Try using a few of these easy phrases in casual conversation. Your friends will find it hilarious and want to buy you drinks!*
Anomalous
Something isn't strange. It's anomalous.
- There's some anomalous van parked outside.
Atypical
Something isn't unusual. It's atypical.
- The seminar's on a Tuesday this week? Huh. That's atypical.
Canonical
Use in place of "standard" or "usual".
- Coffee is my canonical morning drink.
Dark ...
Use as a prefix for anything you're not sure about, or can't find.
- I've searched my hard drive and can't find it. I guess it must be a dark pdf.
Discontinuity
(See Some Discrepancy).
Empirical Data
Anything from personal experience or observation is "based on empirical data".
- Based on empirical data, I wouldn't ask her to lunch again.
Epoch
Use to refer to time. Vaguely.
- Don't worry, I'll finish the work. Just maybe not this epoch.
Extrapolation
A reasonably educated guess.
- I'd extrapolate that he's hung over and he's not coming in this morning.
First-Order Approximation
1. May be used to replace "about".
- Yeah, my desk is tidy to a first-order approximation.
2. Can also have derogatory usage.
- This is only a first-order approximation to a cup of coffee!
Ground State
It's not laziness. It's your ground state.
- Man, I can't seem to get out of my ground state this morning.
Negligible
Anything really small.
(Note: if it's virtually nothing, "negligible" can be replaced by "infinitessimal")
- My motivation is negligible right now.
Non-linear
It isn't complicated. It's non-linear.
- How to get to the cafeteria? Well, it's a bit non-linear...
Non-trivial
It isn't difficult. It's non-trivial.
- Organise the party? Oh man... This is going to be non-trivial.
Orders of magnitude
Used to refer to large discrepancies.
(See also Within an order of magnitude).
- I'm still an order of magnitude away from finishing this book.
Orthogonal
Use for things which are mutually exclusive, or can't coincide.
- I know he's been in the office, but I haven't seen him all week. Our schedules must be orthogonal at the moment.
Photons
It's not light. They're photons.
- It's getting dark in here. I need more photons.
Photon flux
(As with photons).
- Could you open the blinds? I need a higher photon flux to read by.
Prototypical example
The first of something.
- I thought I'd make pancakes again. The prototypical example from last Tuesday was pretty good!
Potential Well
Anything which can trap you. May refer to both physical and conceptual things.
1 - I'm stuck in the potential well of apathy right now.
2 - Sorry, my meeting later is a potential well. I can't get out of it.
Redshifted
Anything which is very old.
- I wouldn't read that paper. It's so old it's actually redshifted.
Some Discrepancy
When things aren't quite right.
- There's some discrepancy between my memory of last night and how much money I have left in my wallet.
Vanishingly small
(See Negligible).
Within an order of magnitude
Use as "close enough".
- What? I was on time... To within an order of magnitude.
Within error bars
Similar to Within an order of magnitude, but not as close.
- I look just like Johnny Depp, within error bars.
*Actually, your friends will probably just think you're incredibly geeky and give you funny looks, but with the kind of people I like to hang around with, that's pretty much the same thing.
(...And yes, some of these have been stolen from various places on the internet).
