term "jingoism" evolved to describe an aggressive, belligerent form of patriotism and foreign policy, and "jingoistic" is the adjective form used to describe someone who exhibits this attitude."
Fascinating! For anyone who is interested in learning, there hasn't been a tool like ChatGPT since the internet itself!
Important note here - ask for the definition in a separate thread, otherwise if it hallucinated the word it will still keep hallucinating the definition.
on GPT4?
Great idea.
Me: “staircase wit” is a very charming phrase. What are some other unexpected phrases that might also be fun to know?
ChatGPT: <I originally included the response, but you can ask it yourself if you care to. I feel this was a spur-of-the-moment idea and, rereading it, I feel it’s just like Googling something and posting the result. Not really a high quality contribution on my part.>